Results 741-760 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry

Seanad: Family Home Bill 2011: Second Stage (27 Jul 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am delighted to have the opportunity to introduce this Bill. Senator Thomas Byrne and I worked on it and it was informed by a body of work that continued for two years or more. It involved the Prevention of Family Homes Repossessions Group in Sligo and listening to wider commentary and debate. The Bill enjoys the support of New...

Seanad: Family Home Bill 2011: Second Stage (27 Jul 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I take this opportunity to welcome to the Visitors' Gallery Mr. John Lee of the Daily Mail, the only person in the media who had the courtesy and manners to acknowledge the existence of this House and to come here to listen to this important debate.

Seanad: Family Home Bill 2011: Second Stage (27 Jul 2011)

Marc MacSharry: Regardless of whether it is in order to do so, I welcome Mr. Lee and I apologise to the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I thank all Senators for their contributions. There is much in the Bill that everyone would welcome. As the Minister of State indicated, the Government has four main issues with this legislation. The first of these is that the Bill is simply not necessary. However, almost everyone...

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I agree with Senator Leyden in calling for an urgent debate on health. There are many issues that continue to afflict the health service, not least the budgetary restraints all over the country, the moratorium on staff recruitment, the relegation of the people of the north-west region to second class citizens in the context of the provision of services. A silent vigil will take place this...

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I have. Thank you for the latitude you have afforded me. The Bill enjoyed the support of many independent Senators because it had real proposals, which The New Beginning group called "the only show in town" for providing real options to people. They were denied because "they were not necessary", according to the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, on the night of the debate. However,...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: Will the Leader ask the Minister for Health to report immediately on the existence of Labour Relations Commission agreements between unions representing ambulance staff and the HSE National Ambulance Service wherein it has been agreed that sick leave must be offered to staff as overtime, and whether he will make an immediate statement on the matter? If what has been alleged to me in private...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: Rest assured that Fianna Fáil will re-present the Family Home Bill and bring forward proposals that represent help for desperate and hopeless families, not present a legislative programme that was announced to a great fanfare-----

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: -----but which, unfortunately, is empty of the real solutions families need.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I, too, welcome the actions of the Government on this matter. As Senator Bradford said, the families in question are from Sligo. They have waited a long time for closure on this issue. A former Member of this House, John Minihan, was in Lebanon at the time the soldiers died. I believe the Captain of the Guard in Leinster House was also serving at the time. We all welcome the progress on...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: -----in denying access to information when it is sought on behalf of the public by ourselves.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: My question to the Leader is simply that we must assert ourselves if we are to be in any way useful as an institution of the State. If we cannot get answers to questions, there is surely a major problem. It is not possible for us to invite the chief executive of the NRA to the Chamber and ask a legitimate question on behalf of the people of the north west region who, in recent years, have...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I call for a debate on the nation's roads and if the Minister finds he does not have the competence to participate in the debate, perhaps he will send in the CEO of the NRA, for this is the person who seems to be responsible for all of these issues.

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I join Senator Darragh O'Brien in again calling for the Minister for Health to come to the House as a matter of the utmost urgency for a debate on a series of issues that all of us on all sides wish to discuss, not least the most worrying one that €6 million is being written off in by HSE west. Will the Leader schedule an early debate on social welfare, in particular on the processing of...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I join with the Acting Leader in seconding the amendment to the Order of Business to call on the Minister, Deputy Shatter, to come to the House and address the situation regarding domestic violence against women throughout the country. Some 3,000 or more were refused access to a refuge last year. I have personal experience of the issue as I chair a group in the north west to advance the...

Seanad: Address by President of the Irish Human Rights Commission (28 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I welcome Dr. Manning. While I did not have the pleasure to serve with him, I have got to know him over several years. With regard to some of the greats he mentioned, I shared an office with Dr. Maurice Hayes for some years. Certainly, when one considers the contribution made by such people, it certainly also shows the contribution this House has made, albeit in its flawed state. These...

Seanad: Company Closures: Motion (Resumed) (28 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: I thank Labour Party Senators for giving us the opportunity to discuss this issue. Although we agree with much of the amendment proposed by Sinn Féin, my party will be supporting the motion because we do not believe the principles set out in it should be lost. Perhaps the issues raised by Sinn Féin should be the subject of a debate in their own right. I do not want to repeat what others...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: We are opposing the Order of Business, to which I propose an amendment that the Minister for Health come to the House immediately to discuss the many issues within the health service which amount to a national crisis. A number of years ago a particular Senator, who will remain nameless, used to annoy me as he went through the newspapers each day. I regret to say one has no option but to go...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: What is the health strategy that presides as 371 people were on trolleys throughout this country yesterday?

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: What is our health strategy? I can assure the Senator that I was no less vocal when I sat where she sits today when I saw things being done wrongly. I expect her to be equally as forceful as I was when I sat on the front bench on the other side of the House-----

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2011)

Marc MacSharry: -----when I saw injustices done. This is a disgrace. The Minister, Deputy Reilly, went on a well-documented trip to China with an official not from his Department but from his office, a councillor from north Dublin and his wife. One wonders what level of management and responsibility the Government will take when an Adjournment matter was declined last week because the Minister concerned...