Results 20,301-20,320 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: I support this amendment. The Minister dealt with this in the Dáil and stated she was not in a position to make an order, which would require further legislation. Will the Minister of State clarify when it is intended to bring in such legislation so that the Minister can make an order on these issues? What is the impact of her not being able to make an order currently, arising from the...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. He has had a busy few weeks on the child care issue and this is other difficult legislation. I wish to make a number of points on co-location. It would appear to be an extraordinary Irish solution to an Irish problem in the health care system. I fundamentally disagree with what the Minister of State has said and the Minister's policy on...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: I accept what the Minister of State said but if need were the determining factor the Government would have ensured more public beds were available. What we need is public beds, not beds in a co-located hospital. If the idea was to respond to the need for access for all in an equitable way, surely the way to have done it would have been to fulfil the promise regarding new hospital beds that...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is a shame he did not have access to that kind of care in our public hospital system. That is ideally what we would like to see.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: I do not make the Minister of State's point. The Government is undermining the public hospital system by the approach it is taking.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: I join the Leader of House in wishing everyone a happy Christmas. I thank the Cathaoirleach and all the staff of the Houses for their help during the year. I think I can speak for all my colleagues who are serving in this House for the first time when I say we are delighted to be here. On behalf of the Senators on this side of the House, I pay tribute to the Fine Gael team throughout the...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: I wish to congratulate the Leader, Senator Donie Cassidy for responding to my request for an all-party motion which is also the expressed wish of Members on all sides of the House. Senator Ivana Bacik was the first to raise this matter in the House. I congratulate him because often in politics, no matter how worthy an issue is or how much all-party support exists, it can be quite difficult...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: That is because they did not get money for public beds.

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

Frances Fitzgerald: Every time in the past year and also in the run-up to the general election when the subject of co-location was discussed, the Minister and her colleagues said on a number of occasions it was not the intention to dispose of the land in public ownership within the sites of public hospitals and where co-location was being considered. For all this, the Bill as initiated states that a new article...

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

Frances Fitzgerald: On a point of order, will the Minister's speech be circulated?

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: The big lie.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: It was because they frightened Fianna Fáil into making a decision.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: We have a man in Washington.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is disingenuous.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Leader is not taking Senator Alex White's point.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: The issue is they are being discussed together.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: The public needs to understand.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is disingenuous.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am glad the Senator said that.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Frances Fitzgerald: Fine Gael is opposing today's Order of Business because two of the Government's proposals demonstrate a lack of respect for proper democratic procedure and debate in this House. The Government's decision to push through a sensitive appointment to the Standards in Public Office Commission without any consultation with the Opposition, despite the legislative requirement to do so, is a serious...