Results 1,461-1,480 of 4,810 for speaker:Liam Twomey

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (5 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: ——without feeling any shame. Will the Green Party members of Government push for changes to the type of cars Ministers drive? The Green Party Ministers are embarrassed to be driven around in cars that are not environmentally friendly but why do they not put the same pressure on their Government colleagues? They should lead from the top rather than expect everybody else to do it. The...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (5 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: The soft landing that was talked about for many months is not happening. We must face up to reality now. The housing market is in a serious mess. The Minister should stop talking like an auctioneer and tell the truth to the people of Ireland. There are problems in the housing market. We must deal with them but the Government is too late in respect of stamp duty reform.

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (5 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: In regard to carbon tax and VRT, again the Minister has left it too late. We must reduce our emissions to 63 million tonnes of carbon to meet our Kyoto commitments. When did the Minister find out about that? Was it yesterday? Currently we are at 70 million, yet it is only now the Minister talks about climate change and changing VRT. It is as if the Government woke up yesterday morning...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (5 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: Is that a U-turn?

Seanad: Budget Statement 2008: Statements (5 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: I cannot cope with this.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: In May 2005, "Prime Time" exposed to the entire country what was happening at Leas Cross. Going on information supplied to me by the Leader of the House it will be June 2008, more than three years later, before the Garda Síochána will consider a criminal investigation into what happened at Leas Cross. In light of what we read about the report into the Brothers of Charity, which was...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: A number of pieces of legislation were rushed through the previous Dáil before its end. These were the Pharmacy Bill and Bills concerning the new Medical Council and new nursing home standards. Could the Leader find out whether these pieces of legislation have even been implemented or if their commencement orders have been signed? There is considerable concern about what is happening in...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: The Senator is very sensitive.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: It is a major change in policy for the Green Party to support co-location in such clear terms. If one strips away the issue of co-location and the changes to the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, the legislation contains very little. A constitutional issue arose and the Minister was obliged to introduce the Bill to deal with it. I would love to know what happened between the National...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: I do not believe grassroots Fianna Fáil supporters want the health care system to be based on the making of a distinction between those who have money and those who do not. Fianna Fáil has always prided itself on the idea that all people should be treated equally. It has never before subscribed to an ethos of discriminating between poor people with low incomes and wealthy people. It has...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: One would never know. One might be surprised. I have had a long career.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: That is right. I might be in trouble if the Minister got to them before I had a chance to do so.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: The most important aspect of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 is the provision relating to competence assurance, as it will change the way doctors and patients interact within the Irish health service. That is what the Minister should be talking about. It is rubbish to talk about introducing competence assurance on a phased basis because it will not protect patients. I will speak about...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: If the Government is serious about this, it should focus on reforming the public service and making it work. The Minister and I had many discussions on the consultants' contract. I got a lot of grief from some of my colleagues in the medical profession, as long ago as January 2006, when I backed the Minister's approach to this issue. I suggested to her that if agreement could not be...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: They said it would undermine the economy and that the Government would make a mess of it.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: The Minister was dazzled by the lights of the ministerial Merc.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: He selected 55.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: Did the surgeon there not also write to the Department?

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: That is not what we are suggesting. Is the Minister going to build a private hospital for consultants?

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Liam Twomey: The Minister is not thinking of the patients.