Results 3,041-3,060 of 4,787 for speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Certain comments were read out during the debate and attributed to me when I was Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy. I refer specifically to remarks I made in a speech in London. I advise the Minister of State that it may be useful not to use speeches that have been written for her. In my previous role as Minister of State, I rarely read out a speech that...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: There are very few issues in public policy that I feel more strongly about than this. I was in the position of the Minister of State not that long ago. In public life, it is very rare to come to the conclusion that everything we are doing is wrong. We have come to the conclusion that the issue with drugs lies with the substances and that if we just control them, everything will be fine....

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I understand that we are taking Report Stage tomorrow. I withdraw my amendment on the basis that I shall resubmit it tomorrow on Report Stage. Therefore, I give the Minister of State 24 hours to consider my amendment. I am a bit taken aback by Fianna Fáil's suggestion that unnamed community groups are jumping up and down because they have been upset by this proposal. That is not the...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I will resubmit it tomorrow.

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I move amendment No. 2:In page 5, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “Possession of controlled drugs for personal use 8. Notwithstanding anything in the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 2015, in any proceedings for an offence under those Acts it shall be a defence to prove that the defendant had in his or her possession a controlled drug for his or her personal use and for...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: No. I will withdraw it with a view to resubmitting it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2016: Second Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I welcome the Minister of State. I am genuinely delighted by his appointment. I also welcome the officials from the Department with whom I worked. One of the reasons I changed my mind about the validity of this Chamber - which Senator Norris will be delighted to hear - relates to the issue of direct provision. When I was Minister of State, it was the collective will of the people in this...

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2016: Second Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I am horrified that somebody did that. If the Government does not want to implement it, it should say why. People took great risks. Some people in the Chamber were not happy with the report and did not feel it went far enough, but it is something about which I feel very strongly. I walked into the centres, and could smell the desperation and see people who were genuinely broken and were...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Is the Leas-Chathaoirleach sure?

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I join with Senator Ó Clochartaigh on two points. He has previously asked for a debate on the Irish language in this House and that is something we should definitely have in the coming weeks. Will the Leader arrange it? It is an important debate. I say that deliberately in English because it is a debate for all Members of this House. We should be inclusive about the discussion on...

Seanad: United Kingdom Referendum on European Union Membership: Statements (28 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I welcome the Minister for this important debate. The vote by the British people is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. I have not been as depressed about a political event in a considerable time. It proves that if one decides to focus one's attention on a disenfranchised or disconnected group of people and tells them anything one wishes to conjure up in one's head and point at...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I welcome the Minister of State and wish her well in her endeavours. It is a positive to have a Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy with the background that she has, and also that she has no other responsibilities and that this will be her main focus. The Bill arises from the High Court case of March 2015. So we have been waiting for this legislation for...

Seanad: Death of Jo Cox, MP: Expressions of Sympathy (21 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I am pleased to join my colleagues, Senators Bacik, Humphreys and the entire Labour Party group in the Seanad, to express our condolences to the family of Jo Cox. I am keen to place emphasis on what she believed in, which is far more important than what the person who murdered her believed in. Jo Cox was a person who believed in the human dignity of all individuals, regardless of who they...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Today is Bloomsday and I note Senator Norris, a great Joycean scholar, has left the Chamber. I add my voice to that of Senator Higgins on the status of arts in Ireland, particularly with the perceived, if not real, downgrading of the arts from a department structure perspective. There is a lack of a Minister of State with responsibility for arts in the Department. Even with the Taoiseach's...

Seanad: Delivering Sustainable Full Employment: Statements (16 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I congratulate the Leas-Chathaoirleach on his elevation to his new role and congratulate the Minister on her appointment. As anybody who has run a primary school will find running a Department to be very easy indeed, I wish the Minister the best of luck. Comments have been made in the Chamber about how, statistically, we have done much better in recent years in bringing down the unemployment...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to address the House. I have just returned from a few days in Paris and I want to advise Members of this House that we should be very proud of the travelling supporters who are doing this country's name great service as supporters of the Republic of Ireland soccer team, and indeed supporters of the Northern Ireland soccer team, in the European...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: On my second point, I stood in this House on a number of occasions as the Minister of State and what impressed me most about it was when it stood as and spoke with one voice. The House was never more powerful than on the issue of direct provision. I believe that Members of this House will know, regardless of their political background, that this House was very impressive and managed to move...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Parental Leave (6 Apr 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The basis for the current statutory upper age limit of 8 years of age (16 in the case of a child with a disability) is contained in Council Directive 2010/18/EU giving effect to the revised Parental Leave Framework Agreement negotiated by the European social partners in 2009. The essential point is that the upper age limit was negotiated and agreed by employers and Trade Union...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Heading (22 Mar 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government published a Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities in October 2015. Amongst the specific actions set out in the Strategy is the establishment of an Employer helpline. The National Disability Authority engaged with the employer umbrella groups to bring this service into being and the new national Employers Disability...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Disability Act Employment Targets (22 Mar 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: In addition to the prohibition on discrimination contained in the Employment Equality Acts (which apply to all employers), Part 5 of the Disability Act 2005 obliges public bodies in so far as is practicable to take all reasonable measures to support and promote the employment of people with disabilities. There is a statutory employment target of 3% in the public service and the Government...