Results 201-220 of 459 for speaker:Phil Prendergast

Seanad: Telecommunications Services: Motion (8 Jul 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister to the House. I formally second this timely motion which calls on the Government to restate its commitment to provide a comprehensive national broadband scheme to all of Ireland by 2010 and to ensure that the 12,000 rural homes and businesses not covered will have access to broadband. Severe disadvantage exists for small and medium enterprises that do not have access...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jul 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I wish to raise the ability of the State to cope with the swine flu epidemic. Recent hospital bed closures seriously compromise that ability. There are 119 confirmed cases, 45 in the North and 74 in the South, with a huge increase in people being cared for in accident and emergency departments. Swine flu is getting more difficult to diagnose because the bug is mutating and people are...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (7 Jul 2009)

Phil Prendergast: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I would like to support Senator Feeney's request for clarity in this area. It was pointed out on Second Stage that patients going into hospital for maternity care cannot access a private room and therefore pay the hospital the money due for the room unless they are private patients of the consultant. This is a widespread anomaly throughout the country. It is an extremely narrow-minded view...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Second Stage (2 Jul 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State. I also welcome the opportunity to discuss the Bill. I concur with Senator Feeney in respect of maternity patients. For many years, it was a matter of considerable frustration for women who were VHI clients and wanted to avail of private rooms that they could not do so due to hospital policy, not necessarily because of the consultants. It is ridiculous that...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2009)

Phil Prendergast: Dr. Conor Farren, a consultant psychiatrist who spoke at the opening of St. Patrick's University Hospital's new addiction and mental health centre, stated: "It is only now, in the post boom period, that we are recognising some of the negative consequences of the boom". He added that of the 250,000 people registered with addiction problems, including alcoholism, only 20% are engaged in any...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I support Senator McFadden's statement. Many people in nursing homes have great difficulty in accessing physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and many of the other therapies necessary for them to continue in the best possible health. A multidisciplinary team should be decided by the geriatrician and a psychiatrist with a special interest in older people as there are many...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I apologise in advance for any duplication that may arise from my remarks, as I had to take a call and was absent from the Chamber for a while. I apologise to Senator Mullen if I refer to some of the points he may already have raised. There are many inconsistencies concerning eligibility for services, even between different regions. I have been contacted by many people in the nursing...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: Will the Leader arrange for a debate on the interpretation of special needs in schools? I was concerned to read of cutbacks across the whole spectrum of schools with special needs assistants for children. For a child in the autistic spectrum familiarity and relationship building is a strong feature in terms of their achieving some degree of normality within our education system. It is a...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Information and Communications Technologies: Motion (17 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Trevor Sargent. I will not repeat what has been said already but I fully support the amendment. Despite the small improvements to broadband services there are still large parts of the country without access to broadband. I encountered an extraordinary level of frustration when I was canvassing recently among people living in rural areas in Tipperary...

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Second Stage (10 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, to the House. As the Labour Party spokesperson on issues affecting older people, I particularly welcome the measures in the legislation for the provision of simple electronic forms of charging, order and discharge application. However, I do so guardedly given the Health Service Executive's track record in regard to technology. Given the...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2009)

Phil Prendergast: Will the Leader ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs to clarify the status of the back to school allowance scheme? I have been inundated with questions from parents about when the application forms will be available and whether the allowance will be paid in time. Recently, the transfer of a severely ill patient from Clonmel hospital to the Mater Hospital in Dublin could not go...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 May 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I rise to speak about our children. I concur with the comments of Senator O'Toole in respect of the Centre for Autism. According to the Stormont Minister Caitríona Ruane, MLA, the cross-Border centre was to offer research and information, educational assessment, learning support and training and an advisory service to those suffering from autism. There were extensive debates held here...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 May 2009)

Phil Prendergast: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I move amendment No. 69: In page 65, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: "(d) promoting the development of post adoption services;". There is no provision for the development of post adoption services in the Bill. The welfare of the child is at the heart of this amendment. There is a real need for this amendment because there are situations and instances where the provision of...