Results 1,141-1,160 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: That is for another day and other people rather than me. I did not put numbers into it as that would also have alienated people. I made it easy for people to support this motion but people found reasons to oppose it that were not relevant to it in the first place. The point was made by Senator Dominic Hannigan regarding university as opposed to universal voting. He did not grasp the point...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I agree with the Minister.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Senator Ellis is correct.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I thank all Senators for an excellent debate. I do not have time to respond to every Member but I have made a note of issues raised by various Members and I wish to deal with these in a positive and proactive way. I agree with the points made by Senator Alex White. The university panel is elitist and its continuing existence is credible in the context of being a vocational group, where...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I move: Seanad Éireann, recognising the all-party support for the Report on Seanad Reform: welcomes the fact that the indirect method of election by local authority members remains a core part of the new approach; believes that every qualified citizen should be entitled to participate in Seanad General Elections and urges the Government to bring forward as soon as possible, the necessary...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The Senator should not accuse us of anything we are not saying.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Irish Language: Statements (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Níor mhaith liom cur i gcoinne aon rud a dúirt an Seanadóir Ó Murchú, ach caithfidh mé a rá nach "Gaeilge" a labhrann mé ach "Gaelainn". Go minic, agus mé ag féachaint siar ar aon rud atá curtha i gcló ón Seanad, bíonn sé deacair dom an méid atá ráite agam a léamh os rud é go mbíonn sé caighdeánaithe "i nGaeilge" seachas a bheith...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The construction industry has a brass neck to come and tell us about its troubles.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed). (11 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Tá deacracht agam leis an Order of Business don lá inniu, agus ceapaim gur cheart dhá uair a chloig do bheith againn don díospóireacht ar an nGaeilge. Níl ach aon uair agus ceathrú a chloig againn, agus braithim go bhfuil sé sin ró ghairid. I believe it should be extended to two hours. Perhaps there is a problem with this, but if so we need to hear about it. It certainly needs to...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: On the Order of Business, I regret No. 1, motion re Draft Planning and Development (Regional Planning Guidelines) Regulations, is not being debated. I should have raised this matter with the Leader during the course of the week. Will he reconsider it? This issue has been raised by many Senators on both sides of the House. For example, Senator MacSharry raised it three or four times and I...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: ——and supported by Governments in both jurisdictions. Having spent 25 years trying to scramble our way out of chaos, we must stand together against those who attempt to plunge communities back into it. It is not the time to focus on minor differences of opinion. We must take certain positive aspects from the events. We must recognise that all political parties, North and South and in...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The points made by Senator Fitzgerald are extremely important. The only aspect on which we differ is that I would not ask for an apology because an apology for which one is obliged to ask is not worth receiving.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The Government should come clean in respect of the issues to which the Senator referred. It would boost confidence if it were to admit that it made mistakes, if it identified those mistakes and indicated how it intends to approach matters from now on. I am glad the Government is involved in discussions with the Opposition parties and the social partners and is trying to develop a strategy....

Seanad: Local Economic Initiatives: Motion (4 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: No one is arguing with that. He is held in the highest regard.

Seanad: Local Economic Initiatives: Motion (4 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Those were the days.

Seanad: Local Economic Initiatives: Motion (4 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Senator Boyle should carry on. He is in charge tonight.

Seanad: Local Economic Initiatives: Motion (4 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I take it that the Senator will accept our amendment.

Seanad: Local Economic Initiatives: Motion (4 Mar 2009)

Joe O'Toole: At the moment.