Results 61-80 of 468 for speaker:Liam Fitzgerald

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I could not agree more with the final remarks of Senator Ulick Burke. They are extremely relevant and I know the Minister will examine them closely. I have seen many examples down through the years which illustrate what the Senator spoke about. When I read the Minister's speech on Second Stage in the Dáil, I was reminded of the 1980s, the times...

Seanad: Institutes of Technology Bill 2006: Second Stage. (5 Jul 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I want to quote him on the last budget, the Ministers for Education and Science and Finance and the Taoiseach. Regarding the interpretation of the budget by the Higher Education Authority, universities and institutes, he stated: The signal this budget gave is a seismic shift of Government strategy. In clear and unmistakable terms, the Minister, her Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach are...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Jul 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I wish to refer to two recent defining moments in the history of Irish education which have been almost overlooked, save for some brief references in the media. For the first time in the history of Irish education, newcomer Irish citizens of 22 different nationalities were able to sit their leaving certificate examinations, in curricular and non-curricular areas, in their respective mother...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Jul 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: —— who legally wish to share our economic, social and multicultural journey.

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Jul 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I compliment the Minister for Education and Science, the State Examinations Board and all those who helped to make this a reality. My second point is one which perhaps it is not popular or profitable for politicians to discuss. I refer to the final departure of the Christian Brothers from active participation in the Irish educational landscape. The Christian Brothers mission, set up by that...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Jul 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: We all know why this happened. There is no need for me to spell it out and some of it was well deserved and justified. However, I wish to pay a personal tribute to the Christian Brothers for the monumental contribution they made to the development of Irish education at primary and post-primary level and for helping to bring education to the masses and the remote areas of Ireland, such as the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (5 Jul 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: —— during decades when the State could not afford to do so. To their universal detractors, I wish to say that eaten bread is soon forgotten.

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I share the concerns of Senators O'Toole and Ó Murchú about the effect of alcohol and drugs on young people and, to take it further, on teens and pre-teens. The problem runs much deeper than both Senators articulated, although they did so eloquently. We should bring in, not only the Minister for Education and Science but also the Minister of State with responsibility for children and the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I join Senator Terry in a call for a debate on the postal service, which is appalling. As a member of a trade union, it grieves me to admit that despite repeated efforts on my part and on the part of many people in my community, there is a totally inefficient and even absent postal service. I was told by senior members of the trade union involved to fire the relevant postmen myself. I had to...

Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I request that I be given two minutes notice to conclude. Senator Ulick Burke is operating in reverse. Our journey is to bring adult education to the centre of the lifelong education experience.

Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: That Senator Ulick Burke suggests the Minister of State should establish an approach outside the education system and segregate it is missing the point. Partnership has been a recurring theme of late and is a good topic on which to start my contribution. Partnership, vision and education are one and the same issue. Sylda Langford recently defined partnership, in a tongue in cheek and off the...

Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I will not refer to further education today, as every time I speak in the Chamber I seem to refer to further education. I will restrain myself today on that score. Adult education today is not seen as a separate and fragmented silo. Everything in education is geared to see it as a partnership of equals and not the separate entities referred to by Senator Ulick Burke. Everybody contributes...

Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: We cannot speak of the provision of adult education without speaking about supports. We must facilitate people in getting true access by providing such supports. One of the main supports is child care. The Minister of State has spoken on this in detail. This Government acts and funds child care mainly through the back to education initiative, the vocational training opportunities scheme, VTOS...

Seanad: Adult and Further Education: Statements. (21 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: That is no longer the case.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: Like Senator Minihan, I wish to refer to the horrific murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe and the implications of the murder and subsequent events for our democracy and for the entire island. I first wish to acknowledge the great work of the Taoiseach on his ongoing efforts to bring lasting peace to our island. He sees it as his bounden duty to future generations that we hand over a legacy...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: My republican credentials are deeply rooted in the mountains of counties Limerick and Tipperary. I visited the Diplock courts, including the trials in the Harry Kirkpatrick case, the last of the supergrass trials to collapse. I witnessed at first hand the alienation of the people of west Belfast on visits to Ballymurphy, Divis flats and the Whiterock Road and viewed the peaceline at Belfast...

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: ——and objectives are not, I regret to note, in the best interests of this democracy and the people of this island. These armalite democrats such as Deputy Ferris and Mr. Adams must be immediately and finally called to account because democracy and democrats demand no less.

Seanad: Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: That is a cheap shot.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (Resumed). (2 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: In my humble and non-legal way, I understood that Senator Cox moved an amendment in respect of section 5. We then referred to section 3. May I deal with the generality of section 5 because it relates to issues raised by Senators Cox, Walsh and Mooney?

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (Resumed). (2 Jun 2006)

Liam Fitzgerald: I am aware of that. I stand corrected and will wait until we reach section 5.