Results 581-600 of 704 for speaker:John Kelly

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2012)

John Kelly: On the household charge, it would be wise to push out the deadline by a couple of months. There are vulnerable people who have been listening to irresponsible legislators advising them to break the law and I pointed out yesterday that there are people who pay their bills weekly by buying stamps in the post office. As a former community welfare officer, I can say that at the moment the CWO...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2012)

John Kelly: As other Senators noted, we are approaching the 11th hour for payment of the household charge and there is still confusion. I, for one, am now totally confused. It is bad that some legislators are advocating the people to break the law, but it is worse when officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government either misinform people about who should pay or else...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2012)

John Kelly: I call on the Leader for an urgent debate on the future of wind energy. This issue is separate to my Bill on wind turbines' minimum distances from residential premises. In terms of the economic viability of wind power, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, has inherited a considerable problem from the last Government. The experts claim our policy...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2012)

John Kelly: Thousands of turf cutters will descend on Leinster House tomorrow to protest what is happening with the age old tradition of turf cutting on raised bogs in rural Ireland. Many of them will be from my constituency. I compliment the efforts made by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, who has bent over backwards to try to find a resolution to this problem....

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2012)

John Kelly: They have invested heavily in plant and machinery to cut turf for local turf users in rural Ireland. Instead of bringing in Bord na Móna to supply these people this year on a tender basis, they should be bringing in the local contractors to provide the turf for these people well into the future. Rural Ireland has taken a battering of late and it is time that we reconnect with it across the...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Mar 2012)

John Kelly: I would not like to hear what the Senator might say if his party was opposed to the fiscal compact.

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with this important issue, about which I have been very concerned for the past two years. It concerns how medical referees in the Department of Social Protection seem to be dealing with applications for disability allowance, invalidity pension and carer's allowance, in particular. There seems to be an unwritten rule that they...

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: Yet again I could have written the response myself, having been a community welfare officer for 28 years. I do not need to be told by a civil servant who qualifies for what payment. The issue is that despite the fact medical referees have sufficient experience and training in the field of disability and occupational medicine, 50% of their decisions have been reversed by somebody at a higher...

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits (29 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: I agree with the Minister of State that it is possible as long as the Minister deals with the issue, not the civil servants.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: I am delighted Senator Terry Leyden is supporting me 100%. For the past few weeks many Senators have been expressing anger at the way applications for medical cards are being processed by the PCRS in Finglas. However, nothing has improved or changed in that regard. There is another elephant in the room that has not been mentioned by many since I was elected to the Seanad, although I am...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: I will get to the point. In the good times persons with a slight visual impediment were receiving blind pension. I know one man, a blind pensioner, who buys the Daily Star every day.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: It has gone over the top in refusing these claims.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: The point I want to make is that when such decisions are eventually appealled after the people concerned have endured nine months of grief, 50% are overturned. This means 50% of the decisions made by the medical profession are inaccurate. I call on the Minister to come to the House to debate the issue, as it is important we find out if something has changed, unknown to public...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: On a point of order, I agree with Senator Cullinane's proposal. Last week I photocopied a client's application form, including all of the additional information-----

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: -----and resubmitted it. The claim has still not been processed because information has gone missing.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: I said last week that it is either gross incompetence or somebody is sabotaging files in Finglas.

Seanad: Wind Turbines Bill 2012: Second Stage (22 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: The Minister of State's final words were that she was not opposing the Bill, which I appreciate. I was getting worried that she was complimenting me so much that she might have been killing me with kindness. One way or another we need to legislate for this issue. The debate focused on whether we were so concerned about meeting our green energy targets that we might disregard the rights of...

Seanad: Wind Turbines Bill 2012: Second Stage (22 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: A pine marten. I agree with Senator O'Keeffe that if we do not play our cards right we could end up with ghost wind farms unless we review the green energy policy as a matter of urgency. On the importance of the Seanad, I agree with Senators Bacik and O'Keeffe that this is the kind of thing we should be doing here. One Deputy recently said to me when we were discussing the future of the...

Seanad: Wind Turbines Bill 2012: Second Stage (22 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: We have eyes in the back of our heads

Seanad: Wind Turbines Bill 2012: Order for Second Stage (22 Feb 2012)

John Kelly: I move: "That Second Stage be taken today."