Results 481-500 of 1,253 for speaker:John Crown

Seanad: Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2014)

John Crown: People who have problems with sugar metabolism must have it regulated and delivered in a particular fashion. Nobody needs cigarettes or a sunbed to live. People use these products not for the sake of their health or because they are a necessity but recreationally or - certainly in the case of cigarettes and possibly in the case of tanning beds - due to a degree of psychological addiction....

Seanad: Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2014)

John Crown: It is relevant to the amendment. I heard the details of it today while discussing melanoma and sunbeds with some other experts and I am beside myself with anger. Recently I met the latest spin doctor appointed by HIQA. While we are not hiring doctors to treat a cancer which has tripled in incidence in this country in 13 years, the health service is spending money on spin doctors for the...

Seanad: Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2014)

John Crown: It is as if when the Titanicwas sinking somebody said the White Star Line did not need more lifeboats but to hire better press representatives for its lifeboat inspectors.

Seanad: Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I will now be drawing up the rollercoasters regulation Bill.

Seanad: Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2014)

John Crown: On a point of information, I have suggested that we should implement a ban by 2030 on all commerce in addictive carcinogenic compounds like tobacco.

Seanad: Public Health (Sunbeds) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I commend Senators MacSharry and Cullinane for proposing this amendment, which I will be supporting. There were 400 newly diagnosed cases of malignant melanoma in Ireland in 1998. That number had increased dramatically to 800 by 2008 and to 1,100 by 2010. Other kinds of skin cancer which are less life-threatening, but are still life-threatening and can certainly be disfiguring, and the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Overseas Development Aid (10 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge in particular Mr. Cartan Finegan, who has been an activist and advocate on behalf of the inclusion of population policy in our foreign aid. He was the source of many of the documents I have used in this debate. When we get into the specifics of our aid programmes with our bilateral partners in recipient countries I urge that we ensure an...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Overseas Development Aid (10 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I welcome the Minister of State and wish him well in his various undertakings at present. I have had representations made to me by concerned citizens who are interested in our development aid programme and who asked that I highlight the issue of the attitude of the statutory Irish developed authorities towards efforts at population control. Access to birth control is critical to managing...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (5 Jun 2014)

John Crown: On a point of order, it has been brought to my attention that the only other occasion on which proposals from the Committee of Selection were challenged in the Seanad was when the Labour Party opposed former Senator Joe O'Toole's nomination to the Commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Seanad stood by the committee's decision on that occasion. It should also be noted that Labour...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (5 Jun 2014)

John Crown: On a point of order, I second the request made by Senator MacSharry. I have no political dog in this fight but everyone knows what is going on here.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (5 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I am sorry to interrupt the latest edition of why we should have abolished the House but I would like to raise three issues, which are interrelated, although at first glance they may not appear to be. We all understand what is going on here. Senator Barrett is the only qualified person in either House to ask the appropriate questions of bankers and regulators at the banking inquiry and he...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (5 Jun 2014)

John Crown: Second, if he is removed, it will be in the crass realm of political stunts. We have witnessed several other examples in recent times. People who supported the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, to go into a coalition with a conservative party then criticised and ousted him for having conservative policies at a time many conservative parties could have...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (5 Jun 2014)

John Crown: The same is happening with respect to the Minister for Health. Everybody knew when he took up office, he had been dealt the worst set of economic cards possible by the outgoing Administration and at a time he was under the thumb of international financial spigot turners who made sure no money was available for anything, he had his own Cabinet colleagues beating him to death to cut back and...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (5 Jun 2014)

John Crown: Will the Leader pass on my best wishes to the Minister? He is the only one of the past four Ministers for Health who attempted to reform the system. He has made a few awful blunders during his tenure but it is incredibly unfair that he is being held responsible for what is essentially a party political problem.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (5 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I am sorry; did somebody call my name? There was a bit of a melee.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (4 Jun 2014)

John Crown: In the context of news reports earlier today, will the Leader seek clarification from the Minister for Health and his Department on whether the discovery of a hitherto unsuspected complex and fairly ancient sewer system under the site for the proposed national children's hospital could delay construction? As Senators are aware, conditions at the existing children's hospitals in Dublin range...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Treatment of Rare Diseases (27 May 2014)

John Crown: I thank the Minister of State and his officials for the research that went into his reply and I await further developments in the area of rare diseases. I wish to state that vasculitis illnesses are not particularly rare when taken as a collective. There is a good imperative for giving priority to getting the specialist designation for centres of excellence within the hospital groups and to...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Treatment of Rare Diseases (27 May 2014)

John Crown: The topic before us may seem arcane but it is actually very important. Vasculitis is an overall term for a group of life threatening diseases characterised by widespread inflammation of blood vessels, often throughout the body. Inflammation of these blood vessels may lead to blockage or rupture of the vessels, death or bleeding in the affected organs and catastrophic consequences for the...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2014)

John Crown: I will do so. It is not plausible to me that the list of complaints and irregularities which were brought to bear by these two men over a long period of years were not known to many other people. A very limited number of people have had responsibility apportioned to them and have either taken their own course of action or have had it forced upon them, but the culture within the public...

Seanad: Establishment of Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Motion (14 May 2014)

John Crown: I welcome the Minister of State. As the Leader said, this inquiry is overdue and I am delighted that it is happening, as there is a clear need for an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the financial collapse, circumstances which, clearly, were heavily contributed to by the actions of the banks. It is telling that the Government and Opposition supported initiative is focusing so much...