Results 1,601-1,620 of 1,687 for speaker:Maria Byrne

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Skills Shortages (30 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I do not have the relevant information, but a number of people have contacted me who would be delighted to offer him some suggestions. I welcome that there will be an opportunity to provide input to the report. I would like the Minister of State to see what is happening in the centre in Limerick to which I referred. It is something that...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I welcome the Tolands from Limerick, who are in the Visitors Gallery. I am delighted to see them. They are present as guests of my colleague, Senator Kieran O'Donnell, and I hope that they enjoy their visit. I welcome the Defence Forces roadshow that is under way in all barracks around the country. There is a need to recruit 850 people to the Army. There is a colourful exhibition and...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I and many of my Oireachtas colleagues attended a briefing with University Hospital Limerick and the HSE mid-west. It was very enlightening. I welcome the €850,000 that will be invested in the surgical day care unit in Limerick. People will now be able to come to the hospital on the morning of an operation or be assessed outside of the unit and will not take up unnecessary hospital...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (28 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I welcome the Minister of State and the proposals before the House today. I welcome the domiciliary care allowance and the proposal to bring almost 10,000 extra children into the category in receipt of medical cards. I have been involved with one or two families that were just over the threshold in the past and know the pain that they went through. I compliment the Minister of State and...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I understand that when the Minister, Deputy Harris, announces his eight-point plan today, he will propose to scrap the HSE and start all over again. I welcome this news because I think we could go back to the old health boards.It is his intention to scrap the HSE and devolve the powers to local hospital groups and community groups. When we had the old health boards, there was a lot of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Implications of Brexit for the Irish Educational System: Discussion (21 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I shall follow on from the point that Senator Ruane made about fees. When English students come here to study and when Irish students go to England, they pay the same fees as their counterparts in both jurisdictions. Following Brexit, will English students be considered international students and be obliged to pay higher fees? I want to ask...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Implications of Brexit for the Irish Educational System: Discussion (21 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I am sorry but I must leave to speak at another forum. I shall miss hearing the replies but I will research them later.

Seanad: JobPath: Statements (21 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for his detailed presentation. There has been much discussion of JobPath, but I will speak from my own experience in terms of the people who come to my office who are long-term unemployed. My experience to date has been with Turas Nua because it operates in the Limerick area. I am aware that many positive changes have been made, certainly...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I would like to be associated with the condolences to the young children who died in the fire this morning, and to the person who is in hospital. She will hopefully have a speedy recovery. I am alarmed at the figures released this morning about the interim applications to the Central Applications Office, CAO. The applications for nursing are down by over 9% and the number for teaching is...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I rise today to support International Women's Day. A number of articles in today's newspapers are about how women are to the fore in terms of some of the top jobs. An issue raised by my colleague, Deputy Madigan, in the Dáil relates to the reference in the Constitution to a woman's place in the home and she is introducing legislation to try to get that changed. It is 2017 and that is...

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion (8 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I welcome the Minister here today. I would like to compliment all working in both the tourism and hospitality sector, certainly for the fact that it brought over €8 billion into the economy in 2016. I take grave exception to what has been said to my left here today about the 9% VAT rate, as somebody who comes from the hospitality industry and who grew up in a business that was...

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Motion (8 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I did not interrupt Senator Gavan. We have to look at the rural towns and villages. Many are dependent on our tourism industry. I know that the Minister has been responsible for promoting the Wild Atlantic Way and the Ancient East, and a previous Minister promoted The Gathering, which was really successful and brought many of our diaspora back to Ireland for many family gatherings. It was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of Education (Amendment) Bill 2015 and General Scheme of Education (Parent and Student Charter) Bill 2016: Discussion (7 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I thank everyone for their presentations. I wish to compliment my colleague, Deputy Jim Daly, on bringing this Bill forward. I am currently the chairperson of a board of management so I am looking at it from an interesting angle. Students represent the kernel of our discussion today. The children's ombudsman covers those up to 18 years of age, whereas this measure will cover all aspects...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Mar 2017)

Maria Byrne: I raised the issue of Bus Éireann yesterday. The dispute appears to have escalated overnight and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will have to get involved. A strike by Bus Éireann will have a very detrimental effect on rural Ireland, although the Minister refuted that claim today. The Minister should take a trip on a bus to see the areas of the country covered by...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2017)

Maria Byrne: I ask the Leader to bring in the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to discuss the application by Irish Cement in regard to replacing fossil fuels with an incinerator and the proposed burning of tyres. A prominent group, Limerick Against Pollution, has been set up and Professor Anthony Staines addressed a well-attended public meeting last Friday at which many...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Feb 2017)

Maria Byrne: I wish Calvin Nash from Young Munster in Limerick who is to captain the Ireland under-20s team on Friday night against France and the rest of the team the very best of luck. I also welcome the good news that four new transatlantic flights to the United States have been announced from Shannon Airport. As many companies in the United States have hubs and connected companies in Ireland,...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Feb 2017)

Maria Byrne: I welcome the announcement this morning by the Government on the cut in fees to be paid by independent broadcasters. There are many community and local radio stations and many elderly people are so dependent on them to keep them company. In my area, there are three radio stations. There are two in different parts of the county and one based in Limerick city. The news is very welcome. The...

Seanad: Recent Education Announcements: Statements (21 Feb 2017)

Maria Byrne: I welcome the Minister. I welcome the recently launched Action Plan for Education for 2017. The most important thing in it is that it is going to improve the learner experience and the success of learners. The introduction of the new model of allocating teachers to improve mainstream support for special needs children is important, because no matter what school one is in, there are always...

Seanad: Recent Education Announcements: Statements (21 Feb 2017)

Maria Byrne: Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2017)

Maria Byrne: I wish to raise a matter I raised previously concerning the changes being made within Bank of Ireland. As of last Monday, customers can no longer speak to any of the bank's team over the telephone. Customers were not informed about this change and have only heard about it on going into the bank's branches. The bank is encouraging people to transact their business online. A number of...