Results 1,301-1,320 of 1,597 for speaker:Cecilia Keaveney

Seanad: Proposed Legislation (12 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Cathaoirleach for accepting this Adjournment matter. I apologise in advance to the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, because sometimes I know exactly what answer I want and what point to make. Unfortunately, today I will not be as straightforward in what I want to say or hear. I am vice-president of the directorate of youth and sport in the Council of Europe which recently...

Seanad: Proposed Legislation (12 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Minister for his response. I intend asking the line Minister to come back to the House to answer the first part of the matter, namely, whether he believes a convention for youth is needed. I appreciate the detailed answer but given the role I am in and all that is mentioned in the reply, I would like to hear the Minister's own views on whether a specific convention on youth is...

Seanad: Labour Services (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (17 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I am disappointed at the level of comment from and cheap sniping by some Senators on the other side of the House. I do not include Senator Burke in that observation. However, Senators Buttimer and Ryan referred to FÁS as an expanded Fianna Fáil cumann. Their comments lowered the tone of the House and brought the debate down to the level of nonsense. I welcome the Bill. There have been...

Seanad: Higher Education Grants (17 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I wish to raise a most important issue. I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, has stayed to take this matter. Having regard to labour services and FÁS, which we have just discussed, this matter is almost linked to it. I expect a serious response to this matter from the Department of Education and Science. What I seek in raising this matter is simple and straightforward. From...

Seanad: Higher Education Grants (17 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I welcome the information contained in the Minister of State's reply. I appreciate there is a bigger picture in respect of the student support scheme. My point in raising the issue was to indicate that in the meantime we might be able to effect an interim solution, which the Minister appears to be offering. If the Department officials are listening, perhaps they could forward an indication...

Seanad: Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (18 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I am pleased to debate any issues connected with marine matters. I welcome the Minister of State to the Seanad. He has adopted a hands-on approach to marine matters and is not afraid to travel long distances to meet fishermen in any port. On Monday last I was in Brussels meeting two of the directors general which deal with marine and rural development. We were looking at how EU funding...

Seanad: Transport of Musical Instruments (18 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this issue, which perhaps is unusual and one which, in the main, people do not feel is one that affects them. However, for those whom it does affect it is a serious issue. This is the matter of airport security and airline regulations in general having become much tighter since 2001 and the effect this is having on musicians and their...

Seanad: Transport of Musical Instruments (18 Nov 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I am delighted the Minister of State was on the ball enough to realise he did not answer my question at all. I ask that the Minister be made aware of the seriousness of the issue because I am disappointed with the blandness of the answer. I hope for a more convincing response that makes us feel we are loved as musicians and that our instruments will also be loved. In the meantime, I...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (1 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I am glad we will be having a discussion on the Murphy report. All abuse is wrong, horrendous and ruins the lives of those abused. We must focus on the persons who have been abused, but we also have to protect children such as those in the Visitors Gallery, as well as young people in different age groups. If they suffer clerical or any other form of abuse, they should feel confident enough...

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (1 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Cancer Screening Programme (1 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise the important issue of male cancer awareness. Last month was November, or movember as it came to be called. I commend the Movember Foundation on its efforts to raise awareness of men's health. The movember campaign started in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003. Movember is a moustache growing charity event held during November each year to...

Seanad: Cancer Screening Programme (1 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Minister of State for a very comprehensive answer. The awareness campaigns are important to get people to come forward as soon as they think they have a problem so that it can be dealt with as soon as possible because there is no national screening process for most cancers, and Professor Keane said that lung cancer is the big one coming down the tracks. Will the Minister of State...

Seanad: Rail Services (3 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Dara Calleary. As the response to this matter will come from the Department of Transport, I would like to have had interaction with the Minister responsible on the basis that he made the promise to raise this issue, although I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State. I have raised this issue a...

Seanad: Rail Services (3 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Minister of State for his response. If it is acceptable to the Administrations, North and South, that people are exploited by 20%, I will go to the National Consumer Agency. I thank the Minister of State for his advice. One talks about a 12% variation but there is 31% differential at present.

Seanad: Domestic Violence (8 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I, too, welcome the Minister to the House. It has been a while since we had the opportunity to engage in a formal or informal chat in this House, although we chatted many times when I was a Member of the Lower House. Domestic violence is a serious issue. It is interesting that people associate this issue with females and that one in five women in Ireland will experience domestic violence....

Seanad: Domestic Violence (8 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Minister for her substantial response. She put on record the difficulty for children in these situations, although it was not included in her script. In developing the strategy the Department should focus on getting people to talk, be it the neighbour or the person involved, with the idea that children are at the core of this and experience it. They are often a minor player in...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I add my voice to the welcome for the new Members, Senator Niall Ó Brolcháin and also Senator James Carroll as I was not here to welcome him at the time. We can hear from him that he has hit the ground running. While it is a difficult and new situation for him to be in the House he is very right when he advises Senator Ó Brolcháin to enjoy the day when everyone tells him he is...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I have just one more sentence. I wish to endorse what Senator Corrigan said about the issue of mental health. It is an issue within and outside communities.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Second Stage (15 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me time to speak on the Bill. I also thank the Minister and the Government for providing a new decentralised social welfare office in Buncrana. Unfortunately, the Garda station has only been open for about ten days and the first major event is the loss of one of its members. I again extend my sympathy to the family of Garda Gary McLoughlin, his...

Seanad: Pathology Service (15 Dec 2009)

Cecilia Keaveney: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this serious and sad issue. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Brady, for being here. I hope the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter will be reflected in a constructive response. Recently a two-week-old infant died in his sleep in my constituency, which was a trauma for the young couple involved, who have another child. As is the...