Results 4,641-4,660 of 4,887 for speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Children with disabilities are being forgotten.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I know the Leader will say I have raised these issues before.I am asking that the three issues relating to children with disabilities be addressed together by the Minister. I am not blaming the Seanad for this. I have asked before that the matters be addressed together because they relate to the same area. However, I have been informed that they have to be addressed separately. There is...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: No, it is about all schools.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Supply Project for Eastern and Midlands Region: Irish Water (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: When Irish Water was formed it had a service level agreement, SLA, with local authorities. That was to go until 2025. Three years of that contract have now elapsed. The talk is that Irish Water are now contracting out work, and that the SLAs with local authorities will be shortened. It seems that Irish Water hope that the SLAs will not go until 2025, as they are saying that in the next...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Supply Project for Eastern and Midlands Region: Irish Water (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I know it is, but I might not get the chance again to ask that question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Supply Project for Eastern and Midlands Region: Irish Water (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: When representing a constituency, anything to do with Irish Water and local authorities are the questions that need to get answered because they are the questions that constituents come back on.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Supply Project for Eastern and Midlands Region: Irish Water (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: If he could answer them I would appreciate it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Supply Project for Eastern and Midlands Region: Irish Water (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: It is not fixed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Supply Project for Eastern and Midlands Region: Irish Water (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: There have been so many leakages over the years because our pipes are so old. Funding is an issue. There have always been leakages but we appear to have more now than ever before. Due to a lack of funding, leakages in estates and so on are not being addressed and this is holding up completion of road projects in those estates. As Mr. Grant will be aware, if a problem arises with a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Supply Project for Eastern and Midlands Region: Irish Water (15 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I appreciate that.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (14 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: My motion relates to medical cards, for cancer patients in particular. I will offer one of many examples from people in my constituency who have come to me. In November 2016 I heard from a woman who applied for an emergency medical card. We went to the primary care unit in Carlow. The forms were completed and presented along with a letter from the doctor outlining the diagnosis and the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (14 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I acknowledge that considerable work has been done in the area of medical cards but there are still concerns. I outlined to the Minister of State, the details being sought by the HSE prior to it making a decision on the awarding of an emergency medical card. Therefore, what he said in that respect is misinformation. It is tough enough for people who are suffering with cancer or who have...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I offer my support to Sergeant Maurice McCabe and his family. We need to have that public tribunal of inquiry in order to get to the truth and the sooner the better for everybody's sake. I agree with the Tesco workers, as that issue needs to get sorted. We are all aware of the boundary changes, including a proposed change in my area, which I believe will not happen and which is very...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects Status (9 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: The issue I raise is the building project at Knockbeg College, a boys' secondary school located approximately three miles from Carlow town and Graiguecullen. Its origins can be traced back to 1793. The school has 30 staff and approximately 420 pupils. In 1991 it was announced that a new school would be built, but 25 years later the project has not started. While I am aware that funding...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects Status (9 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: It is great to see that Knockbeg is getting a new school but the building it is in now is simply unfit. It is a health and safety issue at this stage. The school is simply asking for some prefabs to ensure that nothing happens to any of the students. I believe they sometimes have to go home because there is no heating, which is unacceptable. In those circumstances, I ask the Minister of...

Seanad: Action Plan for Rural Development: Statements (9 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I welcome the plan but I have a number of concerns, for example there are 270 action plans in the plan. In my view that is a plan on a plan, which does not make a plan. There is a proposal that by 2020, approximately 135,000 new jobs will be created but where will the jobs be created? I represent rural County Carlow and was a councillor for years. What proposals in the plan will benefit...

Seanad: Amendments to Councillors' Conditions: Statements (8 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I wish to share time with Senators Daly and Wilson. My time starts now.

Seanad: Amendments to Councillors' Conditions: Statements (8 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I thank the Minister for his kind words. I was a councillor for 18 years so I know exactly how councillors feel today. My bugbear is the fact that town councils were abolished in 2014. In 2014 we had 1,627 councillors. We now have 949 councillors, with the loss of 678 councillors. That is an absolute disaster. From funding from local authorities, extra workloads, and even with the...

Seanad: Amendments to Councillors' Conditions: Statements (8 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Am I finished? I have so much more to say to the Minister, but I have to share.

Seanad: Derelict and Vacant Sites Bill 2017: Second Stage (8 Feb 2017)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I congratulate the Senators behind this Bill. There are some flaws in it, which I will go through them. However, the Bill is a start and the Minister needs to address it. While there are elements of the Bill with which we agree in principle, the Bill is flawed. It is also poorly drafted and we believe it could be in breach of Standing Order 178. It is clear that it would have the effect...