Results 41-60 of 501 for speaker:Maurice Hayes

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: Senator Higgins's case is most important for both Houses and he should be supported. I hope we are provided with another chance to pay tribute to the public service record of the Information Commissioner, Kevin Murphy. While I am not sure how the motion for the appointment of a new Ombudsman will be handled, I feel that Ms O'Reilly has the capacity to make an excellent Ombudsman. The choice...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Mar 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I have neither a newspaper nor a ticket to sell. I support the request by Senator Brian Hayes and Senator Glynn for an extended discussion on fosterage, child care and social work. Concern about abuse of children in the past has created an atmosphere where people are reluctant to go into social and child care work or to take on fosterage. The people who are suffering are the children who need...

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I support Senator Brian Hayes's request for a debate on Northern Ireland which would be timely, although whether it will still be timely next week is another matter. The blueprint mentioned by the Senator will be published next Thursday and the Leader might guarantee us a debate, perhaps the following Tuesday. It is not a question of avoiding a Friday sitting but of allowing time to see the...

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. (2 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I find a good deal to support in what Senator Browne said, but I stop short of endorsing his scepticism about the bone fides of the Government. All war is filthy – we all know that. The first casualty of war is truth and we just labour on from that. We are in danger of almost canonising Saddam Hussein by having produced an anti-hero in the form...

Seanad: Crime Levels: Statements. (3 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on the enthusiasm and energy with which he is tackling his job and his commendable honesty in showing us the warts in this area. I was taken by the wise contributions of Senators Dooley and Quinn and endorse much of what they say. Like other Members, I will not have time to say all the things I want to but, with a certain degree of authorial pride,...

Seanad: Crime Levels: Statements. (3 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: They do the things that are paraded for them in the media as the smart and sassy thing to do. I am all for sports and it is an important way of mobilising children by giving them a sense of responsibility. At present, sport is used to mobilise them into the drinking culture. I am glad the Minister for Health and Children is dealing with this issue. I wish the Minister for Justice, Equality...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (8 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I, too, welcome the Minister. I also appreciate the address of the Minister for Defence, Deputy Michael Smith. I am strongly in favour of this Bill, as one might expect. I had forgotten it was as long ago as 1998 that we pondered these matters. It causes me to reflect on the long gestation period that seems to be required in Departments of Justice, North and South, in dealing with matters...

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I am sorry to go back over something mentioned yesterday. It was my fault as I had failed to catch the Leas-Chathaoirleach's eye in time. Senator Daly raised the matter of the public health response to SARS, a hugely important and relevant issue, and the Leader undertook to refer it to the Minister for Health and Children. I ask her to extend the reference to include the preparations that...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: While I do not want to prolong this debate or anticipate what might be in a regulation, I agree with the Minister of State. It may have been a misprint but it is difficult to see where the amendment would fit in between lines 44 and 45. Subsection (4) deals with a series of exclusions and to add a proscription would be to mix the sugar with the salt. These small matters are better dealt with...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: As the Minister of State is thinking in terms of regulations, it might not be a bad idea to build in a provision for lay representation and to have somebody from both sides outside the process which is often useful on this type of board.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: One presumes that both services will send their best and brightest people to the other forces. One hopes, therefore, that cases where disciplinary action is necessary will be few and far between. In such circumstances and in order to encourage people to take up the offer, it is advisable to lean in favour of giving people the safeguards they want. It would not be right if cases were heard in...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: This has been something of a difficulty in the past, in my experience. People have avoided disciplinary action they were obliged to face by retiring on the grounds of ill health. There was some evidence of a degree of collusion by management in the matters at which I looked in order that a case could be removed from the books or a difficult employee could be removed. Does this amendment cover...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: Yes.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I do not want to get into the petty details of these matters, but it should be pointed out that officers leave with certain enhancements, such as added years or a lump sum. They do much better than others. If they are dismissed on disciplinary grounds, they do not receive the benefits I have mentioned. Even though the difficult person may have been removed from the premises, there should be...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: Since I raised a few hares, I wish to offer the Minister of State an olive branch at this point. I do not think it is worth imperilling this Bill by getting into the wider questions of the negotiation of terms and conditions for gardaí. It strikes me that if one was seen to import some sort of special condition about not allowing people to retire or about the sickness benefits, the...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I too regard this as a bit anomalous and I wonder why it turned out the way it is. The Schedule to the Bill is simply the recital of an agreement between the two Governments and it does not seem to me to be amenable to amendment by a motion in the House. It might be helpful and sensible in any case if the Minister of State, with the corresponding Minister in Northern Ireland and the Chief...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I take it that exchanges under Article 5 of the agreement are not rank-related. In other words, women members of the Northern Ireland Police Service, who have very good experience in dealing with family violence and so on, could be drawn in for their expertise, regardless of rank.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Police Co-Operation) Bill 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (9 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I joint the other Senators in thanking the Minister of State for remaining here and discussing these important matters. If I could put on the mantle of the Patten Commission for a moment, I am sure we would all be very gratified to see one of the very important recommendations being brought into operation. I do not want to cause too much distress by talking about things such as computers. It...

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I support Senator Brian Hayes in his request for a risk assessment regarding SARS and the Special Olympics. I hope this would also include a safety assessment. When I raised the issue last week, it was largely with the purpose of facilitating the Special Olympics and making sure that points of entry would be sufficiently staffed to enable the Games to take place. It would be a pity if we...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (16 Apr 2003)

Maurice Hayes: I came here today to welcome the Bill and commend the work of Senator O'Toole. I regret that he is leaving the Chamber because I was going to say something about him and the committee of which he was a member. I am in a bit of a quandary because he has described this legislation as a non-negotiable document. If that is the case, why it is before the House and why will there be a Committee...