Results 61-80 of 501 for speaker:Maurice Hayes

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Feb 2007)

Maurice Hayes: I am sorry that I cannot offer Members a discount. I support the request for a debate on MRSA as a pressing issue, but I would like to widen the debate. The matter relates to cleanliness, not having matron figures in hospitals and the outsourcing of cleaning.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Feb 2007)

Maurice Hayes: This matter relates to the unfortunate animals and birds referred to by Senator Norris, which are so filled up with antibiotics that we are building resistances. An MRSA strain outside hospitals is being brought into them. We should take account of these facts.

Seanad: Garda Reform: Statements (13 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on the efforts he has made and is making in improving the police services. If I were not convinced of that, my colleagues and I would not have been fallbacks. I am grateful for his assurance that recommendations made have been seriously considered and will be acted on. I do not want to be accused of insider trading, so I will keep to...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (13 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: Ba mhaith liom focal pearsanta a rá. Bheadh Andy O'Brien molta dá mbeinn im' thost. Bhíomar le chéile ar Chomhairle Uladh beagnach 60 bliain ó shin. Bhí ard-mheas agam air mar fhear macánta. Fear ann féin ab ea é. Dhein sé a chion féin ar son na gcluichí, ar son an Chabháin agus ar son na tíre. Speaking after Senators Wilson and O'Brien, I hope Members do not see this as an...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: I support proposals for a debate on elderly care. The Tánaiste's proposal is a good one and I have no objection to it. Senator Finucane has referred to one of the side effects of such measures, where people are pressurised to make wills and get rid of property. Where there is a will, there are relatives. Society is changing, people are living longer and family structures are different....

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: Senator Brian Hayes referred to the impending retirement of Mr. Dermot Nesbitt. I am a constituent, friend and neighbour of his and I endorse what Senator Brian Hayes said. He has been a voice for sanity and reason and contributed greatly to public life in Northern Ireland.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: I too support a composite motion and the agreement of the House on issues such as cluster bombs and landmines. With regard to reporting of business in the House, I have no doubt the resident reporter has provided a balanced account. I would not go further than that. As any of us who write for the newspapers know, the coverage provided simply exemplifies the eternal battle that goes on...

Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: Senator Ryan has raised some interesting points, such as the national development plan, which are a matter for debate on another day. I welcome the budget and I congratulate the Minister. It would be churlish to do otherwise. The fact there is so much money to distribute is a tribute to the Minister's stewardship of the economy and of the finances. I am glad to see money going to...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to the House. I have three interests to declare. First, I am a director of Independent Newspapers, second, I am a writing contributor and commentator and, third, I was involved as a facilitator with the steering group which produced the model of the ombudsman. Given my experience in setting up ombudsman offices, I may have been helpful...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (6 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: No.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: I think that is a misrepresentation of the debate.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: The points I intended to make have been anticipated by other Senators and I will not waste the time of the House with them, but I support the request for a debate on prisons arising from the UCD report which is being published today. It is to be welcomed that the country is developing criminological research at this level. We need to consider the whole question of prisons. There are too...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: It costs €95,000 a year to keep a prisoner in prison. We could send three of them to Eton for that amount, which would at least give us a better class of criminal by the time they came out. We should consider the balance between prison, probation, the number of prison officers and what they do, and rehabilitation. I am against the attachment of social welfare earnings because it would...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: Will the Leader ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to attend the House to outline the arrangements to prevent paedophiles and other sex offenders from seeking asylum in this country? I also ask the Leader to refer the Minister to new regulations which are being introduced in Northern Ireland in this regard. It is important that such arrangements here should be compatible...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: It is time we re-examined the Fitzgerald report published all those years ago.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Dec 2006)

Maurice Hayes: It would also be useful to hold a debate on mental health services. I support the proposal by Senator O'Meara and Senator Ormonde that any such debate should focus on the critical and crucial issue of youth services. Otherwise, it would be all be over the place. I have one comment to make to comfort the Minister of State. I believe he was reflecting the fact that waiting lists are about...

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2006)

Maurice Hayes: As a citizen of Northern Ireland, I thank the Minister of State and the Government for their work over the years and the impartial and constructive way in which they have handled matters. In particular, they have stayed close to the British Government and ensured that things were done jointly in an even-handed manner. That has changed people's quality of life in Northern Ireland, and I am...

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Maurice Hayes: I too welcome the Minister of State, the Bill and the debate. If for no other reason it lets me know what goes on in the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body, something which is denied to a mere Independent Senator. The Bill need not take long. It is clear it is an administrative exercise and the House wants to give a fair wind to it. It enables us to pay tribute to the work that has been...

Seanad: British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (29 Nov 2006)

Maurice Hayes: The Senator is not offending me.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2006)

Maurice Hayes: I oppose mandatory sentences because it removes the judging function from judges. Even more dangerously, it puts the result into the hands of the people who framed the charge, by charging somebody with A rather than B. I saw this operating in the North over the years. It was punitive and disastrous. I had not reflected on Senator O'Toole's point about the constitutionality of it but he is...