Results 1,221-1,240 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I did not raise this at the Leader's meeting the other day, but I did not spot it until now. The discussion today should not just be about the stability of the public finances, but also about a general economic recovery. I wish to make one comment about what was said the other day and which I touched on yesterday. I would like the Leader to take one message back to the Government. A public...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I have just put down the telephone from a couple who were in tears, a nurse married to a teacher, comfortably off, with their own house and paying back their mortgage. They outlined to me what their position will be after yesterday. His mother is in a nursing home and he has only one other sibling with whom he shares those costs after his mother's pension is included. The couple used to...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: ——with their big multi-million pay deals, who pay no price at all. This will not hold. It will bring social and industrial unrest. It cannot hold at the centre unless we bring balance to it. One cannot explain to public servants why they must do what is being asked of them if there is not a balance somewhere else. I am being told also of employers in profitable industries who are...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: It is time we got our act together and stopped whingeing about not getting coverage in the media or elsewhere. As long as we continue to talk on our own planet, when the world is somewhere else, we will never get coverage.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I ask the Leader to reassess the Order of Business today and to deal with the issues everybody else is discussing. I also ask the Leader to convey to the Minister for Foreign Affairs the need to meet with the Irish Ambassador to the Vatican, who has very little to do most of the time, and request that he speak to the Head of State in the Vatican to clarify for us——

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: ——that state's view on the rehabilitation of Bishop Williamson and to discover its view on that bishop's denial of the Holocaust. I was one of those who gave the benefit of the doubt to the Pope on the question of his being a member of the Hitler Youth or similar group, on the grounds that it was unfair to make judgments on what he did as a young man. However, I am really horrified at...

Seanad: Human Rights Issues: Motion (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Peter Power, to the House. I congratulate Senator Norris on proposing a motion covering such a wide range of issues which he has raised consistently, regularly and energetically for several years in the House. We should congratulate Senator Norris on highlighting these issues. We call on the Government to affirm...

Seanad: Human Rights Issues: Motion (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: That is extremely important. No matter what walk of life one comes from, a person who tells one what one wishes to hear, rather than what one needs to hear, is not needed. People who tell others what they need, but may not wish, to hear should be valued in a democracy. I believe that is what the Equality Authority was doing and I deeply regret the resignation of Niall Crowley. I say that...

Seanad: Human Rights Issues: Motion (4 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: That is unfortunate. As a former president of the ICTU, I regret that the two ICTU delegates to the Equality Authority, Louise O'Donnell and David Joyce, with whom I have worked closely over the years on many issues, have found it necessary to withdraw from it. This is terrible and tragic. These people have a great commitment to such issues, energetically make the effort and make it work....

Seanad: Report on European Union Scrutiny: Statements (3 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus roimh an deá-obair atá ar siúl aige leis an post nua atá aige mar Minister of State with responsibility for food. Táim an-shásta seans a bheith agam cúpla focal a rá mar gheall air. Maidir leis an méid atá ráite ag an Seanadóir Ó Súilleabháin, this week I spoke to my lamb producer and he is allowing one of the lambs to grow into...

Seanad: Report on European Union Scrutiny: Statements (3 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: There is a racecourse near it. It is quite near Huntingdon.

Seanad: Report on European Union Scrutiny: Statements (3 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: It is called Melton Mowbray, which is famous the world over for pork pies. Melton Mowbray pork pies are like Dover sole or Dublin Bay prawns. It is a brand. However, pork pies were being made and sold by Tesco and by all the big distributors as Melton Mowbray pork pies, even though they never saw Melton Mowbray. The people of this small town got together and took a case to Europe. They...

Seanad: Report on European Union Scrutiny: Statements (3 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I am disappointed the Minister of State did not say something about those appalling stamps called "best before". They should be banned. They are an absolute disgrace. They cause war in my house, because somebody sees that the best before date on a product is two days ago or a month ago and they throw it out because they think it has something to do with health. We need to be told that the...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: It is unfortunate that the talks involving the social partners did not reach a satisfactory conclusion last night. It is also important, as Senator Fitzgerald remarked, that we discuss this matter. I have put the suggestion to the Leader, who has some difficulty with it. We must recognise that there are 2 million in the workforce, 300,000 are unemployed and 300,000 working in the public...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2009)

Joe O'Toole: It is not only public servants who say as much. One can put the question to anyone in the street, asking their views on the way with which the banks have been dealt. We are taking our money and investing it in banks which are the cause of this problem and which are still being run by the same people. It simply is unacceptable. No matter what people try to convince themselves of, there is...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (29 Jan 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I wish to share my time with Senator Bacik.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (29 Jan 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I welcome the Minister to the House and I express my respect for his keen interest in local and national democracy. It has been very helpful that he has offered views on it regularly since his appointment as Minister. I very much agree with the comments made by the previous speaker. I am very concerned about the shift eastwards of the representatives in Dáil Éireann. There is a problem...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jan 2009)

Joe O'Toole: It would be useful if this House held a debate on the Eames-Bradley report, which forces us to confront certain issues. It is easy to understand why it was met with an extraordinary degree of emotion in the North. However, being able to understand the reaction of all the parties concerned does not necessarily mean one would agree with them. It behoves us to examine the report and to...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I would appreciate the views of the Members on the issue of the discussions on the economy. The trade union movement, including public sector unions, have offered a €2 billion recovery bond to the Government, which they are prepared to champion, support and sell. There has not been an adequate response to that proposal. This money is on the table for the Government to use. Two actions...