Results 581-600 of 1,886 for speaker:Fergal Browne

Seanad: Medical Cards: Motion (13 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: We normally get copies of it.

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I support Senator McHugh's comment on the new health authority areas. Will the Leader invite the Minister for Health and Children to come back to the House following her impressive performance last night to outline to us what will be the arrangement in terms of staffing for the four new health authorities as compared to the previous 11 health boards and if there will be job losses. This is a...

Seanad: Children Act 2001: Statements. (20 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and congratulate him on his reappointment. There is no real disagreement on this important topic. The points raised are universal. There is a need for greater psychiatric care for troubled children. The recent case of a child being murdered for his mobile telephone proved that point. There was perhaps a psychiatric difficulty. It is vital...

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: On the earlier point on the transfer of long-term patients from accident and emergency units to nursing homes, can the Minister for Health and Children be invited to the House to clarify how this will work in practice? Is she trying to increase the level of subvention for nursing homes considering that the current level presents a real problem? There is a great need for more step-down and...

Seanad: Report on Seanad Reform: Statements (Resumed). (21 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I wish to be associated with those comments. I was not aware that the Minister of State, Deputy O'Keeffe, is a former Member of the House but I wish him well in his new job. Two years ago I knew very little about the Seanad. I am certainly much wiser now, having been a Member of the House for that period. I suppose my knowledge reflects that of the general public, who ultimately know little...

Seanad: Order of Business. (27 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I agree with the points made by my colleagues about nursing homes. It is amazing that this issue is before the House again. In 2001, the then Ombudsman, Mr. Kevin Murphy, produced a report on nursing homes but it appears that the Government has failed again in this area. Almost 15,000 pensioners in long-term care, aged 70 years and over, might have been paying money they need not have paid...

Seanad: Report of Strategic Task Force on Alcohol: Statements. (27 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. It is good to have a discussion on alcohol and it is time to have a mature debate on it. There was much hysteria about banning alcohol and people being in bed by 10 p.m. This may sound great as a possible solution but it will not work. I am very encouraged by groups such as the Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society because that...

Seanad: Planning and Related Issues: Statements (Resumed). (28 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I welcome the Minister of State to the House on what I believe is his first visit since his appointment. Everyone was pleased to see him appointed because of his well-deserved popularity across the political spectrum. I wish him well in his new job. He and Senator Wilson will be a formidable team in Cavan. I hope Deputy Crawford will mark them well.

Seanad: Planning and Related Issues: Statements (Resumed). (28 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: In Monaghan too, I apologise. Wireless technology has serious planning implications. We have all been brought over to Buswell's Hotel recently for briefings on this issue and learned how by inserting a card into one's laptop one can go on-line. The volume of information one can transfer by wireless technology is significant and will become even more incredible. There is a downside, however,...

Seanad: Supervision of Pupils. (28 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: The matter I raise appears simple but is complex. Will the Department of Education and Science clarify who is responsible for school children outside school teaching hours? A case in Carlow was recently brought to my attention. A school in a rural parish there traditionally had two buses providing transport for children. For some reason it was then provided with only one bus, so that one...

Seanad: Supervision of Pupils. (28 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I thank the Minister of State for her reply. It seems that she is putting the ball back in the court of the principal of the school and the board of management. I would be interested to know if any precedents have been established or rulings handed down in court cases in respect of this matter. I may be wrong but, as far as I am aware, teachers are paid for the core hours they work. While...

Seanad: Supervision of Pupils. (28 Oct 2004)

Fergal Browne: I am being brief. I do not wish to put the Minister of State on the spot. Perhaps she could indicate, by way of correspondence at a later date, whether there have been any previous court cases and outline the rulings made therein. Would she also indicate the specific times during which teachers are meant to be present for work?

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: For the past few weeks the skies of every town in Ireland have been lit up like Baghdad because of fireworks. It is time we, as legislators, got real. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is talking about increasing fines but he is only fooling himself. It is worth nothing that in some cases the maximum fine for illegally using fireworks is €5, so the legislation needs to be...

Seanad: Report of National Advisory Committee on Drugs: Statements (Resumed). (3 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: I congratulate the Minister of State on his reappointment. However, based on results I believe he was lucky to be reappointed. The Government is extremely vulnerable in this area. The figures speak for themselves. We cannot blame the Minister of State for the drug problem. However, the main responsibility of the Government and the Minister of State is, in the first place, to allocate funding...

Seanad: Report of National Advisory Committee on Drugs: Statements (Resumed). (3 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: Those are the figures we have been given.

Seanad: Report of National Advisory Committee on Drugs: Statements (Resumed). (3 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: The drugs task force and regional services are under-resourced. I understand they have been given budgets, but mainly for administrative purposes and not necessarily the funding they require to carry out necessary works. The Government promised to spend €2 billion on the RAPID progamme. In my own constituency Graiguecullen and Tullow Road in Carlow benefited from that programme. However,...

Seanad: Report of National Advisory Committee on Drugs: Statements (Resumed). (3 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: If anything, the sale and supply of drugs has gone up. That is proved every week in the newspaper where the local judge is continually talking about the drug problem in Carlow. I hear it myself. Gardaí in Carlow tell me that drug addicts are injecting themselves in the eyeball. Their veins are so badly damaged in other parts of the body that they get some type of buzz from using the drug in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: The US presidential election and its results concerned us yesterday and the day before. There was a major increase in voter turnout and that was great news. One reason for this, as far as I am aware, is that in America the presidential election day is a national holiday. That is something we should look at in Ireland in respect of general elections. A national holiday might encourage people...

Seanad: Order of Business. (4 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: They could vote first and go shopping later.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Nov 2004)

Fergal Browne: Why did the Government cut the number of postgraduate places?