Results 381-400 of 1,311 for speaker:Sheila Terry

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I accept that what the Minister of State said is true in regard to the content of the Acts to which I have referred in the amendment. As has been said on a number of occasions, what we are trying to do here is to strengthen and give power to this legislation, which is ground-breaking and for which many people have fought for many years. This will be used like their Bible. They want the...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I move amendment No. 57: In page 5, lines 7 to 12, to delete all words from and including "OCCASIONED" in line 7 down to and including "-CATION," in line 12 and substitute the following: "OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, TO ENABLE MINISTERS OF THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE PROVISION". I will be interested to hear what the Minister of State has to say on this issue. My amendment proposes to change the...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: Does the Minister of State know if the words "consistent with the resources available to them" appear in other legislation?

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: We know what they mean. Whether we are discussing a transport Bill or any other legislation, they all cost money. Will the Minister of State point to any legislation that includes these very words imposing restrictions to the effect that the Minister can only spend the resources available? We accept that one can only spend what one has, as Senator O'Rourke said. We each look for a new road,...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I move amendment No. 46: In page 31, subsection (1), between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following new paragraphs: "(d) the introduction of National Standards for Disability Services and the statutory inspection of such services, (e) the consideration of the primary care needs of people with disabilities when developing the new model of primary care,". This amendment deals with the...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I move amendment No. 50: In page 40, between lines 46 and 47, to insert the following new subsection: "(5) The Minster shall, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before each House of the Oireachtas, a report on the possibility of increasing the public service employment quota for people with disabilities above 3 per cent.". This amendment proposes that after the...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: A woman.

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I am disappointed the Minister of State is not accepting the amendment, particularly in view of the consensus in favour of it. This is the type of commitment we all wish to see. We must try to encourage greater numbers of people with disabilities to enter employment. We should put structures in place whereby State organisations or public bodies would be obliged to fill at least 3% of staff...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: The whole debate on this Bill is pretty frustrating from my point of view and that of the Opposition generally. We spend hours preparing for the debate and then spend hours debating the various amendments, but we do not really get anywhere. Perhaps, therefore, it would be better if the Minister of State came in at the beginning and said, "I'm not going to accept any of your amendments", thus...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: This is a simple amendment which does not seek too much, yet the Minister of State has not provided me with a good enough reason not to accept it. I accepted a number of points the Minister of State made during the debate. He made them constructively, putting forward an argument as to why my amendments should not be accepted. I have agreed with him along the way, but in this case he has not...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I am sorry if I misrepresented what the Minister of State said. I thought he said it would make it more difficult and I would disagree with that view. We are talking about the public sector and we must set the standards so others will follow. Earlier, everyone praised Senator Quinn for what he and others have done in the private sector. The Minister of State has not convinced me as to why he...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I move amendment No. 36: In page 20, subsection (3), line 3, to delete "weeks" and substitute "months". This amendment refers to the timeframe in which an applicant or a person may appeal to the appeals officer. The legislation provides that the appeal should be made within six weeks of the date on which the finding or recommendation to which it relates was communicated to the person. My...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I am disappointed the Minister of State will not accept my amendment. I recognise that subsection (4) provides that a person may apply for an extension of up to 12 weeks. That is reasonable for the majority of people, but I seek an allowance for the minority who may not even have the capacity or be in a position to write the letter to seek the extension. I want an extension of the period to...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I move amendment No. 41: In page 26, subsection (3), after line 48, to insert the following new paragraph: "(c) The compliance of public buildings with Part M shall be ensured by the allocation of certificates of compliance by a building control officer who will also be charged with the periodic monitoring and inspection of such buildings.". I welcome the provision in this Bill which states...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I welcome the Minister of State's proposal to introduce a system of disability access certificates. As he has said, it will strengthen the level of accessibility afforded to people with disabilities. Such good practices are observed in other countries, such as Australia. While I welcome the proposals, I ask the Minister of State to reconsider the possibility of introducing them in this Bill....

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I support the amendment. This is something every Department should be obliged to do. I ask the Minister of State to consider this aspect. Every Department is not included at the moment, therefore, it would be of benefit to people with disabilities if each Department was obliged to provide for its own sectoral plan.

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I thank the Minister for the amendment. If it is agreed, will he guarantee there will be a type of disability-proofing in each Department? When drawing up legislation or regulations, will Ministers automatically tick the box to say it is disability-friendly, in the same way as Departments must equality-proof legislation? If it does not go that far, it will not be worthwhile. The amendment...

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: I also wish to thank the Minister of State for bringing forward these amendments, which should help to strengthen the legislation.

Seanad: Disability Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (15 Jun 2005)

Sheila Terry: Will the Minister of State explain how independent a complaints officer can be as an employee of the Health Service Executive? Would it not be better and more independent if that person were outside the Health Service Executive, or even from another health service area? This would strengthen the legislation and ensure that complainants really would get an independent assessment. Nobody wants...