Results 4,061-4,080 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (1 Feb 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister for attending the House for this debate. I commend my colleagues on this important topic for debate. As Senator Crown has rightly pointed out, this debate will continue in this House and in the other House for quite a long time because energy is at the core of everything. One of the exciting aspects of renewable energy is that we might have finally found a way of doing...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jan 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: At risk of incurring wrath, I believe it is worth echoing our congratulations for those films that have been nominated for Oscars, namely, "The Shore" and "Pentecost". It is a wonderful achievement. However, to cut to the chase in regard to Seanad reform, one action we have tried to pursue is the format of questions and answers with Ministers when they attend. When we see a consultant...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Our thoughts are with the community mentioned at this time. We join with Senator Denis O'Donovan in wishing luck to everyone involved in today's difficult endeavours. I thank Members in engaging in yesterday's vigorous Private Members' debate on rural transport. That it was followed by the resumption of statements on suicide brought to light the need for the issue of isolation to be...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jan 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, that €100 million will be spent on road improvements. While it is acknowledged that it is difficult to proceed with large road projects at this time, improving roads throughout the country will bring much needed safety and better surfaces. However - there is always a "however" - I am...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jan 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: -----that the N4 has been deemed one of the most dangerous roads in the country. Some 29 people have died on one particular stretch of that road over a short number of years. It is one of the only roads in Ireland on which white crosses mark each of those deaths. While they serve as some indication that people should slow down, I am pretty certain no one in the House will agree that they...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jan 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I wish fellow Senators a productive and busy year. I would like to persevere with an issue I raised previously. I asked for the terms of reference of the HSE's independent review of the Mayo abuse case to be made public. I appreciate it is not that long since I made the request but there has been silence since then. Perhaps the Leader might assist in ensuring they are made public. I take...

Seanad: Recent Developments in Eurozone and European Council: Statements (16 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As a europhile, I welcome the political agreement but maintain a natural caution. During the referendum on the Lisbon treaty, I likened the difficulty in that regard to the difficulty of getting 17 members of one's family to sit down together and agree arrangements for a meal. It is an extraordinary achievement that we have got this far. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: It has indeed been a challenging and interesting year. My car keys were locked in my office. I have been locked out of Leinster House. I lost my way around the car park of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Several ushers repaired a puncture for me in the car park, while ushers also bought me milk late at night when I could not find a cup of tea. I echo the thanks that...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: I echo Senator Bacik's comments about the people of Liège, who are obviously struggling to cope with the events of yesterday and the deaths of some of their citizens. I ask the Leader if the Minister for Health might consider an idea from the UK — the Good Care Guide, which is an online service to encourage users and their families to rate care homes for the elderly. However, it is not...

Seanad: Health Services (14 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister for coming before the House. This matter relates to St. John's Hospital, Sligo, which has a fine tradition of providing care, particularly for those who are highly dependent. I was a patient at the hospital which is an old facility. When officials from the Health Information and Quality Authority visited it recently, the Cairde Ward had to be closed. It had 35 to 36...

Seanad: Health Services (14 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: The staff, the patients and the families view the standards as being vitally important, and people welcomed the HIQA intervention at that point. I am still unclear, however, because "considering its options" might also mean that Cairde Ward could remain shut. I am no clearer as to whether the refurbishment will start or whether the commitment has been made.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (13 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I also echo the words of my fellow Senators in commending the Minister's capacity to keep the cuts to a minimum, albeit that, as she and others have noted, no one wants to cut. In this regard, she was the Minister who was to be damned in this budget because whatever she did and wherever she went to find the money, there would be a queue of...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: I wish to comment on the case in County Mayo last week in which a man who had abused his daughters was jailed for life. One could not but concur that it was one of the most violent cases about which we had read in recent times. The hard part is that it happened in our times because the children were abused between 1986 and 2000. This case does not belong in the dim and distant past when no...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: I echo the calls for an improvement in the way Members behave in this House. At a time when we constantly talk about how we look to the world, we are not showing ourselves up in a good light. I ask the Leader not to organise a debate on the future of the Seanad in Seanad time. If we are to have a debate on the future of the Seanad, we should not take up the time of this House to do so and...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: Senator MacSharry appears to have entirely forgotten-----

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: Yes. The question I have asked is that the Leader does not organise a debate on the future of the Seanad. Senator MacSharry appears to have forgotten that the Government of which he was a party member took cancer services away from Sligo.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: Will Senator Leyden please withdraw that statement?

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: The statement that we had to have one of our own in the Áras.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: I beg your pardon, Senator Leyden. The people voted for President Higgins. I ask the Senator to withdraw that statement.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Susan O'Keeffe: It is the inference made by the Senator that somehow we had to have one of our own and kept Mr. Seán Gallagher out of the Áras.