Results 3,401-3,420 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2004: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Oct 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I make that point because pubs should be required to have such alternatives available. The profit on them is high and many smart publicans can see that. It should be as easy to get a cappuccino in a public house as a pint of stout. Those other options should be available and we must move onto them to get things going. I agree with the point that the Minister has made many times that the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Oct 2004)

Joe O'Toole: The Government is challenging all the cases. It has lost every case except one. What was said this morning gives a completely misleading impression.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Oct 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I hope Fianna Fáil members around the country breathed a sigh of relief last night to find their leadership has found another way of staying in power after the next election, although I do not think they were that worried about it. I recently raised an issue with the Leader to which she did not reply. I interpreted this to mean she wished to get some information on it. My question referred...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Oct 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I accept your ruling, a Chathaoirligh. I am not discussing the issue but the establishment of a committee, the technical issues which arise from that and the relationship of this House with the committee. I asked the Leader a question and would be happy with her response. While I will not embarrass the House, I am not prepared to forget about this for two years.

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Oct 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I look forward to the Leader's response. I am totally opposed to the points made by the new Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, though I wish her well in her difficult portfolio. I remind the House that parents have won all the cases bar one taken to establish rights to special needs assistance for their children. The one case lost led the Minister to go on air to state,...

Seanad: Report on Seanad Reform: Statements (Resumed). (30 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, and congratulate him on surviving yesterday, which was an important stage for everyone. I also thank him for his work on the labour portfolio. I am not sure if the Minister of State still has it, but his accessibility and flexibility in dealing with labour issues over the past two years have...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: Many of the issues we have discussed over the past two years about the House can be brought together in the debate on Seanad reform and it is crucially important that people express their views at this time. There is another issue I would like the Leader to consider. We have talked before about consultation and last night when we discussed services for people with disabilities I raised the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: We could have a debate on it.

Seanad: Disability Services: Motion. (29 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: It would be a little unfair for me to have a go at the Chair when I can answer the Senator's interruptions elsewhere. I will give a couple of examples, one of which is current, of why I have doubts about this legislation. The first relates to the right to an independent assessment. I have been observing this matter carefully. It has been under consideration for five years and discussed at all...

Seanad: Disability Services: Motion. (29 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The debate on disability is welcome in the House and among the media. Over the past two weeks I have had a lot of sympathy for disability groups trying to find their way through this quite opaque legislation. This legislation depends on goodwill. The point is not that it should be politically driven, but that it is, so that it will be dealt with...

Seanad: Disability Services: Motion. (29 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: No. I do not disagree with your point.

Seanad: Disability Services: Motion. (29 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: Could the Acting Chairman also invite interruptions to be made through the Chair, in order to have balance?

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: The implication of welcoming people back is to give the impression, which is well understood outside the Houses, that politicians do nothing in the intervening period. I will not welcome anybody back because I have seen most Members around the Houses most days during the summer. This is just another form of work and it is important to make that point. A crucial point should be made with...

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Sep 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I do not want to discuss the issue and I have not discussed it but we need a schedule for where it is going. Will we be able to get across the plinth to our cars this afternoon given the number of dissatisfied ex-Ministers, possible Ministers, potential Members, dissatisfied backbenchers and so on who will crowd it after the announcements?

Seanad: State Airports Bill 2004: Second Stage. (13 Jul 2004)

Joe O'Toole: Most of the point-scoring is coming from the Government side.

Seanad: State Airports Bill 2004: Second Stage. (13 Jul 2004)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator should look at her own party.

Seanad: State Airports Bill 2004: Second Stage. (13 Jul 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister to the House, although I wish he came here more often. I do not disagree with all of the many important things which are happening in transport. Although I am a critic of the Minister, I am not a constant critic of his. I like to give a balanced view of issues. I disagree fundamentally with the Minister on this legislation, but that does not mean I disagree with...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Jul 2004)

Joe O'Toole: The figure is 80%.

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Jul 2004)

Joe O'Toole: The first item on the Order of Business regarding the designation of the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service is simply a matter of dealing with the question of which groups and institutions should be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1997. Recently we received the annual report of the Information Commissioner which has been dealt with by the Committee...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Jul 2004)

Joe O'Toole: The Aer Rianta Bill, unfortunately, will be pushed through next week. The House will be prevented from making changes and it will be an absolute charade. I accept Second Stage will be useful to put issues on the record but, after that, it will be a charade. Did the Attorney General give advice to the Government on the Bill before it was published? Has the Attorney General been made aware of...