Results 621-640 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Revised Eligibility Criteria for State Pension (Contributory): Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (2 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister for that very useful overview. Those figures are encouraging. We do not often consider poverty rates in that way and think of them as having improved despite the difficulties elsewhere. A petition that came before us related to recognising the importance of work in the home, an issue about which the Minister has spoken previously. The changes were introduced over a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Revised Eligibility Criteria for State Pension (Contributory): Discussion with Minister for Social Protection (2 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: My question is about the other petition. There has been preliminary contact with the Minister's office about the petition which has the broad idea of amending the Social Welfare Acts to provide for the exclusion of short periods of PRSI contribution which then affect a person's overall pension. The Minister's Department advised us that there were no plans to amend the legislation and even...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Perhaps Senator Cullinane should check his figures before he puts them forward. I wish to respond to Senator Leyden's remarks about wanting to dissolve the Government and so on and so forth. That is a pretty useless thing to be saying at this point. I do not believe anyone would thank us for calling for such a thing at a time like this and Senator Leyden knows that perfectly well. He is...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: There is work to be done and that is what we will do.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I do not believe that the future of the Labour Party is what people are interested in.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: What people are interested in is having a country that is better than the country Fianna Fáil left in 2011. I thank the Leader, Senator Cummins, for organising the tributes to Seamus Heaney later today. Seamus's wife, Marie, will join us in the Gallery, and that is important for the Seanad on this day. I can think of no finer way for the Seanad to end its career. Whatever happens...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: It is better than the zero growth when Fianna Fáil was power.

Seanad: An Appreciation of the Life and Work of Seamus Heaney: Statements (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: Minister, Marie, distinguished poets and guests and my friends from the Yeats Society in Sligo, thank you for being here to share in this moment. It is very difficult to pay tribute to a man of Seamus Heaney's immense stature. I am honoured to stand here as a Senator and to be able to contribute. At his death, the Irish Independent described him as the best known poet in the world. In...

Seanad: An Appreciation of the Life and Work of Seamus Heaney: Statements (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I know, but may I finish?

Seanad: An Appreciation of the Life and Work of Seamus Heaney: Statements (3 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: He loved to visit, to read and to talk to the students who came and still come from around the world to learn about Yeats and to enjoy contemporary poetry. He generously signed books for people, worrying in recent years that the shake in his hand from his illness would stop him from doing so, but continuing to do so because he knew how much it meant to people. His generosity of time,...

Seanad: Issues Facing Small and Medium Enterprises in Rural Towns: Motion (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and add my support to the motion. Two aspects concern what we should do for towns centres that are struggling and our vision for their future. I live in Sligo where we have we are lucky because we have the Cranmore regeneration project. While it is slow, it is slow for a good reason because people want to make sure the mistakes made in...

Seanad: Issues Facing Small and Medium Enterprises in Rural Towns: Motion (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: They can offer the life people imagine online but can never lead. We must reimagine towns as offering the authentic version of a life we can lead online. Until we start to realise in our heads and the Civil Service and Government mentality that towns are not what they were, there is no point in restoring them to what they were because it no longer the case. There is a menu of things that...

Seanad: Political Reform: Statements (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: That is a very fine note on which Senator Norris ended his contribution, and we all share his view that at last, Seanad reform and political reform are firmly on the agenda. We cannot walk away from it, and nobody who has been through this referendum wants to walk away from it. My colleague Senator Bacik said perhaps it was too soon and maybe we would come back to it, and I feel sure we...

Seanad: Political Reform: Statements (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: We were not really scrutinised. It became a debate about something else. I am glad the referendum is over because it gives us a firm and proper opportunity to discuss reform, which is where we all wanted to be. Not to be provocative, but most people, whether they voted "Yes" or "No", were looking for change of some description. Some wanted to change it by throwing us out, but that was a...

Seanad: Political Reform: Statements (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Senator's time is almost up.

Seanad: Political Reform: Statements (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: We started at 6.05 p.m. so it was two hours. Is it okay to overrun?

Seanad: Political Reform: Statements (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: At least one set of sixth year students has been asked to write an essay tonight on the outcome of the referendum on the Seanad. That is an example of how it has impacted across the country. I call the Leader.

Seanad: Political Reform: Statements (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: We look forward to a timeline and framework for the proposals. When is it proposed to sit again?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I apologise for not being here for the entire presentation. Ms Sheridan has referred to the fact that the regulations will not just apply to production animals but also to fish, wild animals and pets. I am confused about how we can have regulations for wild animals. Whose responsibility are wild animals? Ms Sheridan went on to say that at the core of the regulations was the principle that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (8 Oct 2013)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am trying to clarify this in my head. Have I understood correctly that this deals entirely and solely with everything produced within the EU? I cannot see where it deals with what is coming in. The EU cannot regulate for food production in other countries outside the EU - I accept that. I am sorry if I am having a stupid day.