Results 661-680 of 7,640 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I thank Senator Norris for tabling the amendment and expressing his objections to the original wording so eloquently because I agree with him. What turns on the executive's ability to make a determination regarding a person on foot of a care needs assessment report that is it unlikely the person will ever cease to require care services during his or her lifetime? Why does that need to be...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I agree with Senator Norris. While I accept what the Minister of State said in regard to the issue of consent, that does not deal with the whole problem. It may be the case that there should be a requirement that the content of the care needs assessment report should be provided, subject to the consent of the person involved and to incorporate Senator Norris's concerns by including,...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: That seems strangely predictable.

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I have no objection to the subjection of the report to consent but it is not contradictory to suggest that the word should be "shall" rather than "may" because the State should be required to provide a report irrespective of whether the subject of the care assessment or the specified person wishes to withhold consent. My concern is that the provision as it stands might let the State off the...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: Even if the specified person consented to the dissemination of the report, the question remains of whether an obligation exists on the part of the authorities to provide a care needs assessment report. Assuming consent on the part of the subject of care or the specified person, is it the Minister of State's intention to impose such an obligation? The word "may" suggests otherwise.

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: Will the Minister consider, therefore, changing the word "may" to "shall"? Once it has been subjected to the issue of consent could she not do that?

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: Would the Senator not say the tyres are gone a little soft?

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I am always pleased to see good ideas taken up and I compliment Fine Gael and, in particular, Deputy Denis Naughten, for his comments on the need to criminalise the purchasers of sexual services from people in prostitution. As Members will be aware, last week I brought forward this idea as part of a more wide-ranging Private Members' motion on the needs of victims of human trafficking. I am...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: It is wonderful to have such harmony because this is what Archbishop Martin was rightly getting at when he suggested it would be untenable for there to be such a predominance of Catholic schools in circumstances in which the same percentage of people did not wish for it. We must examine honestly and carefully at the issues of parental choice. I note and recommend to Members the comments of...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: Did the Senator go to Specsavers?

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I note what Senators Regan and Ross had to say about the Lisbon treaty, and they are always eloquent and compelling. I want to put it on the record that whereas some newspapers are numbering people who, allegedly, are going to jump ship into the "Yes" camp, it is certainly not based on anything I said. I shall do what I said I would do all along, namely, look at the guarantees in detail,...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: It is interesting to note a very eloquent and tragic piece by Carl O'Brien in The Irish Times where he talks about people in the Leader's area of Castlepollard who are still stuck in institutional settings, people with intellectual disabilities who should be at the top of the queue in our society but who are, yet again, being placed at the bottom. Shame on those responsible for such a...

Seanad: Night-time Rural Transport: Statements (23 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: Ba mhaith liom mo chuid ama a roinnt leis an Seanadóir Doherty.

Seanad: Night-time Rural Transport: Statements (23 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: Is mian liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire. Nuair a sheol sé an scéim phíolótach — an scéim oíche iompair tuaithe — bhí mé an-tógtha le cé chómh líofa agus paiseanta a labhair sé faoin rationale a bhí laistiar den scéim. Dúirt sé go raibh sé tábhachtach go mbeadh ceannaireacht ag teacht ón phobal chun seirbhísí taistil a chur ar fáil chun cabhrú le daoine dul go...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Second Stage (23 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I welcome the Multi-Unit Developments Bill to the Seanad. Unfortunately, it is long overdue for many young people who had to suffer the exorbitant costs of apartments over the past six years and who also had to suffer further at the hands of certain unscrupulous developers even after they bought them. Buying a unit in a multi-unit development raises complex...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I will start on a positive note by welcoming the Minister of State's amendment. I may be jumping ahead slightly but it is relevant to what we are discussing. It follows from a request I made last week and I thank the Minister of State for following through on her commitment in that regard. That was essentially to move from the singular to the plural in dealing with the assessment issue. I...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: While I do not fault the Minister of State, there is an absence of good faith on the Government's part and, therefore, to call it a fair deal is something of a euphemism. It is a fair deal given what is available to people, but it is not a fair deal compared to their entitlements. That is why we are concerned about a situation where four fifths of a person's income is to be taken in payment...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 12: In page 16, line 26, after "Act." to insert the following: "The percentage value accruing to the Executive under this part shall not exceed 15 per cent of the estimated market value established under section 10.". This amendment attempts to set out what will happen when a house that was valued when its owner entered a nursing home loses some of its value thereafter....

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: As I said during the debate on earlier amendments, something dramatic seems to be at work in this legislation. It seems the State is to be permitted to appropriate a significant portion of a person's property to itself. If, as a result of a change in the market value of housing, the amount being taken were to be more punitive than 15% of the value of the property at the time the State is...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Rónán Mullen: I also thank the Minister of State for tabling amendment No. 17 which goes some way towards making the relevant provision more humane and personal. It is important that the expressed verbal or written wishes of a person be taken into account. I welcome the comprehensive nature of amendment No. 17 in this regard.