Results 881-900 of 7,652 for speaker:Joanna Tuffy

Seanad: Registration of Deeds and Title Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed). (5 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I am a solicitor and I have a vested interest in this, but I do not agree with the suggestion that solicitors would like the legislation to be delayed or that the type of conveyancing practice employed in the past has been in their favour. It is only the legislators who can delay the enactment of legislation. It is up to us to put the system right, not the people who work within it....

Seanad: Visa Applications. (10 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has kindly extended the visa for the persons to whom this Adjournment matter refers, until June this year. However, the Department stated that any fresh application for a visa must be made from outside this country and, thus, the applicants must return to Pakistan to do so. The son of this family is working here as a doctor. His mother and...

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I would also like to debate the issues raised by Senator O'Toole regarding the report of the national task force on obesity. Yesterday, the Taoiseach said he found it shocking that children are not allowed to run around school playgrounds because of fears of litigation. This news is neither shocking nor new. The play policy of the National Children's Office, which was published some years...

Seanad: Schools Refurbishment. (18 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I seek an update on the need for refurbishment work to be carried out at St. Brigid's school in Palmerstown. I have visited the school and seen that there is much work to be done, for example, to repair ceilings and ventilation and so on. It is a good school, housed in an old building and this refurbishment is urgently needed to bring it up to the required standard for the teachers and...

Seanad: Report of National Task Force on Obesity: Statements. (24 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: Senator Feeney spoke about the importance of children playing, an issue on which I would also like to concentrate. I raised the matter in the House last week when the report of the national task force on obesity was first published. I have examined this problem in my local area and have also studied the report on national play policy which was published a few years ago by the National...

Seanad: Foreign Conflicts: Statements. (25 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: It is obvious that I do not have the same insight into this issue as Senator Minihan. As it is not in my brief, I am not as informed about this matter as I would like to be when speaking in a debate of this nature. I agree with the request made during a previous debate for Members to be briefed in advance of debates of this kind. When I examined the website of the Scottish Parliament, I...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Second Stage. (31 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: While this Bill has been subject to much discussion as it passed through the Dáil, time remains for the Seanad to bring it to the proper standard. Senator Kett was self-congratulatory regarding the Government's achievement in bringing forward this legislation. However, as the Government has said, much more needs to be done. In two years, this Government will have been in power for a decade....

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Second Stage. (31 May 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: The Minister of State spoke about the €2.9 billion which is currently spent on services for people with disabilities. If we considered the matter from the perspective I have outlined, the focus would be on the €38 billion which is spent to proof expenditure to ensure everybody has his or her rights enforced, including people with disabilities and people of different genders and ages. In...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: My amendment under this section was disallowed. I have just looked through the list of amendments that have been disallowed and nine of mine are included in it. Many of them deal with the fundamental debate about whether this Bill is sufficient. The imposition of the rule with regard to amendments that put a charge on the State stifles debate on the Bill. This is not the first time we have...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I do not know about that. When I consider some of my amendments, the changes involved are only a matter of degree or wording. For some reason some of my amendments that change "may" to "shall" have been allowed. One could argue that changing from "may" to "shall" puts a charge on the State.

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I would like this issue reviewed because we cannot debate this Bill properly. Many of my amendments raise fundamental issues, including an issue raised with me by the Disability Federation of Ireland which the Taoiseach is, supposedly, considering, but I cannot put that amendment in the House because it has been disallowed. The amendment disallowed in this section removes the word...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I said the issue arose before and was not criticising anybody.

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I support Senator Terry's amendment. Five years is too long a timescale. Even though the Minister of State said a review will take place sooner than five years and not later than five years, it could be done at the very end of the five-year period. Five years is a long time if people are frustrated because the legislation is not working for them. It would be better if the period was shorter....

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: How can the assessment officer be independent of the Health Service Executive if, under section 8, the officer is an employee of the executive?

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: Does the Bill provide that the officer is independent?

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I support Senator Terry's proposals in these amendments. I share her fear that somebody could end up never receiving his or her requirements and never have his or her assessment fulfilled. The scenario she outlined is the type of issue raised by the disability groups with which the Government consulted and relates to the area I understand is called progressivity. Public services are beginning...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I move amendment No. 17: In page 12, subsection (8)(a), line 11, to delete "may" and substitute "shall". The amendment seeks to ensure that the person affected by the assessment would be consulted. As the Bill stands, this is discretionary. I see no reason for not having an obligation that the applicant would be consulted, met, interviewed and so on. This happens in many other areas of the...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I wonder about the Minister of State's response to amendment No. 18. The section's current wording means it is up to the discretion of a Health Service Executive employee whether to arrange an assessment for a person whom he or she thinks may have a disability or is in receipt of a health service provided by the executive or both. The main contact for people covered by this section is with...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: Let us consider a situation whereby somebody with a disability is in a public nursing home and has no contact with anyone except employees of the Health Service Executive who are the only people who might make an application on their behalf. How do we ensure that they do not fall through the system? I appreciate why it is not compulsory, however people could lose out. The HSE employee is not...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (14 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: Amendment No. 26 provides that the executive must keep records specifying "the number of applications for assessments" and "the number of persons to whom services identified in assessment reports have not been provided". It does not refer to service statements, however. I am not sure whether I have used the exact phrase. I refer to statements which are prepared by liaison officers. Such...