Results 401-420 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (13 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I agree with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources that wind will be an important commodity in the future, but with that importance comes enormous problems. We see here a very personal problem for one person and the many others who live near her in that a wind farm is being located right next to where they live. There are difficulties for this committee in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (13 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Perhaps we would review it in relation to calling others who may be able to help us to debate it.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I do not wish to sound as though I am repeating the comments of Senator Leyden, but I am very upset about the comments made by the chief executive of Iceland and some others regarding the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. The authority has worked hard and has made a great breakthrough in what has become a worldwide crisis relating to the food we eat, especially processed food. The Food...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Use of Commonage Lands: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am interested in what is going to happen. The presentation referred to the partnership approach and the need for co-operation among various stakeholders. How will that happen? There is clearly a need for urgency, which has been expressed, yet we know that when stakeholders are referred to, things are going to take a long time. With the best will in the world and even if every...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Use of Commonage Lands: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Are Kerry sheep smarter?

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I support my colleagues who have raised the issue of obesity among children. In 1995 I made a documentary about obesity among children in the UK. At that time consultants in the UK stated that it was an epidemic. It must be more than an epidemic if one in four of our children are struggling with their weight, but intervention at that level remains limited. A working group has been...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Social Entrepreneurship: Discussion (21 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I would like some clarity in respect of the ideal of measuring the social return. One Foundation would have set targets and would have informed BeLonG To that it needed to operate on a nationwide basis and so on. That feels like a project with an end and I cannot quite work out what - with the exception of the change in the language - what is the entrepreneurial element. I refer, of...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Social Entrepreneurship: Discussion (21 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Wiser is fine.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Social Entrepreneurship: Discussion (21 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Chair and commend the witnesses on their enormous enthusiasm and energy. Ms Casey spoke about the importance of mapping the sector. Is she speaking about starting from scratch or has anything been done already? It may be of some benefit to Mr. Whelton to know that in conjunction with IT Sligo I am working with parents on a project on the STEM subjects. This project was...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Social Entrepreneurship: Discussion (21 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am not sure. Girls need a bit of encouragement. They are just as smart in these matters but they often feel it is a boy thing.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I support Senator O'Neill's call for an extension to the hedge cutting season by a week, given the poor weather. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister to attend to that matter. With regard to the Ombudsman's report on the mobility allowance and motorised transport scheme, Opposition Senators have very short memories, as normal. Many of these problems have been around for a very long time.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am talking about these particular grants.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am talking about Fianna Fail's failure to do anything about them.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I do. Like others, I am concerned about people who need grants. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, addressed the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, of which I am a member, and said: That is the other option. We hope the scheme will continue to protect the people most in need. We will have somebody new to devise a scheme. We are inviting someone in to...

Seanad: Magdalen Laundries Report: Statements (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. Like other speakers I thank her for the work she has done and her unfailing belief in the women who were treated in this way. She never gave up. When she went into government she worked even harder on the issue. We are all grateful to be present for the debate as it is a sign that we have moved on. I wish to start my contribution...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: This petition is obviously a matter of importance concerning the rise in the registration fee by the Garda National Immigration Bureau. However, we think it is not appropriate for this committee, as no particular work has been undertaken by the petitioner in the first instance. I do not believe we should refer the matter to another committee. However, we could inform the petitioner that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: This petition is very interesting and it is great to see members of the public coming forward to engage with The Gathering and seeking to find ways to use pre-existing resources to support both The Gathering and, as this petitioner suggests, other future activities. Perhaps it is appropriate to pass to the petitioner the information that has been gathered on behalf of the joint committee but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I suspect the petitioner's idea that video games should be included in the English curriculum would cause great concern and debate because I am sure a number of people would argue this should not be the case. However, he has an interesting idea and this is a good example of where committees in the Oireachtas can be joined up because the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: This is indicative of the fact that the joint committee is becoming a visible place to which people bring current issues. This is the joint committee's first petition to be so current in respect of people responding and discovering the joint committee's presence. It is good that members are able to pass on this petition to the Joint Committee on Health and Children as the most appropriate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (27 Feb 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I must leave for a vote.