Results 501-520 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: I welcome the Tánaiste to the House. I congratulate her on her new position and particularly on being elected the first female leader of the Leader Party and on promotion to the position of Tánaiste. It is a considerable personal achievement to become the third female Tánaiste of the country. I wish her all the best in her role. The Bill contains a number of provisions on...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Trade Relations (15 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: I, too, welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, and congratulate him on his promotion, which is richly deserved. He is one of the few Members on the Government side who regularly makes the trek, as I often do, out to Ballymount. Anybody who is willing to go a few rounds with Vincent is more than able for the job the Minister of State has just been given. As Seanad spokesman...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Trade Relations (15 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister of State for his reply and his assurance that he will raise the matter with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He stated that the decision to close the IDA office was made on commercial grounds, but there are strong commercial reasons to reopen it. The 2013 trade figures represent a drop in the ocean compared with what we could be achieving in Taiwan. It is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: I thank Mr. Healy and Ms Griffin for their opening remarks. I thank Teresa in particular for being very up-front in her presentation about the impact of this lack of services on children. It is totally unacceptable that whether a child receives a vital service is dependent on where he or she lives. This is very unfair to the children concerned. We know that children with special needs...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: Yes; that would be most helpful.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: I apologise because I will have to leave to vote. When will the full reconfiguration of services throughout the country be finished given that some of them are still only at consultation stage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: With regard to the 21 posts and 20% increase to which Mr. Healy referred, what comparison was made?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: When services were lower than they were previously.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: How does this compare to 2011?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: The area I know best is north Dublin. A member of staff there went on maternity leave and was not replaced, and children were left without a service. This was entirely predictable and there should have automatically been a replacement but this did not happen. From raising this issue in the Seanad over the past three years I have learned there seems to be a difference between how many...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: When will these services actually be provided?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: I accept that Mr. Healy is working within resources but I have been asking the same questions for the past three years and getting exactly the same answers. We keep being told a process is under way, money has been allocated and people are being recruited. When will there actually be extra staff in north Dublin providing a service for the children who since November 2012 have not been able...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: Not really. I do not think we have progressed any further on this than when we started and I find that depressing, given the nature of the issue. Services have not improved and all we keep hearing is talk of process, though I mean no disrespect to the witnesses. If the 21 people referred to are recruited by the end of the year I will be the first to congratulate the witnesses. I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: It is 80 in total, of which 21 are in north Dublin. Why have there been such different rates of progress in the reconfiguration around the country? Have there been particular problems? It is stated the plans of the local implementation group are already well developed and are being consolidated in the mid-west, Meath and some parts of Cork. Deputy Daly pointed out that the services are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Special Educational Needs Provision: National Council for Special Education and Health Service Executive (16 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: Has the HSE pitched the Government for that arrangement?

Seanad: Business of Seanad (31 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: On a point of order, given the seriousness of the issues we have returned to the House to debate, it is ridiculous to limit contributions to five minutes. That debases the importance of the issues and means that we will be reduced to soundbites. It is totally ridiculous; let us do our job properly.

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: I sought this debate because like many Irish people, I have been horrified by the violence in Gaza and disappointed by our Government's response. Over the last three weeks, Israel has massacred more than 1,300 Palestinians, including over 300 children, in their homes, hospital beds and mosques, and even in UN schools and emergency shelters. It has injured a further 7,000 people, including...

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: The international community stands disgraced for not backing up our condemnation of Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine with real action and we stand disgraced for expressing full surprise and horror as Israel attacks Gaza for the third time in five years. The experience of the last 47 years has shown us that condemnation of Israel is not enough. Ireland, the EU and the UN must take...

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: That is no longer true. That is ten years out of date.

Seanad: Situation in Gaza and Ukraine: Statements (31 Jul 2014)

Averil Power: What about South Africa?