Results 1-20 of 2,662 for speaker:Willie O'Dea in 'Dáil debates'

Tribunals of Inquiry: Statements. (20 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I brought it through Second Stage yesterday.

Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (20 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Maternity protection is a fundamental right of any pregnant employee and one which has been enshrined in our legislation since 1981. The Maternity Protection Act 1994 further enhanced the existing legislation by implementing the provisions of the Pregnant Workers' Directive 92/85 EEC. It retained all entitlements of the previous legislation...

Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (20 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Yes.

Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (20 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I thank everyone who contributed to this debate. I thank them for their generally positive remarks and support for the Bill. In the course of the debate, people lost sight of the fact that this legislation is the product of social partnership. It represents a deal worked out between employers, who are naturally concerned to protect their interests and minimise their costs, and the...

Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (20 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: This amends the earlier Act, and anything that is not amended still stands. A breast-feeding employee is defined as an employee up to 26 weeks after her confinement. However, we will re-examine that to ensure it is absolutely clear. Deputy Gay Mitchell raised a query about what safeguards will be in place to prevent people from skiving off work on the pretext that they are breast-feeding....

Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Referral to Select Committee. (20 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, in accordance with Standing Order 120(1) and paragraph 1(a)(i) of the Orders of Reference of that committee.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage. (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Its time will come.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage. (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this proposal. I have raised some doubts about the wisdom of holding the referendum on the same day as the local and European elections and I am not alone in that — I am reliably informed there was a detailed Cabinet discussion of the subject. I recognise there are strong and compelling arguments on both sides but in this case I find I am in a minority...

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage. (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: My concern related to the holding of the elections and the referendum on the same date and I do not resile from that. I have no difficulties with the timing of the referendum because it is my view, as was clearly expressed this morning by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and others, that this problem has been allowed to fester for far too long and it is time we...

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: To become a citizen of Denmark by virtue of birth, a child must have parents who have resided in the state for ten years. The same requirement is in place in Greece. The average period of parental residency throughout the EU is five years whereas we propose only three. There was a time when birth alone allowed a person to claim British citizenship, but the law in this regard was changed...

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: It is also a fact that the masters provided the Minister with the figures which he subsequently quoted. Obviously, they took this action because they felt the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform had a central role in solving the problem being experienced by maternity hospitals. Why else would they approach that Minister? Usually, the obvious person to contact about problems in...

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: One of the masters said "it is surprising there has not been a major catastrophe within the maternity services as yet".

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Another said in a statement to a newspaper in reference to the increase in births to non-nationals that "the projected number of non-nationals giving birth in Dublin is sufficient to warrant a fourth maternity hospital in the city". I have received numerous complaints from people in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary about similar pressures on maternity services in the mid-west. On 11 April, The...

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: In the same edition, The Sunday Times investigated the numerical extent of the problem and stated that what cannot be denied is the number of pregnant asylum seekers turning up at Irish ports and airports.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Of the 3,270 women aged over 16 who applied for asylum last year, 1,893, or 58%, were pregnant. At the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin there were 1,951 births to immigrants last year. Almost 14% came to the hospital between one and ten days before giving birth while about 13% arrived in labour. That strongly indicates that at least 27% of immigrant births, or about 500, were passport tourism...

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: No. Therefore, this is the very best case scenario.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I am entitled to make my contribution.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Deputy Durkan will have noticed I am busy. Will he permit me to ignore him some other time?

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: At least ten people are born each week at the Rotunda Hospital alone who have no connection to this country.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed) (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: That is a bogus point of order.