Results 941-960 of 7,652 for speaker:Joanna Tuffy

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I accept the Minister's comments.

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I move amendment No. 12: In page 15, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following new subsection: "(7) The First Schedule to the Freedom of Information Act 1997 is amended at paragraph 1(2) by inserting 'the Education (Former Residents of Certain Institutions for Children) Finance Board' after 'the Defence Forces,'.". The purpose of this amendment is to bring the education finance board...

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I thank the Minister for accepting our amendment. It corrects an error my colleague, Senator Ryan, discovered yesterday and he must take credit for spotting it. It took me a while to see the error when reading the section.

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I move amendment No. 16: In page 20, before section 34, but in Part 4, to insert the following new section: "34.—Nothing in the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002 prohibits an applicant from disclosing the fact that he or she made an application to the Board and the name of the institution, the category of abuse and injury and the amount of the award that are referable to that...

Seanad: Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (23 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I concur with the comments of Senators Henry and Ulick Burke. I thank the Minister and her staff for their work on this legislation. The education finance board is a very worthwhile initiative and I hope it will be successful. It is a very positive way to help compensate the victims of abuse and to help them in their future lives. I agree with Senator Ulick Burke that it would be useful to...

Seanad: Grangegorman Development Agency Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I support the amendment in principle. Much work is done in involving the public in consultation in preparing the draft and the period before the strategic plan is adopted. On Second Stage I pointed out that when we dealt with Adamstown the significance of the consultation process was that substantial amendments were made arising out of consultations with the community. This is provided for in...

Seanad: Grangegorman Development Agency Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I presume it is implicit in this section that the Minister will have to reasonably hold the opinion on which he or she bases the decision to remove a member of the proposed agency. Can the Minister refer to any similar precedent in other legislation?

Seanad: Grangegorman Development Agency Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: There is a safeguard in subsection (12). If a person were removed by the Minister, the person to be appointed in place of that person would still be picked in the same manner as the person who was removed. For example, the councillors elect members of Dublin City Council and, therefore, would also elect a member's replacement.

Seanad: Grangegorman Development Agency Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: The provision in this section that the chief executive, or member of staff of the agency, if he or she is nominated to Seanad Éireann or elected to either House is seconded from his or her job for up to ten years is a good one. That should apply to all civil servants. As I understand it, a civil servant must give up his or her job in order to become a Deputy, Senator or Member of the...

Seanad: Grangegorman Development Agency Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (28 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I thank the Minister and her staff for bringing forward this Bill and for all the work they have done. My father, Eamon Tuffy, would be flattered to be mentioned in this debate. I agree with Senator Fitzgerald regarding the pioneering work of the VEC-DIT over many years. As I said on Second Stage, this is a tradition that must be continued and built upon. Institutions such as University...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed). (29 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: We have no difficulty with these amendments. I do not have anything to add to what was said by Senator Cummins.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed). (29 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I want to raise a point of order. I understand that I should have spoken after Senator White.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed). (29 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I indicated from the beginning.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed). (29 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I accept that but I felt I should point it out. I am pleased the Minister has returned because the issue of the ombudsman is one of the fundamental issues in the Bill. I am not happy with the solution the Minister has put forward. While it is a step in the right direction, it is still a fudge. Senator White said one should be able to identify the person. It does not matter because it is still...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed). (29 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: The whole point of such a role is that one person acts as one's advocate. The Garda Síochána Complaints Board has a chairperson but given that we have decided to set up a new institution we should go the whole way and have a single person as ombudsman. I have been trying to find a copy of Senator Maurice Hayes's 1995 report. I have made the point before that the Ombudsman Act came into...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed). (29 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I appreciate the Minister's reasons for bringing forward the new section 35. It refers to one of the recommendations of the Morris report. However, I agree with the concerns expressed by Senators. We will have to examine how it works. We should have had more time to consider these amendments. While I am aware that much debate was held on this matter, the House could have sat longer and held...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: Amendment No. 35, which deals with the three year review, is welcome. The professional standards unit is welcome in itself but as Senator Cummins said, it does not go far enough. If we want a review, it should be an independent review. We are still perpetuating the practice of the gardaí reviewing their own performance. There is nothing wrong with that. It is welcome that people would review...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I share Senator Cummins's view that this measure is welcome. The Minister mentioned that the Labour Party raised this issue and I believe Senator Cummins raised the question of gardaí complaining to the ombudsman. He has made the same point again today. Senator Cummins has pointed to a possible flaw in the provision. Although it gives statutory basis to the concept of whistleblowing, it is...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: I would like to speak about amendment No. 123. Although I could be mistaken, I understand it introduces a new subsection (2) in this section of the Bill. The amendment refers to the following subsection as subsection (2) — the number does not seem to have been changed. Is that correct? I am making a technical point.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Joanna Tuffy: Okay.