Results 921-940 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: There is no benefit. The witnesses are satisfied that the Irish Government is turning a blind eye to all of this for nothing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I understand that but, as I have said, that is a separate issue. To be clear, effectively what the witnesses have drawn is a conspiracy which involves the Garda Síochána, the Attorney General, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and GSOC, among others. It is an enormous conspiracy of silence that the witnesses have painted and I am not saying I do not believe them. What I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I wish to draw the attention of the witnesses to the letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to this committee regarding Ireland's appearance before the TDIP committee. The letter states very clearly that Ireland's reply was one of only 13 responses from 45 submissions which did not require further clarification. What does that mean? Do the witnesses know what is being said...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am referring to a letter sent by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Clerk of the Committee on 15 May 2014. The Department is laying out its stall-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: That is not an answer to the question I have just asked. The letter made clear that Ireland's reply was one of only 13 responses from 45 submissions which did not require further clarification. Therefore, the suggestion from the Department is that it's house is effectively in order. I am asking what the Department is saying there because the witnesses are obviously not in agreement with it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I have a further question which relates to the letter referred to earlier which the witnesses understand exists, written by a previous Attorney General. The witnesses have not had sight of it, although I am sure they have asked to see it. Have they requested it under freedom of information legislation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Yes, so have the witnesses made a freedom of information request?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Okay and they have never had sight of the letter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I take it they have asked various people-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Has the Attorney General denied the existence of a letter or just said that she will not share it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Finally, I wish to refer back to the letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It states that the Government received clear and categoric assurances from the US that no transfers of prisoners subject to extraordinary rendition had taken place through Ireland. Effectively, the witnesses are profoundly disagreeing with that and saying that it is not true.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Are there photographs or other evidence of such a prisoner?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Shannon Airport Landings: Discussion (18 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Thank you very much. With the permission of the Chair, may I leave, as I have to attend a parliamentary party meeting that started half an hour ago?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Drinks Industry and Rural Economy: Discussion (24 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: If it were the case that we had comfortable pubs with cheery fireplaces where people could have a nice glass of whiskey and then leave, we would be cheerleaders supporting everything the witnesses do but as my colleagues outlined clearly, unfortunately, that is not the world in which we live. Deputy Ó Cuív referred to the complexity of the scenario, and I concur with that. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Drinks Industry and Rural Economy: Discussion (24 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Mr. O'Brien responded to my question about what he would consider an acceptable excise tax with the comment that such matters are for Government to decide. When he says that the industry simply cannot afford to pay it, is he saying that he wants zero tax?

Seanad: Child Protection: Motion (25 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister. I thank Senator Ivana Bacik and Senator Jillian van Turnhout for tabling the motion. It is important to have this debate. I am saddened and quite shocked that there are no men in the room, apart from the Minister. Those in the Visitors Gallery, one of whom is a man, are welcome. I am puzzled at the lack of men because this is an issue that affects all of us. It...

Seanad: Child Protection: Motion (25 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I am sorry. I was treating the Cathaoirleach in the neutral aspect that chairs ought to be in. Of course, the Cathaoirleach knows what I mean. However, I acknowledge the Chair. If, as Senator van Turnhout has said, we are here to set example, to take a lead in the world and to be able to make any statement at all about our own care for our young people, then we have to do that by example....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (25 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I support the recommendation that we consider whether there is an oversight issue, not least because wearing the committee's other hat, issues arise in terms of the tardiness of some of the HSE's responses to the Ombudsman over the years. I do not suggest for a moment that is relevant in this case but tardiness in the HSE's response might arise again, and if that is the case, I would agree...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (25 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I appreciate the Deputy's concern about the matter being dismissed. However, we have had other petitions before the committee in which a decision was made not to deal with them on the basis that there had not been any prior engagement with another body in order to seek redress or explanation. The decision is based on the committee’s Standing Orders. I understand that if a petitioner...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (25 Jun 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: But we do accept the entertainment value of the petition.