Results 7,481-7,500 of 9,823 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Hospital Services: Statements (13 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as teacht isteach go dtí an seomra seo inniú. I have a few queries on hospital services. It is good that the Minister is here and it follows on from the briefing that took place in Buswells Hotel when he announced the situation regarding the grouping of hospitals. In the north east we have major concerns. They start from the individual...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: On that point, while a period of six days between Second Stage and Committee Stage is an improvement on previous legislation in respect of the time provided between Stages, the programme for Government contains a commitment to have one week between legislative Stages. Last year, the House took all Stages of various Bills on the same day, which is a disgraceful and, as the Government Chief...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I urge the Government to assume a role in this matter and stick to the commitment made in the programme for Government.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Forget the overtime; I was talking about night shift.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: It has not softened his cough.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Fianna Fáil group would like to support this Bill but, today, we will be reserving our position on it. In this regard, I will be putting a few queries to the Minister. As the party that helped negotiate the original Croke Park deal, Fianna Fáil is prepared to play its part in and support the reform of the public sector to ensure it is more flexible, while valuing its work and...

Seanad: Early Child Care Education Standards: Statements (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Will the Bill come before the House before the recess?

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: On a point of order, a Chathaoirligh, níl go leor daoine anseo le héisteacht leis an méid atá le rá againn ar ábhar chomh tábhachtach le reachtaíocht a ghearrfaidh pá na mílte Státseirbhísigh. Dá bhrí sin, tá mé ag iarraidh córam a ghlaoch sa Teach seo anois.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: That is self praise.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: With all of the praise and self-praise in which the Minister's speech is steeped, one would be forgiven for thinking Croke Park II was just a bad nightmare in the dreams of public servants, and that the proposals which the Government put forward, which were to divide union against union and to target those workers who work shift work and weekends, were all a nightmare, a dream that did not...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: We have the unedifying spectacle of a Minister coming in to extoll the benefits of the previous Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act in 2009 and 2010 when he viciously and vociferously opposed it on purely populist grounds at the time. We in Fianna Fáil acknowledge that the public pay bill must be tackled but we believe it should be done in the fairest possible way....

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: They were done in accordance with the ability to pay. This Government's position and values were expressed in the Croke Park II agreement, which does not get any mention in the Minister's speech, and reflected an attitude of unfairness and pitting one side against the other. I object most strenuously to the guillotining of this legislation. There is a specific commitment in the programme...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: It is not enough to say that Fianna Fáil did it because Fianna Fáil was thrown out of office at the last general election precisely because Fine Gael and Labour promised they would do things differently. When the Taoiseach was challenged on this yesterday in Dáil, I was very disappointed to hear him respond by saying that Fianna Fáil did it so it is okay for the...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Government seems to have brought an end to the process of overall public pay deals by conducting a series of bilateral negotiations in Croke Park II. Some sections of this Bill give it potential for further negotiations. This could appear to favour particular unions over others. There seems to be no overall decision, strategy or vision in respect of this, which may have a long-term...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister has not learned the lessons of Croke Park II.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The whole point of Croke Park II was that allowances, and in some small cases, overtime but particularly allowances on weekends were the core pay of nurses. Core pay includes all of those things and they are the lessons to be learned. There must be severe doubts about whether section 2 is lawful. It is certainly news to me that a Minister has an existing power to reduce terms and...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: They are not spurious. Ask any nurse in the country is that a spurious payment?

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: That has nothing to do with the Senator's party.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Some of them already have-----

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Only from the Labour Party.