Results 461-480 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Seanad: Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Apr 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Like others, I welcome the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013 which will expand the definition of human trafficking and ensure people are not exploited for the purposes of forced begging and criminal activity. I would like, if I may, to start by thanking people who work in Ruhama and the Migrant Rights Centre and the many others who have worked enormously hard with...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Apr 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: It does not describe the problem for me. As the Minister of State said we should call it what it is, slavery, as other have done. It is slavery. Perhaps that is a word that would resonate more clearly with members of the public and would help them to begin to understand that this is a massive problem of our time and that once there is money to be made in trafficking, slavery, the pushing...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Apr 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: This morning I would like to welcome the formation of the working group, comprising the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Minister of States at the Department of Health, Deputies White and Lynch, to tease out the difficulties with the protection of maternal life Bill, with the aim of presenting the heads of that Bill to...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Mr. Seán Kelly, MEP (30 Apr 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome Mr. Seán Kelly, MEP. As Senator Cummins has rightly said, credit is due to him for the enormous amount of work he does in Europe and for his work in his previous role as president of the GAA. I wonder, as I sit here, which EU country is closest to counties Kilkenny or Kerry in their race to be supreme at various sports. One of the main dilemmas, and Mr. Kelly touched on it,...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Mr. Seán Kelly, MEP (30 Apr 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am sorry, far right. I thank the Senator. In the vacuum where people are not connecting with Europe it is very easy to create a message that Europe is too strong, has too much power, that the power should revert to the sovereign and that we do not want Europe interfering in our lives. That message then takes hold in the vacuum that is caused by the fact that our capacity to connect with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (1 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Given that the convention on the constitution will discuss the idea of people voting in presidential elections at Irish embassies in the future, perhaps we would encourage the petitioner to make a submission to the convention. As an alternative member of the convention, I can assure the petitioner that any submission he might chose to make would be read carefully and would be considered...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (1 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I would like to give the same encouragement to this petitioner as to the previous one. All the submissions are read and noted. The petitions to the Constitutional Convention are very welcome.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (1 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: This is a particularly welcome petition because it is a matter of public health in public space. I think the petitioner has great foresight, given that the Department of Health has recently launched the Healthy Ireland document, a joined-up strategy for a healthy Ireland. This is the kind of area that the Healthy Ireland document would seek to include, so the recommendation that we seek a...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Senator knows very well that it is a complete fabrication to state the Government has no plan to try to rectify the problem with the domestic economy.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: While foreign direct investment does not have a direct impact on Mary in County Donegal or Mary in County Kerry, it is a very important part of the strategy which will, in time, build a stronger economy. The plan is to stimulate the domestic economy in the next year once we have exited the troika arrangement. We will then be able to begin to invest and stimulate the economy. The Senator...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I do. I join other Senators in welcoming the heads of the proposed Bill on the protection of life. As others have done, I ask the Leader whether we can have a debate on the matter when it is timely and appropriate to do so. Yesterday a Senator criticised the process because he did not like the outcome. Reference was made to the Joint Committee on Health and Children and the Seanad not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (2 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: To clarify, does Deputy Ó Cuív propose the joint committee should oppose this measure?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Update on CAP and CFP: Discussion with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (7 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister and, in particular, his officials for the enormous effort to which he referred. I am sure they have been working extremely hard. Is one part of the trialogues batting more than the others for smaller farmers? It is a difficult question. The idea of supporting young farmers coming through the system almost becomes irrelevant if small farming is in danger, because farms...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sale of Coillte's Harvesting Rights: Discussion with Society of Irish Foresters (7 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: The delegation is welcome. I have a couple of queries that may sound as if I am thoroughly in favour of selling off every tree but that is not the case. Perhaps the delegation will clarify the following matters for me. Mr. Magner listed some of the standards that he worries will be compromised if harvesting rights are sold. To me, they look like standards that anybody involved in a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sale of Coillte's Harvesting Rights: Discussion with Society of Irish Foresters (7 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Chairman wishes us to bank all of the questions and then the delegation will have an opportunity to respond.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sale of Coillte's Harvesting Rights: Discussion with Society of Irish Foresters (7 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Would Mr. Magner mind answering the questions asked by Senators as we must go and vote.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sale of Coillte's Harvesting Rights: Discussion with Society of Irish Foresters (7 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I must leave but I will be back. Perhaps the witness will respond to other members' questions.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (8 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Commissioner to the House. She outlined the importance of Horizon 2020 but is there a chasm between those who are trying to make it work and the wider world? There is still a gap of knowledge and understanding which we can see for parents and young people who have not quite caught on to the STEM subjects mentioned earlier by the Commissioner. I recently ran an event for...

Seanad: Domestic Violence: Motion (8 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I commend my colleague, Senator Moloney, for tabling the motion and I am pleased to second it. It is an issue with which I have been much involved in terms of support and raising it. As Senator Moloney stated, it is an issue which does not get raised often enough. We are making a contribution today, not only through raising the issue again,...

Seanad: Domestic Violence: Motion (8 May 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Senator's time has expired.