Results 18,781-18,800 of 19,417 for speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: What the Minister of State said is all well and good. If he took on board the point I made and changed the word "spouse" to "partner", there might be some logic to what he said. I understand there might be problems in regard to carers in paid employment who would not necessarily have any long-term tie with the person for whom they care. The last point the Minister of State made was that the...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I support this amendment on the basis that it extends, in a minor way, the services to be covered by a needs assessment. I hope the Minister of State will take it on board and indicate some movement on the issues we have raised. An understanding of our point of view and sympathy from the Minister of State is not good enough in this case. We need action on these amendments for this legislation...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: The legislation can include them.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I support the provisions set out in amendments Nos. 38 and 40. I had intended in quite a number of amendments to promote the establishment of an independent disability support service as outlined in the document, Equal Citizens. The Ceann Comhairle has ruled all such amendments out of order. While this action may have been correct under Standing Orders as the amendments implied a charge on...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (25 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I will reiterate what I said at the outset of the debate on this amendment. What is being suggested is a compromise on what the DLCG sought which was a disability support service that would have the dual functions, which Deputy Stanton outlined, of advocacy and needs assessment and ensuring that the required services are delivered. It is a pity the Minister of State did not adopt that...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (24 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Question 103: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if, in view of his proposed meeting with the Irish Bankers Federation following the publication of the "Do the Poor Pay More?" report, he will also meet the Departments of Finance and Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to plan a strategic initiative to tackle the issues of debt and poverty in households here; and if he will...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (24 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Question 115: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he proposes to introduce changes to allow lone parents to receive maintenance from absent fathers without it affecting their welfare payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17204/05]

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (24 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I support this amendment. It is similar to one I had tabled but was not present in the House to move. It has the same purpose, namely, to call for a review, especially a review of the definition of disability which has been a bone of contention with most of the groups that have made recommendations to amend the legislation to make it a rights-based Bill, which so far is not the case and it is...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (24 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I concur with Deputies Stanton and Lynch on this. It is not unreasonable that a review should begin at the end of the third year, on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. It should begin within a maximum of two years of operation or three years from enactment. I would go further and argue that the review should be completed within a set timeframe. We do not have that luxury at this stage, but the...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (24 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: No, that is not correct. It looks as if it will be going on for ever and ever.

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (19 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I will speak to amendments Nos. 7 and 10 and make some general comments on the group of amendments. This is the first instance of a reference to the circumscription of services. Under Part 2, only the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Education and Science can make orders allowing a person to be the subject of an assessment of need and only for health and education...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (19 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: My amendment is No. 1 but I concur with the purpose of amendment No. 5, which has the same intention as my amendment. This is not a disability Bill. It should be a rights for people with disabilities Bill because those groups who were drawn into the consultation process and involved in the discussions for the past two years believe they were cynically used over two years on a promise which...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (19 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: The Minister referred to the legal provisions and other Deputies have covered the matter well. No Opposition Members or those in the disability sector — either providing services or those who are disabled — is denying that the Government has put additional resources into this area. The Government has the additional resources to put in, and it would have been an even worse scandal if it...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (19 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: During the course of the debate yesterday, the Minister stated that he is happy with the Bill and I would not have expected him to say anything else. The Long Title as it stands confirms what I said yesterday, that this Bill is not about the provision of rights. The Minister said as much in his opening comments today, when he used the phrase "positive action measures". The hope of everyone,...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (19 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Again, the Minister of State has confirmed that he will not accept my amendment nor any of the other amendments which try to set out rights. The intention of my amendment and the ones that flow from it is to confer rights and ensure that if those rights are denied, people will have recourse to a remedy for redress. The Minister of State has not adopted that track in the legislation. I am not...

Written Answers — Nuclear Plants: Nuclear Plants (18 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Question 187: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has made an official complaint to the British Government regarding the three day delay in notifying authorities here of the radioactive leak which occurred at the THORP plant at Sellafield on 18 April 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16523/05]

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (18 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Question 106: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he is satisfied that planning authorities are complying with Childcare Facilities: Guidelines for Planning Authorities; if he will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of these guidelines; and if his Department will collate and make available data regarding the number of child care places that have...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage. (18 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, lines 5 to 25, to delete all words from and including "ENABLE" in line 5 down to and including "INCLUSION" in line 25 and substitute the following: "AFFIRM, PROTECT AND VINDICATE THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, TO ALLOW FOR POSITIVE ACTION MEASURES TO ENABLE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL, TO LIVE WITH MAXIMUM...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage. (18 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I know that. I am trying to outline the context in which the rights I would like to see contained in this Bill should be delivered. My amendment seeks to amend the Long Title of the Bill. I quoted from the Human Rights Commission, which seeks the inclusion in the Bill of minimum standards and guarantees. I mentioned that little progress was made in France because the legislation in that...

Disability Bill 2004: Report Stage. (18 May 2005)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: This Bill precludes judicial redress and is not rights-based. Such matters are covered in my amendment No. 1, as well as in amendment No. 2 in the names of Deputies Lynch and Finian McGrath. They can elaborate further on that amendment. It should be noted that the Equality Authority considers that the Disability Bill does not add value to the existing equality legislation. I am addressing...