Results 2,221-2,240 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Education System: Motion (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Education System: Motion (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator did well to remember that.

Seanad: Education System: Motion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I notice that the amendment bears no relation to the motion. It does not deal with the issues raised in the motion of class sizes and the others which I will list.

Seanad: Education System: Motion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I would like to share two minutes of my time with Senator Quinn.

Seanad: Education System: Motion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, back to the House from where he started. I look forward with great interest to what he has to offer us. We hope it will be positive, productive, creative and satisfying, which I am sure will be the case. I welcome the debate on the issues raised by Senator Ulick Burke. They are crucial. I am disappointed that my colleague and old friend,...

Seanad: Education System: Motion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: ——who told me that this week they lost their access to the educational psychological service. That is a reality. There is no reference in the amendment to the recent report from the National Council for Special Education, which outlined the way the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act was to be implemented. I intend to refer regularly to that aspect in my...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Some months ago the people of Dingle held a referendum resulting in them asking that the name of their town be changed to Dingle-Daingean Uí Chúis. The local authority, Kerry County Council, conveyed that overwhelming decision of the people of Dingle to the Government, which promised to deal with it. The Government has not done anything about it in the meantime. I heard on Raidió na...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Were these some of my constituents down there?

Seanad: Building Control Bill 2005: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I wish to share time with Senator Norris.

Seanad: Building Control Bill 2005: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister to the House and listened to his erudite explanation on issues dealing with insulation and heat loss, on which he and I disagree. I tend to agree with the other player referred to in the construction industry on that argument. When watching television last Friday night, I said to my wife that I might take the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local...

Seanad: Building Control Bill 2005: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I was not going to go down the road of either person's argument. I was about to suggest looking at it differently. I agree it is a mistake not to outlaw hollow block building. I believe we should do that and there is an overwhelming argument for doing it. In terms of independent surveys, there is one to match the other. The Minister can say one, I can say Nicholas Stern. The Minister...

Seanad: Building Control Bill 2005: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Despite the fact that we have promised, time and again, to charge for waste collection by volume, weight or bin, why is it there are still local authorities that charge an annual amount? One can send out a barrow load every week and nobody makes any change. While that is not the main issue being debated, perhaps the Minister would examine it. Two years ago I made the point here that the two...

Seanad: Building Control Bill 2005: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: ——or the Ponte Vecchio in Florence? We must assume there are good architects who never had a qualification. The independent architects may have gone overboard with the argument but they have made the point. We have moved from there to architects and professionals developing at the knee of the master. That is the way the profession developed. The independent architects must recognise...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I agree with the first point raised by Senator Brian Hayes except that I do not believe it was a spinning machine but rather bad media coverage. It was not just a young man who was supposed to be known to the Garda but there was also supposed to be a drunk Garda off duty. The reporting of the incident was wrong in all sorts of ways. In the first report I got the clear impression that a...

Seanad: Credit Union Savings Protection Bill 2007: Second Stage (1 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire. I appreciate the opportunity the Government has given me to debate this Bill in Government time. I cannot remember the last time I was given such an opportunity, but I am well entitled to it after 20 years in the House, a period slightly shorter than the length of time I have been involved in the...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I did not refer to Paul Appleby's demand for additional staff on yesterday's Order of Business because I chaired an audit review committee six years ago which reported to the Committee of Public Accounts. Mr. Appleby was head of the committee's secretariat. The report was accepted by the committee and it led to the establishment of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement which...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: I do not wish to be tabloid, so to speak, but this issue needs to be examined. Today is work-life balance day and we should all attempt to achieve a work-life balance. Members might take the evening off.

Seanad: Credit Union Savings Protection Bill 2007: Second Stage (1 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: Is that a new coalition? They should just get into bed together.

Seanad: Credit Union Savings Protection Bill 2007: Second Stage (1 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: To which section does the Senator refer?

Seanad: Credit Union Savings Protection Bill 2007: Second Stage (1 Mar 2007)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator is correct. This is an error that should have been removed.