Results 4,581-4,600 of 7,648 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Autism Support Services (13 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Minister for being present, but I am very disappointed by the response she has been given. It is full of Civil Service speak and passes the ball completely to the NCSE and presumes that it will look at the issue. I do not know from the speech the Minister has delivered whether the Department or the NCSE has one iota of knowledge of the existence of the rapid prompting method. I...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Autism Support Services (13 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: According to the definition of the American Psychiatric Association, autism is a neuro-developmental disorder characterised by impaired social interaction, impaired verbal and non-verbal communication and restricted and repetitive behaviour. The rapid prompting method, which is the subject of this Adjournment matter, is a method for teaching a child to respond to his or her teacher by making...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: One cannot represent the leaving certificate oral as an internal exam. It was external and objective, which is what we need.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: We do not know that.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: The Deputy Leader is missing the point.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: In the light of the fact that the talks aimed at resolving the dispute over the planned new junior cycle collapsed after the Teachers Union of Ireland rejected a compromise offer from the Minister for Education and Skills, it is appropriate to reconsider the issue of junior certificate reform. We have already seen a major change in policy on the part of the Minister. Her predecessor wanted...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I understand that. It makes all the more urgent the call I made here recently, to which the Minister for Justice and Equality appeared to respond positively, for the introduction of a "Track my crime" online system to allow victims of crime to access information about how their cases are being managed and dealt with and to access information that is important to them.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: That is one practical way in which we can improve the service being provided to An Garda Síochána, but it must be resourced, particularly in the area of IT.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Of course he is aware of it.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Any report that makes 200 recommendations on the operation of the Garda Síochána, and describes some of the recommendations as more urgent because they have been made previously but not fully implemented, requires a full debate in the House. I call for that debate. I caution against two extremes in the response to the Olson report. One is the extreme tended towards by the...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

Rónán Mullen: We need to understand the criticisms made as constructive and we must support the work of the Garda Síochána but also help it to do its work better. The criticisms must be understood in the context of major cuts in Garda numbers and resources over the past number of years. Systematic failures and poor management practices have been identified. One of the deficiencies involved a...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Victim Support Services (23 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. I welcome in particular her undertaking to ask the acting Garda Commissioner to examine the possibility and feasibility of introducing a TrackMyCrime system. I would be very much obliged to the Minister if she could provide some further feedback on the acting Commissioner's response to this. I agree with and welcome her comments about the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Victim Support Services (23 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I welcome the Minister to the House. The European Union victims of crimes directive 2012 provides for certain rights for victims when reporting a crime. These include provision for victims to receive a written acknowledgement of their complaint from the police. The acknowledgement should state the basic elements of the crime, such as the type of crime, the time and place of occurrence and...

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: To clarify, when the Cathaoirleach says that the names of the people will be recorded, does he mean the names of the people seeking a division?

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: I do not support the amendment; it was not my intention to support the amendment, just to facilitate a vote.

Seanad: European Stability Mechanism (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Yes, precisely. I want that put on the record.

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Senator Quinn's own clock is set for twice per year to remind us of this valuable question, which we should address properly. I support and second the comments made by my colleague, Senator Walsh, regarding the national broadcaster. After the Fr. Kevin Reynolds debacle, we thought that RTE had moved on because we were promised better standards of fairness and balance. However, the...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: We have had much discussion about Irish Water and debates on wind farms and renewable energy in the House. One issue connects both, which is that end users, who are ordinary people, are constantly being saddled with extra and unnecessary expense in order to cushion various vested interests. Whether it is to do with the preservation of excessive jobs in Irish Water, the payment of...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Will ordinary Irish people end up paying extra for a policy that is proving to be unworkable? I call for a debate on that.

Seanad: Joint Policing Committees: Motion (15 Oct 2014)

Rónán Mullen: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. As has been rightly said, the joint policing committees perform very important functions. I am mindful of every small town in the United States which has its town hall and local governance, but in Ireland it could be said that have one of the most centralised states in the western world. I am not sure if this is a symptom of the distrust official Ireland...