Results 41-60 of 3,697 for speaker:Lynn Ruane

Seanad: Children and Youth Affairs: Statements (18 Oct 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I wish to share my time with Senator Alice-Mary Higgins.

Seanad: Children and Youth Affairs: Statements (18 Oct 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I thank the Minister, Deputy Zappone, for her statement to the Seanad and I thank her for taking the time to speak to us in the House. I would like to broadly welcome the child care subsidy package that was announced as part of the budget last week, and I welcome the Minister's work on making this change a reality.As a first step, it represents a significant shift in policy making,...

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Second Stage (19 Oct 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I thank Senator Mark Daly for bringing the Bill before the House. I am delighted to be here on the second or third occasion it is debated and to, hopefully, see it pass. I would also like to thank Dr. John Bosco Conama and everyone from the Centre for Deaf Studies in Trinity College for their work on this Bill and their ongoing dedication to fighting for equality for the deaf community....

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I would like to raise a number of matters today. First, I congratulate the Union of Students in Ireland for having got more than 10,000 people out on the streets yesterday in the fight for both free education and access to education and to show students' distaste at the possibility of third-level loans. I know the education committee is due to discuss the Cassells report, but something must...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Oct 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I would also like the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to come before the House to discuss a disgraceful article he wrote in which he suggests that we should have a school in the inner city only for the children of international bankers. I could not believe what I was reading, that a Fine Gael Minister of State would suggest widening the huge deprivation...

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I am somewhat confused about why the scheme is being called a pilot scheme. I have worked in research for years. We have always carried out pilot schemes to research how well an idea works. However, there is nothing for us to compare this with. There is no pre-test or post-test analysis. The Minister is going straight into the post-test plan. A baseline study should be set out to allow...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Report of the Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education: Discussion (10 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: It appears that universities are in some way advocating an income-contingent loan. Is that based on a lack of faith in the State to provide? I assume the universities would not reject the payment if it came from the State so is it in the absence of a belief that the State will provide a sustainable, publicly-funded system? Do the witnesses see the income-contingent loan as a quicker source...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Report of the Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education: Discussion (10 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: It is just two quick points. Perhaps Professor Deeks can refer to the Australian model and being there to witness the transition there. What was the economic environment in that country at the time that was introduced? Obviously, we are starting from a very different position in Ireland with home owner debt, bank debt and the massive cost of housing, all of which has an impact within a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Report of the Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education: Discussion (10 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I thank the witness for the presentation. I have one question, probably to gain more understanding. I have far more knowledge of the university sector than of the IT sector, so I am curious. I welcomed this presentation more than I welcomed the last one, with the heavy emphasis on income contingent loans. What difference in terms of impact would they have? The university sector sees them...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Report of the Expert Group on Future Funding for Higher Education: Discussion (10 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I am mindful we have not looked at the options put forward. Level 6 and 7 courses have free fees and they usually last three years. Will the institutes also consider looking at level 8 courses of three year duration for people who do not do a level 6 or 7 course but go straight into a level 8 course? Trinity College Dublin is the only institution with set four-year courses. In Trinity the...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: Will the Leader call on the Minister for Health - perhaps it is the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs, although I believe it is the former - to attend the House to debate methadone protocol and the General Medical Services, GMS, contracts? In places around Ireland, for example, Newbridge in County Kildare, there is an 18-month waiting list for a methadone service. The farther...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I support Senator Joan Freeman on the importance of funding for mental health services. In west Tallaght, there was a cluster of five suicides in a short space of time. One of those cases involved a 15 year old young lad. His mother's husband killed himself last year while her mother killed herself a few years ago. She is trying to access support services because she and her 15 year old...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: What about Caranua?

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I seek clarification on section 8(2). In the Minister's initial comments she mentioned one year's growth, which is not what is stated in section 8(2). That section refers to "during the month of August ... grubbing or destroying otherwise". Does the Minister propose deleting section 8(2) and replacing it with what she proposed at the start, which is one-year's growth and not the grubbing...

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: On a point of order-----

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: The legislation does not refer to one year's growth. The legislation refers to growing out. This is simply misinformation.

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I felt very insulted by the Minister's comments when she insinuated that the Bill was too complex and complicated and that she would explain it to us. I want to assure her that everybody in this Seanad has gone through this legislation line by line and that is why there are so many amendments. We do understand it. It is not too complicated for us. What is complicated to understand is why...

Seanad: Micro-plastic and Micro-bead Pollution Prevention Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I am dismayed and genuinely angry at the amendment the Government has tabled in the Seanad today. This Bill banning micro-beads is a small but important one. I was very much looking forward to debating it today and seeing it progress to Committee Stage. That the Government has now moved to block this Bill is grossly unfair and is a clear effort to silence debate on this important...

Seanad: Micro-plastic and Micro-bead Pollution Prevention Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: We are allowing environmental protection to fall victim to parliamentary politics. We cannot even pretend to be living in the era of new politics when party politics is so obviously and clearly dictating the agenda in this House.

Seanad: Mental Health Services Funding: Statements (24 Nov 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I am out of breath after running here from a committee room, which must be a sign that I am not looking after myself very well. I will talk about some of the lived realities on the ground and how the task force and the Minister of State's work can reach the target groups. Last week, I gave a talk at Alexandra College in Dublin 6. The speaker before me gave an amazing speech and spoke about...