Results 35,301-35,320 of 35,959 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: It would be remiss of me not to mention the earlier debate. Contrary to what Senator Ó Domhnaill said, this will not be a welcome announcement for the 230 mná tí that I know in Donegal. We are talking about the loss of over €300 for the average bean an tí in that county.

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: That is on top of the dole cuts that many of them are forced to live with, which is an increased burden. We know that there are other burdens also, including safety certificates.

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: I will have a chance to discuss it later on because the Minister did not want to answer our party last week in the Dáil concerning that matter. He had his set piece moment with Senator Ó Domhnaill.

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: The Adjournment matter I am raising concerns special needs assistants. It is correlated because whether we are discussing special needs assistants or mná tí, the Government's priorities are the bankers and millionaires. The Government will toss them a billion euro here and there, but they will take €5 off the mná tí and will remove classroom assistants from children with special...

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: I am not arguing for SNAs to be kept in schools where the criteria are no longer being met. The Minister cannot brush it off as if the children concerned have left a school. If children leave, more will come in. More children are entering the education system than leaving it.

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: Therefore, the numbers should be increasing rather than decreasing, yet the Government is sacking 12% of SNAs. The only other explanation is that a child's care needs will diminish over time. I have pointed out that the children in question are within the autism spectrum, children with Down's syndrome and with ADHD. I do not know how close the Minister is to the people working on the...

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: They are being taken from children in schools.

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: Children in schools are losing their SNAs.

Seanad: Power Sharing Agreement in Northern Ireland: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: I thank Senator Cassidy for accommodating the extension of time. He gave a commitment to me earlier that he would ensure I had a chance to speak as during the last debate we were pressed for time. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. Cuirim leis an méid atá ráite ag na Seanadóiri eile ó thaobh an buíochas agus an moladh atá tuillte ag an Aire féin, an Taoiseach agus an...

Seanad: Power Sharing Agreement in Northern Ireland: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: And none to Donegal.

Seanad: Cancer Awareness: Statements (17 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Ó Brolcháin faoi a chuid ama a roinnt liom. It has been said many times that cancer has no boundaries and today in the Seanad we see that it does not respect political boundaries. We all agree that work on cancer must continue in terms of promoting awareness and delivering best practice services to people who have unfortunately contracted different...

Seanad: Youth Unemployment: Motion (10 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach. Gabhaim buíochas leis an bPáirtí Lucht Oibre as ucht an rún seo a chur síos toisc go dtugann sé deis don Seanad an cheist seo a phlé. Beidh mé ag tacú leis an rún. Sin ráite, dá mbeinn féin ag scríobh an rún, rachfainn i bhfad níos faide na an Páirtí Lucht Oibre ag cáineadh an Rialtas. Tuigim nár chuaigh siad chomh...

Seanad: Youth Unemployment: Motion (10 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: It will take one sentence. A colleague of mine in County Donegal went to school with 31 other children. There were 32 children in her class. She is now 29 years of age and only seven of those 32 are still in the county. Of the seven, only two are in full-time employment. That is the impact the lack of a policy on unemployment is having in rural areas such as west Donegal.

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (3 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Haughey. Ba mhaith liom an scéim séireachais i gCaisleán na Finne a phlé. Tá an cheist seo ag dul siar le fada an lá. Tá fadhb millteanach sa cheantar, ní hamháin siocair nach bhfuil an tseirbhís ann, ach freisin siocair nach bhfuil muintir na háite in ann tithe a thógáil. Tá aithne agam ar dhaoine óga atá ag dul i mbun a...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (3 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister of State for his response. Perhaps he would take this directly to the Minister, Deputy Gormley, who commented after the urban waste water discharges in Ireland report from the EPA was released in the middle of last year. It was a report looking at the discharges from plants for 2006 and 2007, and Castlefinn sewerage scheme was one of these plants that were discharging...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (3 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: ----- - I am asking the question - does not have the €400,000 in funding required to progress the matter this year. The total amount of funding it must provide in 2010 to meet its contracts is approximately €32 million, and we all know that Donegal County Council does not have that. The question is, will the Minister, Deputy Gormley, of the Green Party allow such a situation where the...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (3 Feb 2010)

Pearse Doherty: Will we allow that for the sake of a couple of hundred thousand euro or will the Minister think imaginatively, like the way we can for Mr. Rody Molloy and others, and deal with this problem?

Seanad: Schools Building Projects (21 Jan 2010)

Pearse Doherty: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Ó Domhnaill as ucht a chuid ama a roinnt liom. I appreciate the opportunity to share time with Senator Ó Domhnaill and the arrangement shows the importance of this issue in the community. I outline my interest in this matter. I am a former student of Bunbeg national school. My sister teaches in the school and come September it will be the school that...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Motion for Early Signature (18 Dec 2009)

Pearse Doherty: The proposal to adjourn until 20 January 2010 is a disgrace.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Motion for Early Signature (18 Dec 2009)

Pearse Doherty: I formally oppose the proposal.