Results 4,161-4,180 of 7,640 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Yes. In particular, I am asking if the Leader could intervene with the Minister for Health and ask him to order the release of the report. The previous Minister for Health said that there would be no further breaches of procurement rules by that hospital group. To maintain public confidence in the management of public money in hospitals, the Minister should direct the HSE to release the...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I did not get an opportunity to contribute to this debate on Second Stage.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I have followed the progress of this Bill carefully through the House, mainly from my office. I am anxious to put on record my support for the Bill and my opposition to the amendments proposed.I have followed much of the debate from my office and I have found it very interesting and revealing. Thanks to the operation of the Irish Constitution and the intervention of the courts in their...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: -----and some other kind of world seen as less enlightened where there is a diversity of visions entitled to provide education according to their values and the values of the people supporting them. Every time I hear the Eileen Flynn case mentioned in the Irish discourse I know people are no longer interested in cogent analysis but in propagandising.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Very few people in the country remember the details of the case and it would not serve fairness to anybody to revisit the details of the case or try to extrapolate-----

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: -----from that case material relevant to the issues covered in the Bill. Leaving aside the prejudice and, I would argue, the unthinking approach adopted by those seeking to invoke the Eileen Flynn case in a way to close down debate rather than to open it up-----

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I listened to the Minister of State's most recent intervention, and the contributions of other Senators, including Senator Conway. I have great respect for everybody here but his contributions are normally more to my taste. I felt very grateful for the provisions of the Constitution. Without the protections of the Constitution we would be in a very dangerous place. The Minister of State...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: -----that would be reduced to the hard will of the currently powerful majority. A school that would try to communicate the idea that respect for life at all stages from conception to natural death is fundamental to our civilisation would suffer under the rule of the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin. A school that would argue-----

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: A school that would try to teach that the difference between men and women is fundamental and marriage between men and women has a particular value would certainly suffer under the rule of the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, because it appears it would be in the power of the State to determine what children must learn. This is not education, it is propaganda, and it is...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: There is a particular inheritance there that many people value, even if they are not believers themselves or if they are not sure where they are on the plane of faith. It is wrong to suggest there is some kind of mass hypocrisy going on. What is going on is that parents must in some way exercise their right to seek an education for their children and they must not be required simply to obey...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I am saying this is clearly what flows and what has flowed from the contributions. In the contributions I have listened to I did not hear the nuance one would need to recognise that different people have different value systems and they ought to be entitled to be educated according to those value systems. I did not hear the Minister of State or any other contributor, with the exception of...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Let me make one last point. The separation of children, as the Minister of State described, is not to treat children with any lack of respect or inequality per se. There may be cases, and Northern Ireland comes to mind, where the denominational distinctions in schools could be argued to have contributed to the problem, on which subject one would have a very lively debate, but there can be...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: We will go to mediation some time.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Absolutely.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2015)

Rónán Mullen: We should not be wary of Greeks seeking gifts but we should avoid excessive certainty on either side of this question affecting the Greeks. It seems too simple to blame EU leaders but it is also too simple to engage in casual dismissal of the Greek people and their approach to taxes, etc. Many people will miss Mr. Varoufakis as he sails off into the sunset on his motorbike. I hope his...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jun 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Two weeks ago, I called on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to engage in genuine consultation with farmers and landowners in east County Galway about the proposed greenway cycle route project. It now transpires that the Minister has written to around a thousand landowners in a bid to work out a feasible route. However, I am concerned that this may not be a genuine consultation,...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I seek a debate on why the HSE seems to be making such a mess of the provision of mental health services in Galway and in the west generally. In County Galway it seems we are in a parallel universe at the moment, where every rational policy gets turned on its head and common sense gets thrown out of the window. The HSE plans to centralise mental health treatment into a leaking and...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I support Senator Walsh's comments on the activism of organisations, such as Amnesty International, in pushing for abortion. Sadly, Amnesty International has lost many of its loyal supporters who previously viewed it as an impartial and reliable voice that acted on behalf of the most vulnerable and forgotten members of society. Frankly, the organisation has become distracted from its...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I hope that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will engage in meaningful consultation, including agreeing to enhanced fencing for safety purposes and screening measures to protect privacy. These are not unreasonable demands.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I would be grateful to the Leader if he were to arrange a debate, at the earliest opportunity, to discuss with the Minister for Health the provision of general practitioner services in rural areas. I have raised previously the rural practice allowance, which is a statutory scheme that has been in place since 1972, having been provided for in the Health Act 1970. The allowance is paid to...