Results 3,721-3,740 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I support the Senator's point. These are the issues which show the weaknesses in the recommendations of the Commission on Public Service Pensions. It refused to take a creative approach to creating a stage between full-time employment and full-time retirement. The issue raised by Senator McDowell is another issue that should be dealt with. There is no reason that people should not have...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: He could try it with decentralisation and tell people who go to Roscrea that they can work until they are 70 years old.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: With regard to people working in the fire service there is reference in the recommendations of the Public Service Pensions Commission to a specified fire brigade employee who is a new entrant. This recommendation was age specific because parts of that work were more physically demanding than others. Certain jobs in the management area were not considered the same. There was a list of those...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I move amendment No. 5: In page 9, subsection (4), between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: "or (d) a person who immediately before 1 April 2004 was enrolled in a recognised course of training as a primary teacher.". The issue is simple and deals with equity. The Act gives recognition to the fact that people in the Garda training college in Templemore are deemed not to be new...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I missed that point.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: On a point of order, I tabled an amendment to which in his response, the Minister of State justified why recruit gardaí were dealt with in a certain way. He went to great lengths to explain their contract and the reasons this could not be related to the teaching profession. In terms of the response, it is perfectly in order. I intend referring to that connection made by the Minister of State...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: Neither of us was ruled out of order.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: We are talking about an exception and I ask, therefore, that another exception be made. The relationship between different categories has to be a fair reference point. Will the Minister of State indicate what is the position of Army cadets? Are they similar to teachers? The aim of my amendment is to protect the position of teachers. Army cadets are not included in the legislation in the way...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I am sorry. I will not accept the ruling.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I want to make this clear. This will not go away. We will go through debates for the past 17 years where it will be seen to be perfectly in order to make appropriate references and connections with different groups in order to illustrate cases. I cannot accept that something can be ruled out of order in that way. It is not fair.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: Excuse me, a Chathaoirligh. If my point were out of order then the amendment would have been ruled out of order. The aim of the amendment is to create an exception and, in terms of argument, it is necessary to make comparisons and relativities with other groups which may be excluded under this section. There is no other way to present the argument.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I have to make this point clear. On a point of order, and with due respect to the office of Chair, I ask the Chair to respect my position.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I use the same approach to connecting arguments, as is normal parliamentary procedure in this House, the other House and any other parliament I have seen. I am clear on what can be ruled in or out of order. It would be completely out of order for us to discuss at length the issue of nurses, cadets, gardaí or whatever, but it is quite in order to raise issues about them to make a connection...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I am not finished speaking on it. I have not spoken on it for the past ten minutes.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: I was about to make the case for it.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: Yes.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: Why did the Acting Chairman ask if I was pressing the amendment if there is another speaker?

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: The position is that we have to take this through as we see it. When students are making decisions about their future at leaving certificate stage, as Senator Ormonde said, they might change their minds many times along the way either before they make a final decision on filling in the form or when they make their choices afterwards. There are choices to be made at all times and we have to...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: That is the point I was making. I was looking at the precise terminology. The colleges of education are there for the single purpose of producing teachers. When I was in college there was a requirement that qualifying teachers commit to teaching in the State for at least the first five years of their career. This was seen as a payback for the costs of the development. The B.Ed. is a...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Joe O'Toole: As I am deeply suspicious about everything, although not about the Minister of State himself, I do not understand why the term has to be changed. Is this amendment simply for consistency? Does it impact on any group or section in the public service?