Results 581-600 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Youth Unemployment: Motion (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: Fianna Fáil strongly supports the motion. The Minister has picked holes in the statistics, but there is no doubt that people of all ages and their families have been devastated by the economic crisis. Young people have suffered the greatest toll by far in recent years. This is true across Europe. The Minister cited some statistics and the Sinn Féin motion cites others, but the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: The Minister of State needs to tell her colleagues.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: The Minister of State is welcome and I welcome the Bill that is before us today. It is difficult to believe in this day and age, in 2013, that thousands of people are trafficked across the European Union, but figures published by the European Commission show that between 2008 and 2010 almost 24,000 people were trafficked across EU states and the Bill is an important part of a co-ordinated...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Drug Treatment Programmes Funding (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister of State for acknowledging the merit of the proposal and that a gap exists. While the Minister of State has advised it that it should make a proposal to the local drugs task force, at the same time the Department has clearly advised the local drugs task force not to recommend new projects. My understanding is that it has been advised that its funding is only on the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Drug Treatment Programmes Funding (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I wish to raise the proposal for a south-east Fingal drugs and alcohol project, sent to the Department by the Howth Sutton Community Council in January of this year. Basically, the request is that the Department replace a project that was serving this area up until the middle of last year. There was a Howth-based project that was providing a service for Howth, Sutton, Baldoyle, Bayside and...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister for the debate on the legislation and for his final comments on parental representation. In general the Minister is very good at listening to suggestions from this side of the House and trying to accommodate them when he can which is very much appreciated. This legislation is very important. The VECs have provided a very important service for decades, but it is...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I support the comments of my colleagues about the need to have local parental involvement. The amendments are not prescriptive because we did not want to use complicated language in primary legislation. They simply provide for a ballot of local people and this allows flexibility for the Minster and the Department to work out the best way of doing that. It does not have to be a complicated...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 3: In page 28, line 25, after “subsection (9)” to insert the following:“, at least two of whom shall be representative of learners”.The Minister is welcome back. On Committee Stage I raised the need to have two learners on the body. I will not reiterate all the points I made then. Suffice it to say that there are 21 members on the board and...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: They defer to the Labour Party.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Whole-School Approaches to Mental Health and Bullying: Discussion (27 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the witnesses for the presentation, which was most comprehensive. They hit the nail on the head in terms of mental health policy, which is excellent. We said as much when it was launched, but without resources it will not make a difference. It is frustrating for many teachers not to have the necessary supports.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Whole-School Approaches to Mental Health and Bullying: Discussion (27 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: What are the priorities? I accept reference has been made to the integration of services. Is there a signal that progress is about to be made in that regard, or are people waiting to hear when the new director for mental health is appointed whether real attention will be given to the area? What lessons have emerged from the recent projects supported by Headstrong? I did some work with...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I agree fully with the Senator's sentiments.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I welcome the amendment, which takes the correct approach. When I read through the Bill, it was clear that it had carefully provided for gender quotas in other aspects of the election, but there was a glaring gap in respect of local authority elections. The Minister is taking the right approach and his amendment is preferable to the amendment tabled by Senators Bacik and Moran, although I...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I can see that the Minister is reluctant to increase the membership further, given that we have already increased the number of councillors since the first draft. Again, however, I would generally make the point that if there are 21 people, there should be a second representative for learners. I take the Minister's point that we have gone from 18 to 21 already and he was prepared to make...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 3: In page 28, subsection (1)(d), line 25, after ?subsection (9)? to insert the following: ?, at least two of whom shall be representative of learners?.This is an important amendment. Of the 21 members of the education and training boards, at least two should be representatives of learners. When the Seanad discussed the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister's invitation for us to make proposals before Report Stage. Senator Wilson and I will discuss this and come forward with something before Report Stage to address all of these issues, to find the most democratic way possible of electing the parent representative.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: It was included.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I appreciate the Minister's willingness to look at each of our amendments before Report Stage. On that basis, we will not push them today. As regards the local ballot, the Minister is right to say that immediately after the local elections, in the summer, would not necessarily be the best time of year for parents. That is why we need to think this through on all sides of the House before...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 2: In page 28, subsection (1)(c), line 18, after "is" to insert ", at the time of appointment,".Both amendment No. 2 and the corresponding amendment which follows on from it, amendment No. 8, relate to the current wording which provides that a parent, once his or her eldest child reaches the age of 18 and is no longer in an education facility, should no longer be a member...