Results 4,941-4,960 of 5,327 for speaker:Joe O'Reilly

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Oct 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: It has become accepted wisdom that more than €4 billion must come out of this economy in the upcoming budget or there will be €4 billion in cuts. I would like a debate on these specific issues. Two points must be made clear and this must happen in advance of any such drastic cutbacks. First, it must become clear there is a new system of governance in this country, namely, that value...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Sep 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I would like to formally second Senator White's proposition. The abuses that were documented and chronicled in the Ryan report should make us collectively ashamed. I would like to speak about a different matter. The Minister for Health and Children recently suggested that the health service will be the subject of €800 million of cutbacks over the coming year. When one takes demographic...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Sep 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: The recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General is an horrendous chronicle of wanton waste. It is an indictment of Government and the system of governance over the years in question, as well FÁS itself. In reading the report we are reminded of the biblical injunction to fill barns in the years of plenty. Rather than doing so, however, we emptied barns, sold the timber rafters and...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: We are preparing to adjourn today in extraordinary times. A cynic might say it is part of the ritual at the end of the year that the Opposition calls for an extension of the session and for longer debates, but today is different.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: We are living in extraordinary times. People have made extraordinary sacrifices and next week they will be asked to make more in order that the Government can aggregate €5 billion. Given the circumstances, with unemployment at almost 15%, the impending report of an bord snip nua and the overall gravity of the situation, we need to show a particular type of leadership. We need to take...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I am asking the Leader to arrange for a debate on this issue today. I second Senator Mullen's proposition in this regard.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I also second Senator Fitzgerald's proposition that we extend the term. These are not ordinary times and the Leader's response cannot be ordinary.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: There is all-party agreement on that.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I support my colleagues in their absolute and unanimous condemnation of the Government's handling of the debate on the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009. This major legislation will make a number of seminal changes in respect of such issues as the inferences that may be drawn from a failure to co-operate in court, Garda testimony and bail. Its implications are enormous. While I...

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (8 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. While I am pleased the review is taking place, tragically it will not affect children in a couple of cases of which I am aware because they will be affected this month. I hope the issue will have been addressed by next year. As it would not be appropriate to give details of specific cases in the House, I will submit to the Minister of State...

Seanad: Special Educational Needs (8 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. The matter I raise is home-based July tuition for a special category of children. Children who qualify for this tuition receive one-to-one time with a qualified teacher for ten hours per week in the child's home, the teacher's home, a room in a local community centre or another appropriate location. This tuition provides...

Seanad: Telecommunications Services: Motion (8 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I join my colleagues in welcoming the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I appreciate his interaction with this House. I congratulate my colleagues in the Labour Party on the quality and appropriateness of this motion and its exposition. I await with interest the outcome of Senator Hannigan's survey for which I applaud him. I hope we will learn lessons from it when it is published. Over the years,...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: Has Senator Leyden read the IMF report?

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I wish to comment further on broadcasting content standards which I believe to be particular to group 7 of the amendments. I shall wait until they are being dealt with. In broad observation, I have no issue with the principle set out by Senator Walsh - if I understood him correctly - that there should be a high standard of political impartiality and a high ethical standard in the way news...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: As I did on Second and Committee Stages, I wish to put on record my strong welcome for the Irish film channel. I am sure that colleagues also feel this way. It is an excellent development and the fact that the Irish Film Board will be intimately involved is important. I welcome the Minister's acceptance of Deputy Coveney's amendment in the Dáil to allow advertising to fund the new channel....

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: I second Senator O'Toole's remarks on religious advertising. The change in this regard is very good and enhances legislation we fundamentally welcome in its totality. There is no reason a religious event or charitable auction, for example, that is contributing to a good cause should not be advertised. The same standards should apply to religious advertising as to any other form. The...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: On a point of clarification, when I spoke about a deceased person I gave the example of a public representative but the point applies to every citizen who can be equally defamed or slandered.

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: Ba mhaith liom aontú lena bhfuil ráite ag an Seanadóir Ó Tuathail. Tá seo iontach tábhachtach agus tá sár-jab déanta ag TG4 chun oidreachta na tíre agus an teanga a fhorbairt agus a choimeád beo. Aontaím go mór le seo. Tá TG4 tábhachtach do ghach duine sa tír. Ainneoin cén chaoi ina bhfuil cúrsaí airgid, tá sé tábhachtach go mbeadh tacaíocht ann an t-am go léir don...

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: It is important to ensure that independent productions are not victims of financial shortage. They provide important employment and are an important indigenous industry in their own right. They offer an employment opportunity for our graduates and this has a spin-off effect for the country. They also provide excellent objective material and contribute to our social and cultural heritage....

Seanad: Broadcasting Bill 2008 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2009)

Joe O'Reilly: It is important to ensure the roll-out of digital terrestrial television, DTT. The potential provider, the Boxer company, has pulled out of the process. It would have paid money to RTE, which has already spent €40 million on DTT roll-out, with a potential further spend of €60 million. I urge the Minister to move to get the next company in line and to ensure the roll-out continues....