Results 1,841-1,860 of 3,623 for speaker:Ulick Burke

Seanad: Educational Services: Motion. (15 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: All I ask is that the Minister would clarify the position definitively. She provided these figures in reply to parliamentary questions tabled in the Lower House in recent weeks.

Seanad: Educational Services: Motion. (15 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: The Minister provided this figures to Members in the Lower House. She should provide the definitive, true and accurate figures so that people will not be misled further on class sizes. Everybody welcomes the improvement in special needs provision, particularly the appointment of additional resource teachers and personal assistants. Most schools are in receipt of such support, although a...

Seanad: Order of Business. (15 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: I join Senators O'Meara and Ormonde in requesting an early debate on the annual ESRI survey on school leavers. It is a frightening indictment of Government inactivity in this area that 68% of the students who leave school without a qualification are without a job one year later, at a time when we have a booming economy. For students who leave with a junior certificate, the jobless figure...

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: Most people fully appreciate the increased funding for special needs from the Department of Education and Science in the past couple of years, even if much of it is the result of high profile court cases to establish the rights of children with special needs. It has become clear, however, that while investment at primary level has been increased dramatically, that pattern does not continue at...

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: The Government has had nine years to address the issue.

Seanad: Order of Business. (9 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: What does the Government propose to do?

Seanad: Road Network: Motion. (8 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: I thank Senator Terry for sharing her time with me. The final part of the Fine Gael motion highlights the unusual intensity of tolling that is proposed for the road between Galway and Dublin. Senator Kitt suggested that motorists could take alternative routes if they want to avoid the tolls, but the sad reality is that truck drivers who tried to avoid the single existing toll were told that...

Seanad: Road Network: Motion. (8 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: Some Ministers have gone astray.

Seanad: Road Network: Motion. (8 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: The Senator seems to have selective hearing.

Seanad: Third Level Education: Statements. (8 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: I welcome the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Mary Hanafin, to the House. Her speech is a very positive indication of her commitment to change. In her address, she emphasised the importance of change, development and investment and has demonstrated that these three principles are foremost in her mind. It is important that as a relatively new Minister, Deputy Hanafin has undertaken...

Seanad: Third Level Education: Statements. (8 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: If that was the case, and I am glad the Minister has said it is not, we are too small a country to do it. In the past, once there was a family tradition established in the medical profession, it would carry on. Thankfully that has been eliminated by the present system. If there is a commitment to invest resources in this plan it will succeed and we will get the number and calibre of people we...

Seanad: Order of Business. (8 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: I support Senator Cox in her request for an urgent debate on the Great Southern Hotels issue. In recent years, all members in this House have voiced their concerns about the lack of access to specialist health care in all parts of the country. They have drawn attention to the unacceptable delays and long waiting lists for such care. An article in The Irish Times today clearly indicates that...

Seanad: Schools Refurbishment. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, to the House and I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing this Adjournment matter. It is very appropriate that the Minister of State is here as he acted as principal in the school involved some time ago. I will not say how long ago. Abbey national school in Loughrea was built in 1928 and the building essentially remains the same. It has...

Seanad: Schools Refurbishment. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: It has been refused.

Seanad: Social Partnership: Statements. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: That is another declaration.

Seanad: Social Partnership: Statements. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: There was a search for the third socialist and we did not know until now.

Seanad: Social Partnership: Statements. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: I am delighted to be present to hear the declaration of the missing socialist of recent months.

Seanad: Social Partnership: Statements. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish the talks well and hope they succeed in putting in place the seventh successive social partnership talks. If any of us asked a member of the public what he or she understood by social partnership I am not sure what the answer would be. It would depend on the individual, but the majority of people would understand it to be a process to...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: The withdrawal by the Minister for Finance in the Finance Bill of all the incentives for urban and rural renewal must be regarded as a response to the inefficiencies, incompetence and bad financial management associated with the schemes. We should note an editorial on the issue in a national newspaper today and the Government-commissioned report which detailed the poor information available...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Feb 2006)

Ulick Burke: ——it is important we realise that the Minister's decision is welcome in that it may provide an opportunity for a decline in building inflation. I ask the Leader for a debate on this issue to highlight the BMW region. I give credit to a former Minister for Finance who initiated a pilot rural renewal scheme for the upper Shannon. Anybody who has seen the benefits of this in an area that had...