Results 8,041-8,060 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Just signs for Connemara National Park.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: How much time do I have?

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank all the Senators who contributed for the sincerity of their contributions. I particularly thank Senator Averil Power of the Fianna Fáil Party for her opening response. This is an emotional time for all of us, but it is also time to look at what we have said and what we must do. I will address the issues that must be addressed in the limited time available. If I do not refer to...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Senator opened this up.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I will quote the Senator shortly, but I will first deal with the general point. Not everybody who went to the redress board either got compensation or had recommendations made and not everybody completed the application, for all sorts of reasons which we will never fully understand. We can guess, but we do not know. Given the limited amount of money, we have had to confine it to the...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have repeatedly said that I am a very happy adult who received a wonderful education from what is now the Spiritan Congregation in Ireland, formerly the Christian Brothers. The Senator has heard me say this many times in private and in public. Incidentally, in my 12 years with that order, I did not know anybody who was the victim of abuse. However, the reason I have asked the religious...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes, the contribution they are making. They have said to me that they do not own the property any more as it has been assigned to a trust. I said: "Come on."

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Okay. Then I invite the Senator to look at the title deeds and the legal documentation of the trust. The Senator is a qualified person. In the event of the trust disintegrating or disappearing, am I correct in understanding that the properties managed and administered by the trusts would revert to the religious order? The Senator will find that I am correct, but we can have that...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am saying this because in my constituency two secondary schools were closed unilaterally by religious orders, in some cases where money had been provided by the State to build the buildings. Happily, in one case, that building has now been repurchased by the State. I know the religious orders do not have the financial resources available to reach the €100 million that would be required.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I will address that question momentarily. Let me address the first question. These are the owners of a massive infrastructure, including two hospitals in this city, St. Vincent's Hospital and the Mater Hospital. It will cost us €600 million to build a new children's hospital. The religious orders own the two buildings and, when they are no longer using the buildings as educational...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The religious orders were 50% complicit in the abuse to which Senator Heffernan referred but so were the rest of us. Civil servants examined those places and saw what was going on but they did not report it. Why did they not report it? Why was the predominant culture of Catholic Ireland in the 1950s-----

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Senator Mullen raised the question-----

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Why did observant Catholics in the Civil Service, in the Department of Education and elsewhere, feel so compelled that, in some cases, they were not prepared to act? This has been speculated on because we can only imagine. I am not quoting any document or evidence. Why was there an atmosphere such that, when the Garda Commissioner communicated with the late Dr. Charles McQuaid about...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The religious orders have a particular vocation and I admire and respect them for what they have done, but they are representative of a wider Catholic community. I think Senator Mullen will accept that definition without prejudice.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: No, a very self-assertive Catholic community that imposed its value system on the secular State.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I respectfully suggest that, had Senator Mullen been present at the beginning of the debate and heard my original comments, we might have had a different exchange than the one we are having.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Acting Chairman for the extension of time and for her tolerance. I will address a number of points on Committee Stage tomorrow but, in respect of the cheque to which the Senator referred, the fund does not yet exist and therefore we cannot cash it. I note that Senator Mullen is encouraging them not to pay it or to endow under it.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: We are drifting into a premature debate on Committee Stage. I propose to conclude on this point. There are points about information and communication and the reason why the original redress board fund was extended a number of times. I commend the Bill to the House and I thank the House for the debate. Question put: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Written Answers — Professional Qualifications: Professional Qualifications (18 Jul 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The joint industry Government ICT Action Plan published earlier this year establishes a target of doubling the annual output of lecel 8 ICT graduates to 2,000 by 2018. In recognition of the fact that it will take time for recent increases in demand for STEM programmes to convert into increased graduate it also provides for a number of measures to increase the supply of domestic skills in the...