Results 441-460 of 519 for speaker:Mary Ann O'Brien

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (16 Jul 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I trust Irish Water will be enshrined in public ownership forever. I hope, therefore, that what Senator Darragh O'Brien has said about it being privatised down the track is completely wrong. At this point we must be visionaries. As the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine often says, water and food are two of our most valuable resources. We must get the infrastructure right. I...

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I move amendment No. 1: In page 24, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Repeal of sections 15 and 16 of Act of 1992 28. The Minister, not later than 60 days following the commencement of this Act, shall lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the matter of the amendment of the Act of 1992 in Part 1 by the repeal of sections 15 and 16.”. We...

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank the Minister. We are delighted with that response and look forward to the 90 days coming to an end. Is that from the commencement of this Act? Does the Minister have any idea when that will happen?

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: For the commencement of the Act.

Seanad: Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (21 Jul 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: That is super. I thank the Minister, and I withdraw my amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Sep 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I support Senator White on the call to bring down capital gains tax. It is utterly ridiculous at 33%. We will actually get more money in if we bring it down. I would not agree, however, on female entrepreneurs. Being a female entrepreneur - if I even understand that word - being a person, anyway, who has been in business since I was 16, I never had a problem. I do not know whether I am...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Sep 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I rise today to talk about charity regulation in Ireland or the lack thereof. I cannot believe I am coming back to this subject. I wrote a report in 2012, I think, just to give colleagues a quick reminder. Do my colleagues know how much money the Government gives to charities in Ireland each year? It gives in excess of €4 billion. My colleagues should think of all the schools in...

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (30 Sep 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Minister and thank him for the opportunity to communicate on this issue here. As we approach the budget, and I welcome the fact that the Minister is in the House because I know he will be on the same page as me, I believe it will be a budget for our carers. Family carers have consistently lost allowances, benefits and supports over the past four years, as well as services on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Sep 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Minister's comment on the bloodstock industry and on Goffs, which raised €23 million from the sale of amazing yearlings, all Irish bred. The China Racing Club paid the top price of €1.7 million for a yearling bred by a Cork man who started with nothing and now owns the Alexander Hotel, the Davenport and a farm in County Kildare. The horse has come to be broken...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Sep 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: No, it is huge. I was at the first global economic forum when we set significant targets for the Pathways For Growth. It has been an amazing story. We are on a journey and one has to stay on it because one will not be part of the game unless one has a sustainable badge.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Sep 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Thank you so much.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Sep 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Yes, but I was in PricewaterhouseCoopers yesterday talking to companies making €10 million which were trying to get to €20 million. I am a very simple person with a great team, but I worked with Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia over the years and they drove me crazy with business plans and lean manufacturing ideas. We went through a lot to become the company we are.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Today is the International Day of Older Persons. I would like to have a debate here about our mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters and ourselves, and talk about how our children will care for us in the future. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, said here yesterday:While we currently enjoy favourable demographics over many other European...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sheep Sector: Irish Farmers Association (6 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I agree with the comments of previous speakers. I also agree that the coupling payment needs to be more incentivised in the context of quality and productivity and it should be measured. Ireland averages €6.35 a head while the other 22 member states average €12 a head. Why is there such a massive gap? I am taken by the commonage issue and how we must address that. Donegal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sheep Sector: Irish Farmers Association (6 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: From a marketing point of view, An Bord Bia announced, by way of press release on its website, that it has received the baseline study of the EU lamb campaign. It is a very interesting press release.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Organic Farming Scheme: Organic Farmers Representative Body (8 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank all the representatives for coming in and making a presentation and for taking a day off because I would say they can afford to take a day off like the can afford to have a hole in the head. I also thank Deputy Thomas Pringle who invited the representatives to appear before the committee. Is it possible in a timely fashion to invite in the management of the organic certification...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Organic Farming Scheme: Organic Farmers Representative Body (8 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: He is involved with organic people in Kildare.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Organic Farming Scheme: Organic Farmers Representative Body (8 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: We have been appalled by what we have heard about the payment but we have hit on something here with land use and commonages. Let us imagine if that could be done. We must remember that the prize is the export potential of a €22 billion market in Europe. In Lidl, organic vegetables are very affordable for people but none of them is Irish. Lidl loves buying Irish-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Organic Farming Scheme: Organic Farmers Representative Body (8 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: -----but with the mess in this sector, what hope do farmers have of supplying Lidl? What country in the EU has best practice in terms of state incentives and administration for organic for us to aspire to? What country is the one?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Organic Farming Scheme: Organic Farmers Representative Body (8 Oct 2015)

Mary Ann O'Brien: It sounds like we are in an appalling mess here and it would be great if we could look at best practice and decide to do better than that. Our positioning in Europe on the edge of the Atlantic allows us to have a good go at this.