Results 1,021-1,040 of 7,123 for speaker:Mary O'Rourke

Seanad: Order of Business. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: I will alter my earlier suggestion. With regard to statements on the humanitarian effort in Iraq, there will be ten minutes each instead of 15 minutes for spokespersons with five minutes each for other speakers. Time can be shared. Order of Business agreed to.

Seanad: Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: I understand the cogency of the Minister of State's argument because I was in Cabinet when this debate raged on and off with varying degrees of ferocity. To all our minds it is somewhat alien that one should bestow upon the Central Bank the role of consumer protector, as envisaged in this section.

Seanad: Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: I understand Senator John Paul Phelan's concern because somehow we see the Central Bank as an overarching and very proper body. However, the idea that it would hold consumers' concerns fast to its heart is slightly improbable, to say the least, and I recall being a participant at various times in that debate around the Cabinet table. Hopefully, the Central Bank will adapt to having this role...

Seanad: Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: I wish to make a few common-sense remarks. I appreciate the practicality of the Senator's proposal. On the surface, it appears practical that the Minister for Finance should consult the Minister with responsibility for consumer affairs on this appointment – in this case, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I am aware that the Minister for Finance has many discussions with her...

Seanad: Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: We will not make this too personal. We can have a giggle about it but apart from the many matters on which he has to consult all the time, this is a financial measure for which responsibility rests with him as Minister for Finance, not with the Minister with responsibility for consumer affairs. Given that when dealing with an earlier amendment we ruled the Director of Consumer Affairs out of...

Seanad: Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: About which we all give out.

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: I am glad to be present at this debate. Obviously we all share the sense of horror at what is happening. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Kitt, for coming to the House because it is not easy.

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: Every one of us feels it. We may not have the strength of volume in our voices – I mean that as a praiseworthy remark to Senator Norris – but we feel it just as much. If we do not express it loudly, it does not mean that we do not feel it—

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: —when we see the television pictures, none of which we can believe now because they contradict one another on the hour. They cannot find the armaments factory or the gas equipment that they told us were there. They cannot find the rose blossoms which were to strew the path of the incoming invaders. Unfortunately and sadly, the invaders, what the Minister called the "occupying forces", are...

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: That has to be the wrong way to do it, throwing it out as if they were the lord protectors who had come to protect the people of Basra and all of these towns, the names of which, along with the those of the rivers and the passwords, trip off our tongues as if we were daily familiar with them. There is something wrong about men and women in uniform giving out aid and having the bullet in the...

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: They have been saying for the past three weeks that he is wounded.

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: If the Minister of State wishes to reply – I know he wishes to be succinct – he should be given time to do so.

Seanad: Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Statements. - Regulatory Reform: Motion. (2 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow. The Seanad adjourned at 7.15 p.m. until 10.30a.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2003.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: The Order of Business is No. 1, National Tourism Development Authority Bill 2002 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] – Report and Final Stages, to be taken at the conclusion of the Order of Business and to conclude not later than 12 noon; No. 2, Data Protection (Amendment) Bill 2002 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] – Report and Final Stages, to be taken at the conclusion of No. 1 and...

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: The Senator was not there.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: The Leader of the Opposition, Senator Brian Hayes, raised, as he has done previously, the matter of the need to appoint an ombudsman for children. I inquired about that matter on the previous occasion, but I do seem to have received a reply. It is four years since the legislation in question was passed. I note the United Nations report castigated us for not having such an ombudsman. The...

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: They are talking.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: I cannot foresee circumstances in which they would come before the House to explain—

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: That is a matter for collective Cabinet responsibility. Senator Ryan also asked whether the riot police were needed last night. I do not know, but the Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform will be in the House today and the matter can be raised with him. He is open to taking questions and giving answers. I reiterate my comment that Members are entitled to go to and from their place of...

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Apr 2003)

Mary O'Rourke: No, it is not a shame.