Results 1,561-1,580 of 5,534 for speaker:Maureen O'Sullivan

Other Questions: State Examinations Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 8. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the basis on which he decided teachers would correct the junior certificate examination work of their own students and schools would provide their own individual certification. [32005/13]

Other Questions: State Examinations Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I cannot agree with the Minister of State's assertion that the junior certificate is not a high-stakes examination. He ought to visit second level schools when students are preparing to sit that examination, which is a high-stakes proposition for those students and their teachers. I am still not convinced that what is proposed will lead to benefits for students. At present, teachers...

Other Questions: State Examinations Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Teachers are professionally developed-out at this stage given all of the changes they have taken on board and all the professional development they have done. I am a great supporter of the leaving certificate applied. It works, in terms of the way it is corrected, etc., because the numbers are much smaller. I think the Minister is taking a sledge hammer to something which could be dealt...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I wish to share my time with Deputy Mattie McGrath.

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil deacrachtaí agus fadhbanna ag tiománaí tacsaí, agus tá cuid de na freagraí sa Bhille seo, ach ní dóigh liom go bhfuil na freagraí go léir ann. I have lost count of the number of taxi men and women I have met recently who tell me of the difficulty of making a living from driving a taxi. Some other regulations...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Discussion (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I am sorry I was not present. None of the paperwork will be of any use unless it is seen to be having an effect on the ground. Some months ago I was asked by Trócaire to host a meeting when one of its workers from the Congo was in Ireland. This Congolese lady told us what was happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC. We had the statistic that a woman is raped every 48...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Discussion (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Last week at the AWEPA conference we had quite a number of African parliamentarians in the country, including women parliamentarians. They voiced strongly their concerns for their countries. There were some interesting discussions with them. Are the delegates working with and engaging with the women parliamentarians in the African countries?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I thank the Chairman. Our Presidency showed other countries how to do it and how to do it in a cost-effective and economical way. My question is on trade. We have an opportunity to combine trade with human rights advocacy by insisting that labour rights be part of any trade agreements in which we are involved. As we have a position on the United Nations Human Rights Council we can use...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: My question is somewhat related to that of Deputy Smith. Some people lose their passports or their passports may be stolen just when they are about to travel. I dealt with a case of this nature recently, but the Passport Office was completely intransigent on the issue. It would not budge from the regulations because there was no bereavement involved. Some leeway should be allowed because...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Is there any reconciliation funding for organisations that work with political prisoners on release?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Having participated in the first meeting of the priority committee process for the review conference for a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, what does the Tánaiste hope to achieve as he goes to participate in a second one? Where does the Tánaiste see that there can be a role in emerging emergency situations such as that in Burma with the Rohingya people because we have a good name...

Health (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: It is almost beyond belief we do not have a state-of-the-art health system when we consider the budget is €13.626 billion with a further €397 million in capital funding. I wish to make a general point about what is good and excellent in our health service. Excellent medical care and quality of services is provided in the areas of caring for people with cancer and advances for...

Health (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I will just finish now.

Health (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I have another one or two points to make. People should be facilitated to remain for as long as possible with their family and in their community. That makes much more sense, even on purely economic terms. There are pressures on the maternity services in Dublin. The situation is not being taken seriously and because the services are so overstretched that presents a danger to the health...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 31. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will outline the budget allocations to youth services in the Dublin area since taking office; if her attention has been drawn to the implications to youth services from reductions in funding and the effect future reductions will have on these services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32358/13]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Deportation Orders Data (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 223. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality in respect of the ten persons who were deported from Ireland to Kinshasa on 16 June, if he will detail the circumstances surrounding his decision to sanction the deportation of the persons in view of the fact that no deportations to the Congo have taken place since mid-2011; if he acknowledges that the risks and dangers facing the persons have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Community Employment Drug Rehabilitation Projects (9 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 57. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the numbers availing of community employment drug rehabilitation schemes in the Dublin areas; if there is an increase or decrease from previous years; and if she will outline the progress that has been made in ensuring the sustainability and development of these programmes. [33426/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Community Employment Drug Rehabilitation Projects (9 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I acknowledge that there is much that is positive in the Minister's reply. The financial review undertaken by her Department last October recognised the important role of the drug rehabilitation programme and recommended that it be a dedicated strand of the community employment scheme. It further advised that there should be a more coherent framework to ensure sustainability and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Community Employment Drug Rehabilitation Projects (9 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: It comes back to viable projects that have a good reputation and that are working with people in recovery. They are being slowed down in the registration and accreditation process. Community employment schemes are countrywide but I must make a point in respect of Dublin Central, which has twice the national average of lone parents and pockets of which have unemployment rates of 60% and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Issues (9 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 130. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will support the Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's recent denouncements as discrimination and violations of human rights, the recent proposals in Burma-Myanmar to restrict interfaith marriages and the restriction of Rohingya families to two children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33028/13]