Results 4,161-4,180 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 Apr 2010)

Joe O'Toole: In light of the very positive response from the Leader I will not put this matter to a vote. I will raise it again next week, unless we come to some agreement in the meantime. I look forward to a debate on this matter and it should be very helpful. Order of Business agreed to.

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Apr 2010)

Joe O'Toole: In recent days the levels of anger, resentment and outrage at the Government have been evident at various conferences. Members are aware that public sector or construction workers who are out of work or the Quinn Group workers who face job losses are not those who can be held responsible for the mess the country is in. There is a responsibility on Members, including those on the Government...

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Apr 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Following on from the point made by the Leader of the Opposition, I agree the House should discuss what is happening in Greece but perhaps from a different perspective. Like their counterparts in Greece, Irish workers are also extraordinarily angry and resentful and morale is low in both the public and private sectors. The Croke Park agreement is an attempt to deal with the situation in the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I do, if I understand it.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: It is more expensive.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I get that broadband from Westmeath.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: It is a while since we received any response from Government Members on the question of Seanad reform, to which they were all committed. Can we take it that the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, has conceded to the main Government party on the issue? Is Seanad reform a dead duck? Is it dead in the water? Are we likely to hear any more on it? We were...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I concur with the points made by Senator Twomey on the Croke Park agreement. The first union to come back with a result, although it has not received much notice or publicity, is the Civil Service executive union, CPSU, a key union. It has accepted the deal by a majority of two to one. The clarifications given by the Government last night on teachers' contracts are extraordinarily helpful...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Legislation actually.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: If possible, I would like to see the Minister for Health and Children in the House today. Apart from the issue raised by Senator Fitzgerald, I would like to congratulate the Minister for dealing with the head shop issue, in which Members on all sides of the House have taken a keen and passionate interest. Her response is a simple and effective way of dealing with it. It may well be...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: On a point of order, an absolute rule in Standing Orders should be brought to the notice of the House, namely, when the Cathaoirleach stands, the speaker sits. It would be nice were that observed.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: While I strongly support the approach taken by Senator Fitzgerald, we need to engage with the facts. To do so, the Minister for Finance should first have a conversation with the Seanad about exactly where we stand, the budgetary outlook, his requirements, revenue predictions, growth and the budgetary preconditions to be met before we enter the Estimates process. Rather than beginning with a...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister and appreciate his comments. I go along with the points Senator Carty made. Since I became a Member of the House 23 years ago, time and again I have praised the work of various Ministers and a number of our Commissioners who fought hard to defend Irish agriculture. I hold the Irish Farmers' Association in great regard but I regularly say it should show more...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: This legislation has wrecked the beef industry in small towns all over Ireland. When the Minister and I were young, our mothers or grandmothers would send us to the local butcher to buy a piece of meat for the Sunday roast. The butcher would ask us to tell our mother that the meat came from a farm down the road owned by Brendan Smith who bought the calf from John Carty. While this may be...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I know mutton dressed as lamb and lamb dressed as mutton. I am lucky to be of a generation which learned the great art of telling them apart. I worry about young men who never had to make the distinction. The Minister referred to competitiveness and diversification. I ask him to do me the favour of studying a highly technical area of diversification until he fully understands it. Why are...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy: Statements (12 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: When people in Melton Mowbray took on the major supermarket retailers in the United Kingdom, they were laughed at but they fought and won their case. As a result, the town owns the title of "Melton Mowbray" pork pie, which means that if Tesco or other retailers want to sell these pies, they must comply with the direction, regulation and arrangements made by the town. I would like the same...

Seanad: Code of Conduct for Civil Servants: Motion (12 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: So, if we are nice, it will be accepted.

Seanad: Code of Conduct for Civil Servants: Motion (12 May 2010)

Joe O'Toole: We will explain it.