Results 721-740 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Perhaps I was misinterpreted. I did not say "either-or"; I said "also".

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I draw the attention of the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs to a provision in the Bill which is very relevant to ongoing events. Section 2 states: "the office of the public service that is staffed by civil servants of the State" and section 8 provides that any civil servant transferred to the Houses of the Oireachtas becomes a civil servant of the State. I accept this...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: A number of speakers on Second Stage asked about the running of the Houses. We could have approached this issue in two ways. Most other parliaments have introduced commissions which divide immediately into two parts. One part deals with the matters provided for in this Bill and the other does the work currently done by the Committees on Procedure and Privileges. I guarantee that the...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: One is reminded of religious superiors.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Senator Twomey has proposed a reasonable amendment but it will be impossible to implement because the Dáil, Seanad and commission have separate codes of conduct. If somebody breaches a provision which is common to the three codes, who will respond? This is a mess. The amendment is well advised in not prescribing punitive action because that would be constitutionally prohibited. However,...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, subsection (7), line 6, after "Commission." to insert the following: "The Secretary General and Head of Finance may attend meetings though not as members of the committee.". I would really like the Minister of State to take on board the issue covered by these amendments. When I was a member of the Commission I was given the On Board document, entitled A...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: That is the point I am making. The committee is only there to advise the Secretary General and to report to the board. That is a serious flaw. Can we imagine a situation where an audit report would only be sent to the chief executive of a company? I could not envisage a situation where it did not go to the chairman of the board. That jumped off the page when I read the Bill, because I...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The board of AIB actually does not have such a committee. None of the banks has such a committee.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I want to clarify a number of points. First, the documents I referenced were State body documents which had nothing to do with the private sector.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: That code of practice for the governance of State bodes has been issued to every State body. I presume no one is suggesting the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission is not a State body of some description. It is clear a distinction is being made between the role of the Accounting Officer and the board's general responsibilities. Let me give an example in regard to what the Minister of State...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: To conclude, the advice from the Minister of State's Department is incorrect in that it states the chief executive and head of finance should attend all committee meetings. There is no other conclusion to be drawn from it. I do not argue about the difference between advising and reporting, which I accept. All I am saying is the advice should also be available for the chairman. I will not...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: In the past few weeks I have spoken on a number of occasions about the possible outcome of the negotiations in Government Buildings. The two main objects for everybody are to reduce the public sector pay bill by €1.3 billion and decrease the number of public sector personnel by 15,000. It seemed as if they were two impossible objectives but now it appears the Government has managed to...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Three or four months ago I raised the issue of the Vatican's non-co-operation with the Ryan report and the fact that the role of the Vatican ambassador and the Vatican embassy should be called into question.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Surely the up-front contempt with which the Murphy report was treated by the ambassador and the Vatican State at the very least calls for a re-examination of our relationship with the Vatican. The Vatican's ambassador to Ireland should be called to account. He should be called in by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to explain himself on this situation. It is the least we need. I very much...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: We have witnessed enough of that in communist China with the Falun Gong and in communist Russia's refusal to allow Christians to practise their religion. We reached the giddy limit this week in Switzerland where a referendum was held on whether minarets could be put on top of mosques. That is where such calls lead and it is not our business. However, we need to examine our republican...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The first response to the Murphy report should be to ensure the hierarchy and bishops are removed as school patrons. That will not have an impact on Catholic education. Let Catholics elect their own people if they want to establish their own schools. If they want to appoint the local bishop or parish priest, that is their own business but the notion of a structure where systemically the...

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State. I have listened to a lot of the discussion here about what should and should not be done in the budget. The most important point is that there be an element of fairness. The people understand there will be hardship and are ready to take a stand for it. However, they have to be convinced that what is being done is fair. I heard my colleague, Senator Quinn,...

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Nobody wants a strike on Thursday and there is no need for one because we are that close to an agreement. We will take the hardship in the budget as long as it is rooted in fairness.

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: That is absolutely correct.

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (1 Dec 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I think that was the point.