Results 1,621-1,640 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: On a point of order, Senator Coghlan is right in his correction. I thought I had said the opposite. My apologies to the House.

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I apologised.

Seanad: Constitution for Europe: Statements. (18 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I echo what my two colleagues have said. This occasion is a form of joined-up democracy in which those elected to different fora and at different levels engage with each other, which is very important. I welcome our two colleagues from the European Parliament to the Independent benches. Deputy Marian Harkin, a well-known community voice and a voice for the west is a Deputy and an MEP. She is...

Seanad: Constitution for Europe: Statements. (18 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: On my first visit to the European Parliament many years ago, I met a Member of the Parliament from a town in Germany which was just across the border from Strasbourg. I asked him whether the European Parliament was anything more than a talking shop. He asked me to wait so he could introduce me to a French colleague and then told me that their fathers had literally been shooting at each other...

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion. (18 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I second the motion and I thank my colleague, Senator Quinn, for tabling it. To reiterate some of the points he made, this afternoon I checked the American Express holiday cost of living index on Google. The first two pages that came up showed the Thailand tourist board and the Spanish tourist board, one claiming to be the cheapest in the world and the other claiming to be the cheapest in...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: Yesterday the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for overseas development——

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I do not intend making a political football of this, but there is an issue regarding which people must say where they stand. I am not calling for resignations or anything of that sort. Without reference to the person involved, we must show our concern as a House if there are issues we feel have any resonance regarding racism, are unworthy of where we stand or do not reflect our position. If...

Seanad: Order of Business. (19 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I am referring to a report in this morning's newspapers. An interview was given by a Minister of State. I will not go into the detail of the matter. We have recently had long discussions in this House on Gama and other matters. We have all gone on the record. The Minister of State made an unfortunate error yesterday and has made an apology I am prepared to accept. However, it is also...

Seanad: Order of Business. (24 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I also welcome the commitment given by the Leader on the forthcoming debate on the Disability Bill. It is crucially important that Members be able to deal with the issues that have been raised repeatedly over the past two years by various groups and individuals. As regards the tragedy in County Meath, after the Omagh bombing I visited some of the schools whose pupils had been killed in the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (25 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I could not agree more with Senator Brian Hayes on the issue of non-residents. I have raised it many times previously. The House should know the way those people living abroad are playing ducks and drakes with the scheme. If one flies into the country in one's private jet to do a day's business and then, like Cinderella, be out of the country by 12 o'clock, it is not counted as a day for...

Seanad: Order of Business. (25 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator should wait until after the election.

Seanad: Order of Business. (25 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: He also pays his taxes.

Seanad: Nuclear Plants: Motion. (25 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, to the House. The particularly strong language of the motion is to be welcomed also, encompassing as it does a clear commitment from the Government. I am happy to support it. The most worrying aspect of Sellafield is that the problem cannot be solved in our lifetimes. No matter what we do, there will...

Seanad: Nuclear Plants: Motion. (25 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: There is certainly no environmental argument in its favour. Nothing is as likely to drive Irish people mad as listening to the polite, plummy accents of people from Sellafield who try to tell us that there is no environmental risk from the plant and that nuclear energy is a safe and environmentally clean way of producing electricity. That argument does not work. Sellafield is the dominant...

Seanad: Nuclear Plants: Motion. (25 May 2005)

Joe O'Toole: It is not difficult to address that. If the output of wind farms was tied into the national grid, we could supply at least 70% of Irish energy needs. Britain could do the same and that would be end of the anti-wind energy arguments.

Seanad: Order of Business. (14 Jun 2005)

Joe O'Toole: Approximately one month ago I asked the Leader for a debate on both parts of the Morris tribunal report and she indicated she would be happy to accommodate that request. A debate during Private Members' business tomorrow night will not allow enough time to deal with the issues. The matters raised in the Morris report must be discussed seriously. If the Garda Commissioner had not taken any...

Seanad: Grangegorman Development Agency Bill 2004: Second Stage. (14 Jun 2005)

Joe O'Toole: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire, agus fáiltím go mór roimh an Bhille seo. Tá an-jab oibre déanta ag an Roinn. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach, agus tá sé thar am go mbeadh sé againn. Tá súil agam go n-eireoidh go mór leis an Bhille agus an institiúid amach anseo. I want to make a number of points, one or two of which Senators might have heard me make before. I must bore them...

Seanad: Business of Seanad. (15 Jun 2005)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Joe O'Toole: We debated the OECD report on third level education one month to six weeks ago. The debate was a good one but the issue was not debated elsewhere. In the same week as that report's publication, the OECD published a report on child care that was not discussed anywhere. Senator O'Meara raised the matter of the NESF report yesterday. She has also raised related issues occasionally. It would be...

Seanad: Morris Tribunal Reports: Motion. (15 Jun 2005)

Joe O'Toole: I will speak from the point of view of my great admiration for gardaí. My father was a garda and a founder member of the GRA. I was raised with that culture and I have not left it. I support the local gardaí. It pains me to see the way gardaí have been dragged down by the events in Donegal. It has been appalling beyond our wildest expectations. It has been worse than I could ever have...