Results 3,101-3,120 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I wish to ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Education and Skills to discuss the future of the technological university. The subject has come up time and again. It is important to have the debate at this point because we are still not making progress on technological universities.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: There are a number of questions we ought to ask about how we want technological universities to be and even whether we want them. If we do, should they be markedly different from existing universities, and if so, how we make them different? We have a new Minister, and we agree there is probably a need for such universities. I live in Sligo and Sligo IT would like to be a lead partner in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (5 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: We are always grateful to members of the public who take the time to bring their petitions to us. These petitions were brought to us by people with disabilities who have difficulty getting grants under the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations. Given the difficulty that arises here and given that the original legislation and any subsequent amendments date...

Seanad: Penal Reform: Motion (5 Nov 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank my colleagues Senators Bacik and Hayden for proposing and seconding this motion. It is yet again an opportunity for the Seanad to show that penal reform is not a political football but that we have an interest in improving the system at heart. There has been no disagreement, or at least there will be no disagreement on the motion today. The difficulty facing any Minister, and the...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Not enough schools were built.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: We could help with a few names.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank Senator Darragh O'Brien for a good idea on CPR on this day. I am certain that some schools engage in CPR training and I understand the Senator's suggestion to be that it could be formalised and set in place in order that all schools might be able to avail of it. Thereafter, young people going out into the world would have such training at their disposal and this might be a matter on...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Perhaps it is the case that it is a wee bit more complex than that. Having engaged in a conversation with the Minister, Deputy Howlin on this matter, he has explained and will explain to anyone who asks that it is not a deliberate thing but rather, that when making that measure on a single piece of paper, there are some people for whom one size simply does not fit all. However, the...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I wish to welcome the One Young World Summit 2014 to Dublin. Members may be aware that Dublin put in a bid and the aforementioned summit is being held here. Members are in the presence of a group of young people this morning and really, this is about bringing leadership and encouraging young people to take their place in the world and to allow their voices to be heard in respect of...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Several weeks ago, I raised the serious difficulties relating to the special investigations unit, SIU, in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and called for the Minister to attend the House to discuss them. At the time I described it as a private hit squad, and I reiterate that. In the meantime, I am delighted the Minister has disbanded the SIU and put in place a restructured...

Seanad: Arts and Culture Sector: Motion (8 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: We have had one already.

Seanad: Arts and Culture Sector: Motion (8 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Is the Senator suggesting his party never did it?

Seanad: Arts and Culture Sector: Motion (8 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: It is welcome all the same.

Seanad: Arts and Culture Sector: Motion (8 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: It is a hard act to follow. I thank the Minister for being here. I particularly welcome the motion that Fianna Fáil has put forward on the grounds that it shows an enormous interest in the arts.

Seanad: Arts and Culture Sector: Motion (8 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: We will ignore the darker arts that might be at play. Indeed the idea that Fianna Fáil would stand up and trumpet its role in what it has created is not in the spirit of the arts at all, given that, as the previous speaker has said eloquently, the arts belong to all of us. They do not belong to any particular party and what it might have achieved or might not have achieved. We are here...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: That is beneath the Senator.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: Fianna Fáil was in government for 14 years and did not take action. Those opposite said nothing during that entire period.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Senator's party took no action at all.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Role and Functions: Office of the Ombudsman (1 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: My last query was whether Mr. Tyndall was asking for an ombudsman for the HSE.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Role and Functions: Office of the Ombudsman (1 Oct 2014)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Ombudsman for this very useful information.