Results 6,781-6,800 of 7,359 for speaker:Katherine Zappone

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Second Stage (21 Jan 2015)

Katherine Zappone: I will be done. They are also required to submit a certificate in writing of a medical practitioner confirming transition. The criteria inextricably links medical treatment with a legal right. By defining medical practitioners as a psychiatrist or endocrinologist who must perform a medical evaluation which, as others have stated, is not defined in legislation, it runs the risk of...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Second Stage (21 Jan 2015)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome the Minister to the House. Along with my colleagues, I welcome the trans people, their families and allies in our Gallery. We have a full house, which is great to see. Broden Giambrone from TENI is there, along with representatives of FLAC, LGBT Noise, TransParenCI and many others to whom many others have paid tribute. I specifically mention Dr. Lydia Foy, who was with us...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jan 2015)

Katherine Zappone: I wish a happy 2015 to all Members. I predict that this could be an extraordinary year for Ireland, and not just because we will be casting our eyes towards the horizon of the iconic year of 2016. As the scientists and guru meditation experts remind us, the best way to live - the way that provides the most happiness and creativity - is to stay in the now. There will be so much...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: Senator Byrne has put forward an innovative proposal. The Minister acknowledges that it may provide a way of responding to public concern in this regard. I suggested earlier to Senator Byrne that this might not be the correct section for the amendment. Given that it is about the public forum, perhaps it should be in section 7. The Minister indicated that an amendment of this nature might...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: We do not have one.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I again welcome the Minister to the House. I appreciated many of his comments yesterday and his willingness to engage with the Seanad in the light of the contributions he was expecting to be made. There has been a great deal of expertise this morning reflective of what the Minister anticipated. I support Senator Sean D. Barrett's amendment on which he has brought his economic expertise to...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (18 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome the Minister and thank him for his respectful comments. Two days after the recent national water protest on the streets of Dublin, when a substantial number of citizens and residents exercised their right to free assembly, the Economic and Social Research Institute published a paper entitled Distributional Impact of Tax, Welfare and Public Service Pay Policies: Budget 2015 and...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: According to The Irish Timestoday, the "Government expects Independent Senators to help pass Water Bill" and "Brendan Howlin says public wouldn’t welcome having to pay higher utility charges". Will it be my fault, or the fault of my Independent colleagues here, if the Water Services Bill 2014 does not pass through this House this week or next week?

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: Will it be our fault? If it does not pass, will we revert to the original scheme, under which it is estimated that people would have to pay approximately €240 per annum, PPS numbers would be used and bills would arrive in January?

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I have a question. All the applications would need to be in. I do not know whether everyone has already sent in their applications.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I remind the House that on 19 December 2013, the Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013 was rushed through the Dáil. Does the Government Leader in this House expect the Seanad to make the exact same mistake this Friday, 19 December 2014? Does the Government expect the Seanad to make the exact same mistake?

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I remind Senators that the Water Services Bill 2014 was presented on 28 November last.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: The Dáil agreed the Order for Second Stage on 4 December last. Now it is being rushed through the Dáil. They have already spent 13 hours on it and they are not even finished. They want us to start on Thursday and finish on Friday. Then they will consider that it is our fault. I expect to have some amendments, possibly, depending on what happens in the Dáil. I do not think...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: Is there not some legal way of giving us more time? That is my question. If the Government cannot find some way of giving us more time, it is not probable that all of us reasonable Senators would advise the public not to pay when they get their bills?

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I offer my best wishes to the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach with their important work in the North. The Minister of State outlined in his speech several positive changes that have come about since the Minister has taken charge of the Department of Social Protection to help families, get people back to work as well as welfare increases,...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I second the recommendation Senator Quinn has put forward. As Senator Healy Eames has just identified, there are issues around the workability of this proposal, and I too would have concerns about the workability of imposing age limits on parental support for children. Revenue has cited some extreme cases of parents gifting tracts of land or expensive cars to their children, and so on, and...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I note Senator Quinn's suggestion that we do not press this recommendation, and I always do what he tells me to do. I also note the response of Senator O'Brien, who is an expert in the field, and I think it is important that the Government take what he says on board. I listened to the Minister of State's explanation and I look forward to reading it as well to fully get what he is saying....

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: I welcome the Minister of State fresh from Brussels.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: In a 2013 report on the pension system in Ireland the OECD found that private pension coverage in occupational and personal pensions is uneven and needs to be increased urgently. The OECD found that only 41.3% of workers, including those in the public sector, aged between 20 and 69 years were enrolled in a funded pension plan. As the Minister of State is aware PRSAs were first introduced in...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2014)

Katherine Zappone: "We must rise up" said John Dolan in his interview on "Morning Ireland" today. He was not talking about water charges but about the documented casual nature of the abuse at Áras Attracta which played out for all to see on RTE last night. As Professor Gerard Quinn said in his interview, residents were being treated as objects to be managed rather than as subjects to be cherished. On...