Results 381-400 of 459 for speaker:Phil Prendergast

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Second Stage (5 Mar 2008)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I welcome the Bill and its provisions. The three major areas in social welfare relate to pensions, lone parents and carers and in that regard the Bill could have addressed many of the anomalies that relate to pension entitlements, particularly for women and retired people with integrated pensions, who will have to wait for another year. I am...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Second Stage (5 Mar 2008)

Phil Prendergast: The way the rent supplement scheme operates has come under criticism from a tax perspective from the Comptroller and Auditor General. We should have amendments calling for rent supplement to be paid directly to the landlord and for landlords to be registered. There is a ludicrous situation where tenants are required to deduct 20% of rent for tax purposes in the case of non-residential...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2008)

Phil Prendergast: I wish to raise the matter of the recent discovery of high levels of radon gas in a home in County Tipperary. A sense of complacency may arise concerning radon gas levels due to the maps detailing projections of high radon gas levels. The maps may lead to a false sense of security for many who think they are safe because there is a low level in their area. Legislation governing the...

Seanad: Civil Marriage: Motion (27 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: I agree that there have been many improvements and positive changes for lesbians and gay men but I have problems with the Fine Gael amendment because it does not deal with the families of same sex couples. There is no reference to adoption or to the potential equality of any kind of family unit. We in the Labour Party are committed to full equality for gay and lesbian couples. Many...

Seanad: Civil Marriage: Motion (27 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: That will always be an issue. There are legal terms and defined parameters for considering such couples. Speakers from all sides of the House on our civil union Bill in the Dáil had open reservations about adoption by same sex couples. I know of cases in which one partner in a same sex union was taken seriously ill but there was no recognition of the status of the other partner, which is...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Health and Children to the House to discuss home birth. Many people in this country are denied the right to a home birth. I also seek a discussion on indemnity insurance for independent midwives and the service they give. I support Senator Frances Fitzgerald in her comments on the O'Malley and Rossiter cases and their supports. I congratulate...

Seanad: Special Educational Needs: Statements (21 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: With the permission of the House I seek to share my time with Senator Alex White.

Seanad: Special Educational Needs: Statements (Resumed). (21 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister to the House. With regard to applied behaviour analysis, Richard Saffran of ABA Resources defines "applied" to mean practice rather than research or philosophy and "behaviour analysis" as "learning theory", that is, understanding what leads to or does not lead to new skills. ABA is just as much about maintaining and using skills as about learning. It may seem odd to...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: Will the Leader arrange for the Minister to come into the House to discuss the availability of adolescent psychiatric beds? I understand only 12 beds are available in St. John of God services, with 38 people on the waiting list, but the nature of the illness does not allow for a timeframe in which they might require hospitalisation. There are no psychiatric beds for adolescents in the south...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: There is an urgent need for those facilities to be increased and I would like the Minister to come to the House at the Leader's request.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (6 Feb 2008)

Phil Prendergast: Will the Leader invite the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the House to discuss spiralling job losses throughout the country, particularly the loss of over 100 jobs last week in Clonmel? These jobs were not lost to a far eastern country but to Wales, because the Welsh authorities gave the richest man in Ireland a very large site for free. The Minister should come to the...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2008)

Phil Prendergast: I join other speakers in requesting the Minister for Health and Children to attend the House for a debate on the cystic fibrosis issue, including the Pollock report on CF services. The Minister should also release the report that was promised in December on Dublin maternity services and the implications for such services where delivery rates are approximately 1,000 per annum. I wish to ask...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: I wish to comment on the absence of legislation relating to the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, particularly that of a sort which would allow it to inspect unfettered and on an unannounced basis all private health care facilities — acute, non-acute and community-based. The absence of such a right of inspection is questionable, especially when moneys are being given to...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State's reply. I worked in the health service for 23 years. If Senator Feeney was ever obliged to travel in the back of an ambulance with a child who was very ill, she would hope that arrival at the hospital would not be delayed by a traffic snarl-up because seconds can be vital. Reference is often made to the golden hour. On occasion, it can be a golden minute....

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following subsections: "(2) This Act, other than the provisions referred to in subsection (3), shall come into operation on its passing. (3) Schedule 1, insofar as it inserts Article 4A in the St. James's Hospital Board (Establishment) Order 1971 and in the Beaumont Hospital Board (Establishment) Order 1977, shall come...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am very disappointed because everybody keeps saying "no" to me on this issue, and it is Christmas. Regarding co-location, which represents a major policy shift to privatisation, what consideration has been given to the manpower implications for nursing, midwifery and other health professions arising from the building of co-located hospitals,...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: We did not get any.

Seanad: Substance Abuse: Motion (19 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey, to the House. I thank Senator Hannigan for sharing his time with me. Irish drinking habits have changed over recent times. People have become more likely to drink at home than in the pub. That shift has been caused by the significant increase in the availability of alcohol in many outlets, including supermarkets. It is not healthy that...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2007: Second Stage (19 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister. The Labour Party accepts that, in light of the reported advice from the Attorney General, it was necessary legally and constitutionally to introduce primary legislation to confirm the 19 bodies purportedly created under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act 1961. We also realise the Oireachtas had to move quickly to close off the existing loophole. However, questions...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2007)

Phil Prendergast: I support the comments made regarding this issue.