Results 3,961-3,980 of 5,534 for speaker:Maureen O'Sullivan

Health (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: It is almost beyond belief we do not have a state-of-the-art health system when we consider the budget is €13.626 billion with a further €397 million in capital funding. I wish to make a general point about what is good and excellent in our health service. Excellent medical care and quality of services is provided in the areas of caring for people with cancer and advances for...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Youth Services Funding (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 31. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will outline the budget allocations to youth services in the Dublin area since taking office; if her attention has been drawn to the implications to youth services from reductions in funding and the effect future reductions will have on these services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32358/13]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Deportation Orders Data (4 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 223. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality in respect of the ten persons who were deported from Ireland to Kinshasa on 16 June, if he will detail the circumstances surrounding his decision to sanction the deportation of the persons in view of the fact that no deportations to the Congo have taken place since mid-2011; if he acknowledges that the risks and dangers facing the persons have...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Having participated in the first meeting of the priority committee process for the review conference for a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, what does the Tánaiste hope to achieve as he goes to participate in a second one? Where does the Tánaiste see that there can be a role in emerging emergency situations such as that in Burma with the Rohingya people because we have a good name...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Is there any reconciliation funding for organisations that work with political prisoners on release?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: My question is somewhat related to that of Deputy Smith. Some people lose their passports or their passports may be stolen just when they are about to travel. I dealt with a case of this nature recently, but the Passport Office was completely intransigent on the issue. It would not budge from the regulations because there was no bereavement involved. Some leeway should be allowed because...

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I wish to share my time with Deputy Mattie McGrath.

Taxi Regulation Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil deacrachtaí agus fadhbanna ag tiománaí tacsaí, agus tá cuid de na freagraí sa Bhille seo, ach ní dóigh liom go bhfuil na freagraí go léir ann. I have lost count of the number of taxi men and women I have met recently who tell me of the difficulty of making a living from driving a taxi. Some other regulations...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Vote 28 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised) (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I thank the Chairman. Our Presidency showed other countries how to do it and how to do it in a cost-effective and economical way. My question is on trade. We have an opportunity to combine trade with human rights advocacy by insisting that labour rights be part of any trade agreements in which we are involved. As we have a position on the United Nations Human Rights Council we can use...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Discussion (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I am sorry I was not present. None of the paperwork will be of any use unless it is seen to be having an effect on the ground. Some months ago I was asked by Trócaire to host a meeting when one of its workers from the Congo was in Ireland. This Congolese lady told us what was happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC. We had the statistic that a woman is raped every 48...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Discussion (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Last week at the AWEPA conference we had quite a number of African parliamentarians in the country, including women parliamentarians. They voiced strongly their concerns for their countries. There were some interesting discussions with them. Are the delegates working with and engaging with the women parliamentarians in the African countries?

Other Questions: State Examinations Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: Teachers are professionally developed-out at this stage given all of the changes they have taken on board and all the professional development they have done. I am a great supporter of the leaving certificate applied. It works, in terms of the way it is corrected, etc., because the numbers are much smaller. I think the Minister is taking a sledge hammer to something which could be dealt...

Other Questions: State Examinations Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 8. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the basis on which he decided teachers would correct the junior certificate examination work of their own students and schools would provide their own individual certification. [32005/13]

Other Questions: State Examinations Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I cannot agree with the Minister of State's assertion that the junior certificate is not a high-stakes examination. He ought to visit second level schools when students are preparing to sit that examination, which is a high-stakes proposition for those students and their teachers. I am still not convinced that what is proposed will lead to benefits for students. At present, teachers...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: While the suggestion of engaging with the NCCA is positive, I note the theme of a recent conference of the History Teachers Association of Ireland was, Will School History survive the "Decade of Commemoration"? It would be ironic if, in 2022, there were classes of young people who did not know what were those decades. I also wish to make a plea for geography, even though I was not involved...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I am not convinced it will improve.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 3. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in view of the serious concerns regarding the subject of history in the proposed reform of the junior certificate, if he will consider including history as a compulsory subject. [32343/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: I thank the Minister for the reply. No doubt there is much alarm and disquiet among those who teach history, among those in the History Teachers Association of Ireland, among people who teach history at third level, like Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, and people within the history industry such as Catriona Crowe from the National Archives of Ireland, at the way in which they see history being...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (3 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: The fact that up to now 90% of students have chosen the subject is no guarantee that under the proposed framework that will continue to be the case. We have something that is working, so why try to reinvent it? There is no doubt that the junior certificate history programme needed reform, especially in second year. However, the fear remains that it will not convey all the skills involved...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Money Laundering (2 Jul 2013)

Maureen O'Sullivan: 272. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider increasing the purchase limit of Prize Bonds from €25 to €100 before anti money laundering requirements are applied in order to maintain a balance between the need for appropriate AML requirements and convenience for ordinary customers who wish to purchase Prize Bonds as gifts; and if he will make a statement on the...