Results 4,581-4,600 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: It was a Leader of the House.

Seanad: Parliamentary Committees: Motions. (17 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: Are we having a debate on these motions?

Seanad: Parliamentary Committees: Motions. (17 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: There are not that many people who want to speak on this but there is an issue here. It is not the subject matter but a technical issue. If it is agreeable I suggest speakers get six minutes.

Seanad: Parliamentary Committees: Motions. (17 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I remind Members that this is purely a technical discussion and issues need to be examined. There is a double fault line. I will speak about the positive aspects first. The proposal for substitution originated in this House and it has worked very well. The committees now match up with a Government Department and that has been evolving—

Seanad: Parliamentary Committees: Motions. (17 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: —yes, or two Departments. There is a clear line of responsibility and the names of the committees make it far easier for Members to understand which Minister will be dealing with each committee. I now come to the down side. This may not be a popular opinion but for those of us who are responsible for ensuring a quorum at committees it is a bigger problem to get people to attend committee...

Seanad: Parliamentary Committees: Motions. (17 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: The voice of sanity.

Seanad: Parliamentary Committees: Motions. (17 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator was lucky. Some of us were not allowed.

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I congratulate the Government side of the House on accepting and dealing with a Labour Party Bill today. It is a sign of a new approach. We hope the Government will be open to consideration of more Bills from this side of the House, especially from the Independent benches. Perhaps we will begin the process on Private Members' Business today.

Seanad: Recognition of Domestic Partnerships: Motion. (16 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I compliment Senator Norris on putting down this issue for debate. It is something we have to address. I join with him in his words of praise for the Leader who has worked hard to put a sensitive amendment to it. I cannot disagree with it but I wish she could have gone a bit further. Some 12 years ago Senator Norris asked me, as the co-ordinator of the Independent Members in the Seanad, to...

Seanad: Address by President of the European Parliament. (10 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I compliment Mr. Cox on an extraordinary tour de force which covered all the issues. I will address some broad principles on behalf of the people I represent, Irish workers. I wish to keep the debate focused. I ask Mr. Cox to address an issue which he omitted to mention, that is, the extraordinarily specious argument about how and when the veto can be used. There is a false view abroad...

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: There may be some confusion about this, but the Leader said the address tomorrow by Mr. Pat Cox will be taken without debate.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I apologise, we will agree on speaking times. I thank the Leader for putting these debates on the Order Paper as requested the last time we met. It is a good indication of how we can look forward to doing business for the remainder of this term. I agree completely with the suggestions of Senator Hayes. With the publication of the Flood report and the extraordinary developments in Northern...

Seanad: Sub-Committee of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges: Motion. (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator would like to reform every panel other than his own. (Interruptions.)

Seanad: Sub-Committee of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges: Motion. (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I would like to share five minutes of my time with Senator Norris.

Seanad: Sub-Committee of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges: Motion. (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: Give him six minutes. I am delighted with the enthusiasm of the Fianna Fáil Front Bench for the reform of the Seanad. When I listen closely, I realise it is the reform of the university constituencies about which they are concerned. I first stood for election in the early 1980s. At that time I proposed that every graduate of a third level college should have a vote in the Seanad elections. I...

Seanad: Sub-Committee of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges: Motion. (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: It is undemocratic because if 900 people in Albania were entitled to elect three quarters of the Members of a House of Parliament there, we would condemn such behaviour as totalitarianism – whether it arose under a dictatorship or a communist regime – and we would be right to do so. If the Senator believes my comments are focused in any way on local authority members he is wrong. Others...

Seanad: Education Funding: Motion (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: It does not get any easier.

Seanad: Education Funding: Motion (9 Oct 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I am happy to share my time with Senator Browne. I am delighted the Fine Gael group tabled this motion. It is a crucially important matter which is worthy of discussion. I could add a few more issues to those raised. There is, for example, the whole problem of the building budget for schools. Regardless of how it may appear on paper, it is causing chaos in schools around the country. The...

Seanad: Retirement of Superintendent of the Houses. (13 Sep 2002)

Joe O'Toole: It gives me great pleasure to add my few words about the Superintendent, Commandant O'Donohoe, at a time when he cannot answer me back immediately. Having spent the last 16 years on a monthly if not a weekly basis in regular energetic engagements with the Superintendent, I can say without fear of contradiction that he is a person who has discharged his duty as a public servant with absolute...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 Sep 2002)

Joe O'Toole: I agree very strongly that the House should meet as soon as possible and I hope the Leader will give a response in that regard. In addition to the matters I raised yesterday, the report today of cutbacks in education provides a further reason for a debate. It is appropriate to point out to the Leader, with whom I have discussed at various times over the last 16 years the importance of...