Results 4,301-4,320 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (14 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Will the Leader raise the other issue with the Minister?

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Regarding the budgetary figures as they emerged yesterday, it looked good to see all the different party groups going in and going through the issues with the Department of Finance and coming out with a clear message. There is also a need for us to give a further message, that we have been in this place previously - in the 1980s when the national figures were equally bad. It is important we...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I would like to speak about an issue that arose in the North in the last week. I refer to the question of apartheid in education, which I have been raising for many years. It has always been a problem in the democracy in which we live. Last week, Peter Robinson proposed the adoption of a ten-year plan whereby all the children in the North are educated together.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I am aware that the suggestion has received a cold reception from people in the nationalist community. It has not been accepted by the SDLP or Sinn Féin, where such people tend to lodge their votes. This proposal should be considered on an all-island basis. Some of us fought viciously against the provisions of the Equal Status Act and the Employment Equality Act that facilitate appalling...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members)(Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (20 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I agree with many of the critical comments. I have been a Member of this House for the past quarter of a century and have consistently sought reform but I do not believe the Government will bring it forward. One of the greatest disappointments for me is that every Government along the way has made such proposals but we have effectively missed the boat. There is no goodwill or support for...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members)(Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (20 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator does not appear to have shared the view of his party leader on the future of the Seanad. I do not see that he has taken a public position different from his private position. There were a number of interviews yesterday by a learned professor who came from British Columbia to Ireland to speak about civic society. A week before that many of us were in the North discussing with our...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members)(Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (20 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I have appealed to colleagues on all sides on the issue. The inner and outer panels should be changed. The panel where potential Senators are nominated by Members of the Oireachtas should become an election taking in members of local authorities and the outside panel should be an election by people attached to a relevant profession. The agricultural panel would have an electorate in the...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Panel Members)(Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (20 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I am still an optimist after a quarter of a century.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Oct 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Over the weekend there was a certain level of certainty and regardless of whether we like it, the Government has a clear target of a deficit figure 3% of GDP by 2014, with budget cuts of €15 billion being frontloaded. This means people should and will know where they stand in the next few weeks, even though they might not like it. They will know that the upcoming budget will be the worst...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I have bored the House in recent weeks by referring daily to the Croke Park agreement and the lack of political traction in making it work. I compliment the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, on being the first Minister to give political traction to it. This issue must be closely scrutinised. I have listened to people who have criticised the agreement and suggest it cannot...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: It is a philosophical one.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I agree with my two colleagues about extending our sympathy to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, but it is a little awkward to deal with it for the following reason, and I am not saying this in a political manner. I am sure we all share that viewpoint, but can we take it that in situations such as this, the Leader would speak on our behalf to some extent so that...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Otherwise, it seems as if some Members refer to it and others do not. I would appreciate it. I am aware of the genuine feelings of Members on it but I just want to make that point. The amendment to the Order of Business which has been put forward by the Leader of the Opposition is something that the Leader should take seriously, and not just on the basis of the issue in question. I have...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I move: That Seanad Éireann: - believing that it should operate primarily as a House of influence, reform, scrutiny, reflection, consolidation and persuasion and rather than replicate or undermine the Dáil, should act in parallel to it by giving new breadth to the parliamentary process; - believing that the House should seek to convince by force of argument and logic rather than compel by...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Exactly. That is the argument. The exclusive nature of restricting the vote to graduates of certain universities is indefensible. Outside of that, it becomes very easy. Section 3 could be elected by local authority members while section 4 could be nominees of the Taoiseach. I do not have a difficulty with nominations by the Taoiseach. I am not interested in creating a situation where the...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator is in Government. Imagine how we feel.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: That is correct.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (3 Nov 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I thank the House for the time given to the motion and the various speakers who contributed. It has been a very interesting debate, but I am totally discouraged. I have spent 24 years trying to make movement on this issue, but no movement has taken place. I am glad Senator Mullen made his concluding points. My criticism of the system of election is not to be taken as a criticism of the...