Results 1,281-1,300 of 1,886 for speaker:Fergal Browne

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Feb 2006)

Fergal Browne: Some of the amendments were merely comical and I would hate to debate the merits of this Bill on "Prime Time." In my three and a half years in this House, it is the first occasion on which I have been unhappy about my own knowledge of a Bill after completing my consideration of it. I was in disagreement with a number of amendments because of my confusion. I ask the Minister of State that, in...

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Feb 2006)

Fergal Browne: The Bill deals with giving people the option of writing prescriptions and the aforementioned court case highlighted the farcical nature of the current situation. Currently, anyone can get a prescription from a pharmacy by having a letterhead printed. In England they are barcoded.

Seanad: Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2005 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Feb 2006)

Fergal Browne: It is a matter we should have considered and it is regrettable it is not in the Bill. Prescriptions should be barcoded in the interests of patients and the public. I am unhappy with the Bill but I hope it is not as bad as it seems.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: I suggest that the register of electors should be put on-line to allow people to check whether they are on the register. People often think they are registered and discover afterwards they are not. If the register were on-line, it might help resolve the problem. We should also have an on-line application facility to allow those discovering they are not on the register to apply. At lunchtime I...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: Some 100,000 fewer people have medical cards now than in 1997, a fact that is also omitted from the website. It would be far better if the Government parties were honest with the electorate, reminding it of broken promises in the area and carrying out genuine work in allocating medical cards for longer than the six months for which some people are getting them. Those with long-term illnesses...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: I meant full medical cards.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: That is rubbish. It is a reflection on the guidelines.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: The problem is with 200,000 full cards.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: The Government has broken a promise.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: The Department is promoting them.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: The Government abandoned the 200,000 full medical cards.

Seanad: Mental Health Services. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Seán Power, is well acquainted with Myshall as his uncle lives in Newtown. The matter I raise has had a chequered history although, thankfully, it is now going in the right direction. The house for the centre is on the outskirts of Myshall village and was bought by the OPW in 2000 to be used as a refugee centre. That did...

Seanad: Mental Health Services. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: Some people were deterred from giving expressions of interest, as they were required to have a proven record in the area. While many people would be interested in getting such a facility operational using Dunfirth as a model, they would not have a proven record in the area. Not having a proven record in the area should not debar applicants. It is more important that they show a commitment to...

Seanad: Mental Health Services. (7 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: Exactly.

Seanad: Matter raised under Standing Order 30. (8 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: In the past number of weeks I was approached in my office by a parent whose son has autism. He was assigned to a school in Athy and unfortunately it did not work out for him in so far as he was not able to cope in the school in question. That has been backed up by reports from the principal of the school, psychologists, the special needs assistant, the bus driver and the parents themselves....

Seanad: Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Bill 2006: Second Stage (Resumed). (8 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: I refer to the need for additional staff in An Bord Pleanála and in the planning departments of local authorities. Senator Burke made sense when he commented on the need for forward planning. If we plan adequately and properly ahead, many of the problems that arise currently could be eliminated. For example, Ballon, County Carlow, is crying out for a bypass to the east of the town. I was...

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Statements. (8 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: It was the 1977 election manifesto that bankrupted the country.

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Statements. (8 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: The manifesto bankrupted the country.

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Statements. (8 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: I will not bring up the issue of the salmon and the River Nore today. This is a similar fiasco and the Minister of State's fingerprints are all over it. Senator Mansergh spoke about the significant public support for decentralisation, at more than 80%, as reported in The Irish Times. The real opinion poll, however, was the local elections. Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats lost...

Seanad: Decentralisation Programme: Statements. (8 Mar 2006)

Fergal Browne: The Minister has been wrong in many things too. People are not opposed to decentralisation but they are not stupid. They realise this is a sham. First, the programme should never have been announced in a budget speech. It had nothing to do with the budget. It just highlighted how empty the budget was of any news that the former Minister, Charlie McCreevy, had to include it in his Budget...