Results 13,121-13,140 of 26,037 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Seanad: Services for People with Disabilities: Motion (21 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank my colleague, Senator Martin Conway, for tabling this motion. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy English, for attending the debate. He is a regular visitor to the House. Up to €1.8 billion goes into services for people with disabilities. However, there is probably a need for due diligence, a NCT check so to speak, on how particular programmes are working. I did a survey...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Life Insurance Policies (20 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing this matter to be raised in the House. This long-standing matter came to my attention when a constituent came to me about a whole-of-life assurance policy he had taken out ten years previously when he was 80 years of age. It was a policy of around €100,000. When he reached 90 years of age, the policy was reviewed. By this stage, he had paid...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Life Insurance Policies (20 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank the Minister of State. Based on my experience with these policies, I think legislative change will be required. These policies are being sold as whole-of-life. As the Minister of State said, there is a review every five years. An element which is not pointed out is that people, particularly older people, pay an exorbitant premium, with many taking out the policies, traditionally...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Life Insurance Policies (20 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is phenomenal, at about €10,000 a year.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: This is a very important debate. Last Thursday, I thought Fianna Fáil was having a senior moment because it said it wanted the network brought back into public ownership without realising that it had sold it. This is a legacy problem.Regardless of whether they like it, the network should never have been sold.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am just saying this. Once Fianna Fáil sold it-----

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: Given that Fianna Fáil sold the network into public ownership, my comments can be made. At the end of the day, this is based not only on a previous action by Fianna Fáil to flog the family silver but also on a current action to effectively forget that. It is like a senior moment or a case of "Who shot JR?" when it comes to who sold the Eircom network.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: With respect, Senator Leyden-----

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: We need to set the record straight.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: The taxes Fianna Fáil rained down on the Irish people from 2008 onward caused carnage for ordinary citizens.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: Can I deal with the matter at hand? I do not want to give a history lesson but people cannot rewrite history. I will not allow that. On the issue of broadband, I have a couple of questions for the Minister of State. First, Eir is committed to rolling out broadband for 300,000 customers. Where do matters stand in that regard? This is about getting people access to broadband. What is the...

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: It is a very unruly crowd.

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: What is the timetable for the remaining connections?

Seanad: National Broadband Plan: Statements (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: Some 130,000 connections have been made to date.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome the Minister and his colleagues. This is a fine document and it must be acknowledged that 90% of the actions in the second plan between 2014 and 2016 have already been implemented. When before the Seanad recently, the Taoiseach said that everybody loves reform but few like the change that comes with it. The Minister is setting up a unit to focus on monitoring and evaluating...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: Perhaps I should already know this but, in the context of developing people in organisations, is there any arrangement whereby individuals in the public sector can be seconded to the private sector and vice versain order that synergies might be created? I come from the pure private sector, as does the Chairman, and I was self-employed for many years. Very few of our peers have gone into...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: There has to be a balance.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: Historically, the private sector benefited enormously from people from the Revenue Commissioners going into private work.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: The issue of duplication of services between bodies and Departments comes up with the public all the time. I do not know if it is a myth or reality but it is probably somewhere between the two. Has duplication within Departments been factored into the framework?

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2018)

Kieran O'Donnell: I join with colleagues in remarking on the bus crash that took place in Connolly's Cross between Caherconlish and Herbertstown yesterday. I compliment the staff in University Hospital Limerick and those in the school for getting the emergency incident team up and running. I compliment the staff of Bus Éireann for their reaction as well as those in the ambulance and emergency services....