Results 7,301-7,320 of 9,894 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I second Senator MacSharry's amendment. I wish to ask the Leader what happened the Protected Disclosures Bill that was due to be discussed on Report Stage today. It was deleted from the schedule without any reference to the Whips, or certainly not to the spokespersons. I do not think that is appropriate. I wish to refer to the glossy brochure that landed in our pigeon holes today....

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: It is €3.1 billion.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The document even boasts about Fianna Fáil budgets.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Road Safety Issues (17 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this issue on the Adjournment. I am calling for action to be taken to ensure roll-over protective structures, ROPS, also known as roll bars, are installed in all vintage tractors. The phenomenon of vintage tractor runs is increasing in popularity and is a pastime enjoyed by many people in this country. Many tens of thousands of euro are...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Road Safety Issues (17 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Minister for setting out the law in this area. A review of the regulations, which were introduced in 1969, might well be timely. Will the Minister ask the Road Safety Authority to give more priority to raising awareness of this issue? I again thank the vintage clubs for all the charitable work they do and the tens of thousands of euro they raise for worthy causes. I join them...

Seanad: Statistics (Heritage Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I am delighted that Senator Ó Murchú has introduced this Bill. He is performing the function of a Senator, which is to propose legislation rather than simply discuss it. This Bill is both simple and eminently sensible. It will create a major opportunity for historians and society at large. I have studied the published census details online and they are fascinating to behold....

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: We have heard a good deal today about the benefits for employment creation in this budget but let us consider some of the specifics. When the retention of the 9% VAT rate is removed, there is very little left. The Start Your Own Business scheme provides an income tax exemption of €40,000 per annum for unemployed people who have been unemployed for at least 15 months and who somehow...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Some 500 houses will be built or renovated in local authority estates this year. That is welcome but it is necessary because any of us who walk into local authority housing estates will know that many of them are boarded up waiting for funding. I suspect those targeted 500 houses will not even cover the number of houses boarded up throughout the country. An important point was raised by the...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I want to talk about fairness and to have a debate on fairness. The Government issued a leaflet on fairness in budgets yesterday. Again this year, the only way it could stack up the fairness claim was to include the Fianna Fáil budgets going back to 2008 or 2009. In its leaflet, it proudly boasted about how fair the budgets were from 2009 to the present because that is the only way it...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Fine Gael-led Government is boasting about Fianna Fáil budgets in its leaflet on fairness on its website. I do not know if the Senator got a copy of that?

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The real Labour Party.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: It is €3.1 billion.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Senator has not read the Minister's Budget Statement yesterday.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Consultants Recruitment (15 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Certainly, if treatment is required, that needs to happen, but in many of these cases it is not treatment that is required but the regular monitoring of these patients to prevent the necessity of treatment or to prevent serious injury or death, which unfortunately often results. The HSE and Department should treat it as urgent to get somebody in to monitor these patients and keep them right...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Consultants Recruitment (15 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach as cead a thabhairt dom an t-ábhar an-tábhachtach seo a phlé ar an Athló anocht. The issue I raise is the lack of a paediatric urologist and general lack of paediatric urology services in the Children's University Hospital, Temple Street. There is a vacancy in the hospital for a consultant urologist. Urologists perform a...

Seanad: Budget 2014: Statements (15 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: There is no doubt that the budget has been prepared with a view to picking people off and pitting one section of society against the other. It is also clear that one of the major spending Departments, the Department of Health, does not have a clue about what is going on. The Labour Party should investigate what is happening before it attempts to deny that assertion. Many of the children...

Seanad: Budget 2014: Statements (15 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The removal of the telephone allowance is a particularly cruel attack on the elderly. It equates to €10 per month, which is crucial to those who depend on a communication lifeline to keep them in touch with neighbours and friends.

Seanad: Budget 2014: Statements (15 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The telephone allowance is being abolished. Is the Senator contradicting me?

Seanad: Budget 2014: Statements (15 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The security devices will be dependent on the telephone systems which people installed based on having this allowance. At the same time as the Government is proposing to make this cut, the Department of Finance is increasing its own post and telephone budget by 33%. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is increasing its office equipment budget by 41%.

Seanad: Budget 2014: Statements (15 Oct 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Government Procurement Service is increasing its office expenses by 107%. These figures are all in the Estimates. The Department of Health is increasing its office expenses by 16%. The President's establishment is getting an increase of 12% for travel and subsistence. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is getting an increase of 150% for consultancy services and an...