Results 481-500 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I am asking you to consider this, a Chathaoirligh.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: Perhaps you will raise it at the committee. However, given that the Official Languages (Equality) Bill was passed in the House recently, it would be helpful if the prayer was read as Gaeilge amháin chun ár dtacaíochta a theaspáint don teanga. I refer to the recent 15 page document published by the Taoiseach outlining the Government's record. Amazingly, people do not believe it. It is...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I know Government Senators are dying to have such a debate but we are confused on this side of the House. We have missed the point somewhere along the way.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: The issue of prices and inflation, raised by Senator Finucane, can be discussed during the debate on Sustaining Progress. However, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has raised the issue of the groceries order on three or four occasions recently. I do not know what is the correct view to take. I suspect most of us are the same. We have received material for and against from all...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I am absolutely aware of that, a Cathaoirligh. I am not for one moment casting any aspersions on the Clerk. I am just asking whether we should change that Standing Order to state that the prayer need only be read as Gaeilge. That would do me fine.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I am absolutely aware of the procedure. After listening to it every day for 17 years I have learnt it – slowly, but I have learnt it.

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: Some do not want to allow God to stay in the Constitution.

Seanad: Sustaining Progress: Statements. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I thank the Minister of State for outlining the position. It gives me great pleasure to discuss this issue. I strongly support the points made earlier by Senator Mansergh about the effort that goes into the production of such a report. I ask the Minister to convey my thanks to the teams of civil servants who worked day and night and at weekends over a long period, and have done so for the...

Seanad: Sustaining Progress: Statements. (27 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: No, not the drink, the pizza. We are anti-drink at the moment. We cannot mention drink. I am talking about the basic margherita pizza, which one can get anywhere in Italy for about €5.50 to €6, whereas it is difficult to get one for less than €7 here. To make comparisons, we should have access to lists showing the price of baskets of commonly purchased goods in the various European...

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: It would be useful for the House to note the nomination of the new Garda Commissioner, Mr. Noel Conroy, and offer him our congratulations and every support on his appointment. I have no doubt that a man born and reared with the taste of salt in his mouth in Blacksod on the Mullet Peninsula, with all the good sense possessed by people from that part of the country, will make a huge impression...

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: It might help.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: There has been a change in prices since 1963.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: The Bill was published two years ago.

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I propose to share my time with Senator O'Meara.

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Bill, which is timely. Many different groups in society have negotiated on this issue and I have always felt that we are behind the game regarding maternity provisions. In particular we have been behind Europe. One of the solid reasons for the support of the trade union movement for the second Nice treaty referendum was the feeling that many groups, particularly women, were...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: In my 16 years here I have not seen a Bill break new ground in terms of early consultation like this one. I would welcome an assurance from other Members of the House who have experience of this in both this and the other House. This Bill was published in draft form. The heads of the Bill were published and circulated to every group with an interest in it. It has been on the website of the...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: The US Securities and Exchange Commission is the leading financial regulator and authority in the world. I stated on Second Stage that what was happening in Ireland was also happening in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. The SEC is a God-like body in this field, to which every American and foreign firm is beholden. Yesterday it held a public meeting, which...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: I fully support the views of Senator Coghlan on this issue, on which the audit review group spent some considerable time. The consumer would be protected if we could protect the term "accountant". I am concerned that I could put up a plate outside my office saying, "Joe O'Toole, Accountant" without being attached to any body or subject to any regulation. When I tried to do something about...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Joe O'Toole: In the normal way in which the IASA will carry out its duties, it will not actually be investigating cases, but will simply apply the rule, as it were, to ensure that the bodies are investigating cases properly. The Bill allows the authority to undertake the investigation itself in certain cases, and in such situations it would incur costs. It is unlikely that would happen very often. It is...