Results 201-220 of 274 for long speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: How long do I have to respond?

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: UN Conventions Ratification (7 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...June 2015. Preparations are currently being made to bring the Bill to the Dáil for Report Stage, with a view to enactment later this year. The requirement to enact suitable capacity legislation has long been one of the core obstacles to ratification of the Convention and the progress made in this area is a testament to the Government’s commitment to meeting the obligations of...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...Employment Equality Act 1998 and to section 7 of the Equal Status Act 2000. Finally, as these amendments will extend the scope of the Bill, it will be necessary to amend on Report Stage the Bill's Long and Short Titles along with the collective citations. In conclusion, I look forward to engaging further with Senators on Report Stage and ensuring that an effective Bill is passed by both...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...the procedural element, which is what we are doing on Committee Stage. Report Stage will be taken next week. I accept there is a problem with the procedural elements in the House of having such a long delay between the last discussion two years ago and the discussion we are having now.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The essence of the amendments is to provide a clear definition of what "conduct" means. My nervousness is that because it took so long to get it to this stage, if we start giving specific examples of the meaning of "conduct", it could take a lot longer before the Bill is enacted. I take on board what the Senator said that perhaps we need to do some work on language and perhaps we can do...

One-Parent Family Payment Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (30 Jun 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...facts of the matter on the record of the House. The purpose of the phased one family payment scheme age change reforms that were introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012, is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency by ending the expectation that lone parents will remain outside the workforce indefinitely. Prior to the reforms to the one family payment scheme, lone...

Direct Provision Report: Motion (12 Jun 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...Government this month. I thank Members of the joint committee for their diligence in going about their business in relation to this topic, in respect of which, as this House knows, I have had a long-standing interest. Quite properly, members made on the ground visits to four direct provision centres in Galway, Limerick, Meath and Dublin, and these were a cross section of the 34 asylum...

Seanad: Moore Street Area Renewal and Development Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (10 Jun 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...to the declaration of the national monument by the previous Government in 2007 and the announcement of a decision made earlier this year to acquire the four buildings for the State. We have come a long way in a short space of time. This is a fantastic opportunity in the history of our Republic as we face the centenary of 1916 to reassess what we are about as a country. We should...

Seanad: National Drugs Strategy: Statements (26 May 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...have a fantastic opportunity at this time, as a collective, due to the redrafting of the national drugs strategy. I believe there should be a shorter timeframe for the next strategy because seven years is too long and perhaps a five-year strategy would be better the next time. Given the Misuse of Drugs Act is currently being amended in the Dáil, this means we have a number of...

Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill 2014): Second Stage [Private Members] (8 May 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...by it. We all have a collective responsibility for the deaths of people like Vincent O'Brien, as well as for the children born with drug dependency and for the young people who find themselves imprisoned for long stretches or dead as a result of their involvement in the drugs trade. I have seen where young people, who feel locked out of the mainstream economy and society, find somewhere...

Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2014 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 May 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...complacent. This legislation will add to Ireland's ability to deal with the threat from terrorism both domestically and internationally. While we have not yet been directly affected, we must, as a long-standing member of the EU, show solidarity with our fellow member states. In that regard, the House can be assured that Ireland will continue to contribute to initiatives in this area from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...Bill to deal with as many of those who are currently in the system as possible. A practical approach is envisaged with those who have reached a certain point in the existing process continuing along their current path while others at earlier stages of the process will be brought within the single procedure. In addition to committing to legislative change in this area, the Government has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...not have to be there, I think there is a challenge for us in the future to find a step-down facility or a halfway situation because I think it would be unreasonable to expect somebody to go from a long period of living in a direct provision centre to trying to access essential services such as housing or social protection and not to have some kind of halfway situation. I do not know what...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...and people finally believe - after years and possibly a decade or more of being in the system - that there is finally a breakthrough, the last thing they want is a report that is put on the long finger or not implemented as a matter of urgency. I accept the invitation to return if we can view it as a collective effort, across parties and non-partisan, to put our efforts behind ensuring...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Direct Provision: Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality (1 Apr 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...they engage. A child playing with a kitchen may not know what it feels like to pour something and may not know how to ask for juice because they are not used to that model of parenting. It has a long-lasting effect when we consider the responsibility that we have to try to change this system. All these issues arise from a sense of care and what family life, human life and connectedness...

Seanad: National Integration Strategy: Motion (1 Apr 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...on the implementation of the national integration strategy which I propose to read before commenting on the PolskaÉire 2015 festival. Before I begin, I take the opportunity to thank Shane Long for scoring the equaliser in the last minute of Sunday evening's game. The Government parties are criticised for many things and I suppose the Labour Party could have been criticised for...

Seanad: National Integration Strategy: Motion (1 Apr 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: With regard to the amendment tabled by Senators Cullinane, Ó Clochartaigh and Reilly, as Senators will be aware, I have a personal commitment to reforming the direct provision system. Alongside my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, I established a working group on the protection process. The work of this group is ongoing and it will report back in the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Parental Leave (31 Mar 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...8 years old. If the child was adopted between the age of 6 and 8, leave in respect to that child may be taken up to 2 years after the adoption order. In the case of a child with a disability or a long term illness, leave may be taken up to 16 years of age. I have no plans currently to amend the age limits for the taking of parental leave.

Report on Penal Reform: Motion (6 Mar 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...of the Prison Service for his consideration. The report of the review group contains 43 recommendations, some of which can be implemented in the short to medium term, while others require a more long-term approach. Last November, the Minister obtained the agreement, in principle, of the Government to proceed with the implementation of the following recommendations: the introduction of...

Seanad: Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Mar 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...these payments. The remarks about the Justice for Magdalenes group are well made. It has done sterling work and has been campaigning on a great injustice that was done to these women for a very long time. It is an Ireland to which none of us ever wants to return. When we debated this issue previously, I said there are many issues that still have to be dealt with in Ireland,...