Results 4,761-4,780 of 4,887 for speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Like Senator Coffey, I have concerns about the hedge cutting and I know that-----

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I know the health and safety aspect is very worrying.

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Thank you.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Like other speakers, I am very disheartened. Every week, I and other Senators invite Ministers to the House. The Minister arrives and reads from a script. We are given a sheet of paper which states that they will revert to Senators with further information. This is unacceptable. I will mention four cases I have raised in the past six months but have received no answer. I will insist...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: We need to get answers. I am very disheartened. As a first-time Senator, I can approach a Minister and outline the issues in my area that require attention or funding. I have been a councillor for 20 years and I understand that one must wait, that there are protocols in place and everything cannot be done overnight but there has been no respite service for children in Carlow for more than...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Ambulance Service Provision (20 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Ambulance paramedic staff are a vital asset to Carlow and the south east, providing assistance and support to the community, especially at times of illness and tragedy. Carlow ambulance service comprises 18 staff - four women and 14 men. They are based in a prefab with no hot water, a leaking roof and in a sewage problem. The store for their medication is located in a different building...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Ambulance Service Provision (20 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I thank the Minister of State for her reply. It is unacceptable in 2016 that 18 staff members are working in a facility with a leaking roof, no access to hot water and a sewage problem. Taxpayers are not being provided with the service for which they are paying, which is unfair on the employees and people living in Carlow. I ask the Minister of State and the Minister to visit the facility...

Seanad: Fire Safety in Traveller Accommodation: Statements (19 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I too give my sympathies to the families of that tragic fire for their loss. It was devastating. The whole country was devastated about it. However, who is responsible for fire safety in Traveller accommodation? There are about 10,000 Traveller families resident in Ireland. We have learned through bitter experience that self-regulation of fire regulations does not work. In 1998 the...

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Second Stage (19 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Like previous speakers, I congratulate Senator Mark Daly on bringing forward this Bill. I received many letters and e-mails also. This Bill is a great achievement and I am delighted to support it. This is all about equal rights for the members of the deaf community. In particular, I want to mention their families. These families have been there through thick and thin and fought for...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: An issue raised in my clinic during the week causes great concern. A man in his late 70s left Carlow 50 years ago to work in England. He has come home every year since to visit his family and friends, but this is the first time in 50 years that two of the main banks have refused to change sterling for him. He went to the main post office, but it also refused to accept sterling. He was...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Legal Aid Service (13 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I will speak about free legal aid, which is something very close to my own heart. There is no such thing as free legal aid, and that should be clarified and addressed. The cost of legal aid for family law matters of domestic violence, guardian access and maintenance is a minimum of €130. There is no free legal aid for family law matters aside from child care and child abduction....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Legal Aid Service (13 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I thank the Minister of State. It is good that the Tánaiste is considering mediation because that is appropriate. It is just a perception but people on social welfare or stay-at-home mothers have to get their entitlements. My biggest concern is there are many waiver schemes that are not being addressed. I would like the Minister of State to address this and give people who are...

Seanad: Rent Certainty (No. 2) Bill 2016: Second Stage (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Fianna Fáil will not be supporting the Bill. The introduction of this highly-flawed legislation undermines attempts to provide real solutions to the housing crisis. As a party, we are on record in calling for stronger rent certainty measures and did so long before Sinn Féin. However, our measures were well thought out. Fianna Fáil published a policy document, Generation...

Seanad: Rent Certainty (No. 2) Bill 2016: Second Stage (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Hear, hear. Well said.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: General Scheme of Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Discussion (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I thought there was confusion about the fees payable. It was stated half of the fees would go back to local authorities. Where exactly do they go? They should stay with the local authorities as there is a lot of extra work to be done. There is preplanning and all of the planning stages to be gone through. There is a staffing issue in most local authorities as staff have not been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: General Scheme of Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Discussion (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I want to make a clarification. I am aware of the great work Threshold does. It is not easy, particularly when dealing with people who will become homeless. Carlow is my area and we are a big IT town. We have St. Patrick's, Carlow College and the Institute of Technology, Carlow so we are very lucky. We find that sometimes landlords will not accept certain tenants into rented...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: General Scheme of Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Discussion (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: It is relevant to the issue of homelessness.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: General Scheme of Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Discussion (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: In terms of the regulation of tenancies, what regulations are there? I constantly have people coming into my clinic because they are being evicted. They are told they could be out within two weeks. What can we do to make sure that a tenant in rented accommodation has at least three to six months' notice? If the tenancy has lasted for five years, I was told that normally the notice period...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: General Scheme of Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Discussion (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Why are fees paid to the board?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: General Scheme of Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Discussion (12 Oct 2016)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Yes.