Results 2,441-2,460 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: The House was misled.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I strongly support the points made by Senator Brian Hayes on SSIAs. It is not good enough for the Minister to claim that only a small number of people will be affected because the issue will affect families which have skimped and scraped over a number of years to save for an SSIA in the hope that the resulting bonus would help send their children to college. Now, however, the reward for...

Seanad: Energy Resources: Motion (11 Oct 2006)

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

Seanad: Energy Resources: Motion (11 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I wish to make some straightforward points. On the issue of wind energy, I want to clarify a number of issues. I agree that wind farms might despoil the landscape but we might have to make a choice some time between that and the possibility of sea water encroaching on some of the beautiful parts of the Minister of State's county, among other areas. That is a choice we must make. I want to...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I do not know if the points raised by Senator Brian Hayes are correct but there is a ring of truth about them and there is certainly much worry in this instance. If people are to be penalised for saving, it will be the second own goal of this fortnight. It would be appalling. We need clarification on this issue. I hope Senator Brian Hayes is wrong because if it is the case, it brings into...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: This is exactly what we have seen. When we discussed this issue months ago we asked if somebody could point out a privatisation either here or in the UK that has worked. What is extraordinary about the Aer Lingus case is that there was unanimity on the left and on the right of political comment that this was a bad deal and it has proven to be a bad deal. We are seeing the same thing happen...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (11 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: Those of us on the Independent benches wish to be associated with the expressions of sympathy. It is unfortunate that none of us had the pleasure of working with Tom Fitzpatrick so we know him by reputation only, although Senator Norris claims a very remote family connection in the extended family gene pool. He gave extraordinary service as a councillor, Deputy, Senator and Minister. His...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: That Bill took away the rights of people in the Gaeltacht to have a say in the name of their own place, a right enjoyed by everybody outside the Gaeltacht. This is not the place to argue the rights and wrong of that case but it is a good example of the issue we are discussing. It would have been useful in this case if we had known, through a process of consultation before this legislation...

Seanad: Petitions Committee: Motion (4 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: The concept of a petitions system is important because it involves the engagement between people and parliament. I was a member of the Sub-Committee on Seanad Reform with Senators O'Rourke, Brian Hayes, Dardis and Ryan. It was on this committee that this issue was first raised. When considering Seanad reform, I examined the process in other Parliaments. I was interested in the New Zealand...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: The Guardian takes a different view.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: The final point made by Senator Brian Hayes, which was important, brings me to the point I wanted to raise. Is the Leader prepared to arrange an open discussion in this House on the operation of the free market? I was flabbergasted yesterday to hear two decent people — Senator Leyden and a Fine Gael Senator — arguing that the decision to cut off Smart Telecom's customers was appalling,...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: When Aer Lingus is privatised, it will do a Michael O'Leary on it from here on in. We should not be upset by that because that is the way it will go. I assure Senator Brian Hayes, who spoke about the price of houses, that if somebody manages to reduce the price of houses there will be an outcry from the main political parties. If somebody manages to get extra money for decent public...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: Age is one of the grounds in the Bill——

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: It is very clear.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2006)

Joe O'Toole: On a day when all political attention is focused on the set piece grandstanding we expect in the other House later this afternoon, it behoves us to look again at No. 14 on the Order Paper, the Privacy Bill 2006 — Order for Second Stage. We have learned many things in the past week or so, during which time whatever doubts we may have had about this legislation have been exacerbated and...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Sep 2006)

Joe O'Toole: He is quiet in Dingle these days.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Sep 2006)

Joe O'Toole: Yesterday we spoke about the garda sergeant shot on the south side in the course of his duty. At the time most of us had not read the details of the incident. The garda was on duty outside a home, preserving the scene of a crime, when someone came up and shot him. It did not happen as part of an assault; it was a cold, calculated shooting. This goes straight back to the drugs trade and...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Sep 2006)

Joe O'Toole: They ignored the captain of the Kerry team.

Seanad: Telecommunications Services: Motion (27 Sep 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I second this crucial motion and thank my colleague, Senator Ross, for tabling it. The Cathaoirleach probably did not read the Government amendment very closely because he would have ruled it out of order if he had. It is an astonishing amendment. At the very least, I ask the Minister of State to remove the third section, which states: "after a late start Ireland's rate of broadband...

Seanad: Telecommunications Services: Motion (27 Sep 2006)

Joe O'Toole: I thank the Cathaoirleach for his assistance. It would be a terrible breach of procedure if one spoke without seconding the motion. Some three years ago a commitment was given that every school would be connected to broadband. It cannot happen. I agree that this can only happen through public delivery and private investment. Smart Telecom is an example of how the private sector is unable...