Results 3,081-3,100 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Seanad: Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (20 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister of State. Perhaps people looking on might think we are indulging in a moment of self-congratulation. I think otherwise. It is important that we put on the record that when a Minister listens and there has been a collaborative effort with people who had issues, ideas and thoughts, it results in better legislation. No set of officials, no matter how hard they work or...

Seanad: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme: Statements (18 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: With the consent of the House I would like to share my time with Senator Craughwell.

Seanad: Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme: Statements (18 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I regret the fact that this has happened. Unfortunately, my regret will not help anyone whose pension is cut in this circumstance. I appreciate the difficulties that have arisen in the scheme. This has gone on for a long time. Like my colleague, I am not an expert in pensions and I not going to pretend that I am. I would share Senator Barrett's concern that perhaps there ought to be an...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Senator Mullen may have left the House but he made a remark in which he likened the Government, in respect of Irish Water, to a car skidding on ice. The Senator appears to have forgotten entirely that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, already has stated clearly that mistakes have been made by the Government and that it is his intention and that...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: As for the cost of Irish Water, I trust that certainty will be given for a number of years, that the level of charges will be affordable for people and that assistance will be given for those who cannot afford them. Such measures will show that the majority of people, who believed that something was not right and who went out and exercised their right to march, have been listened to because...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Role and Remit: Financial Services Ombudsman (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank Mr. Prasifka and his colleagues for their very clear presentation. I apologise if the answers to any of my questions were included in the annual report of the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman and I simply could not find them. Mr. Prasifka expressed the view that the levy is the appropriate way to fund his office rather than direct Exchequer funding. Without meaning in any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Role and Remit: Financial Services Ombudsman (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Does what Mr. Prasifka is saying also apply to the way in which companies co-operate with the ombudsman's office in terms of coming before it, providing paperwork and so on?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Role and Remit: Financial Services Ombudsman (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I was referring not to companies in liquidation but ongoing concerns with which the ombudsman's office is dealing.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: That is rich advice from Fianna Fáil.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: It is interesting that Senator MacSharry has a remarkable capacity to know what happened at meetings at which he was not present. I did not realise he had the capacity to be in places where we could not see him. There is no denying that Sligo County Council is in crisis and has been for some time. The Minister did not have a secret meeting on this. If it had been a secret meeting, Senator...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: The fact the Senator was not at it does not make it a secret meeting. We are in a serious position. The Minister has said he wants a solution to the finance issue in Sligo County Council. I have made clear that I believe we need a collaborative and coherent response to the debts of Sligo County Council. I do not believe we need a deadline, although I know why the deadline is in place. It...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Senator was "told" he said that.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I know that.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Let us be clear. I asked him and he said he was not minded to abolish the council.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I believe he will come in.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: The suggestion that the Minister and the Government are not concerned about Irish Water is a cheap shot.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I call on the Leader to arrange for a debate on the serious findings of the Garda Inspectorate report. I thank the inspectorate for the work done and believe a debate with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, on the findings of the report would be timely. It is timely because, as we look for a new Garda Commissioner and independent commission, if we are to make progress...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Senator Comiskey has just explained that there was a legitimate reason he was not invited.

Seanad: Suicide and Mental Health: Statements (11 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Like Ivana Bacik, I thank the Minister of State for her personal commitment to tackling what is a difficult issue. We are always fighting about funds. I would go further than Senator Mary Moran and say that as well as splitting suicide from mental health, culturally, we also seem to want to split mental health from health. I do not understand why we persist with this because it involves...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I too wish to be associated with the sorrow expressed on the passing of Mr. Brian Farrell. He was a journalist who cared about journalism. He was a journalist who cared about politics. He wanted people to understand the political system. He wanted people to be informed. He did not chase car crash headlines. He was not interested in personality politics, the sort of journalism that...