Results 41-60 of 5,010 for speaker:Joe O'Reilly

Seanad: Water Quality: Statements (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I assume that we are discussing not only water provision by group schemes but also public water provision. I salute the pioneers who put the rural water schemes in place between the 1960s and 1980s. They were great volunteers and this was the most radical improvement in people's lifestyles after rural electrification. Those people followed the...

Seanad: Water Quality: Statements (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: Can the Senator repeat that please?

Seanad: Water Quality: Statements (6 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: It is creating considerable difficulty.

Seanad: Broadband Access: Motion (12 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen. I congratulate my colleagues in the Independent group on tabling this important motion. Broadband represents the future and the Independent Senators have done a worthwhile job in bringing forward the motion which merits serious consideration. There are a number of compelling reasons the availability and use of broadband are important....

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I strongly support Senator Twomey's remarks about nursing homes and about the enactment of legislation. It is an extraordinarily serious matter. We need a well resourced inspectorate and regular inspections. We owe that to our old people. We all know that there are wonderful nursing homes and wonderful people working in them. Great work is being done in most of them but that in no way...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I join other Senators in passing my good wishes and congratulations to Senator Norris on donating his archive to the National Archives of Ireland. I am pleased to hear that additions will be made and that it is not complete yet. I wish to develop the points raised by our leader, Senator Fitzgerald. I appeal to the Leader of the House to arrange an early debate yet again on the mental health...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I am coming to my point. It should also not be the case in a Celtic tiger Ireland. I ask the Leader to raise the following issues with the Minister and to have a debate on a number of specific points. There has been too dramatic a move from institutionalisation to community care and there is still a need for a sufficient core number of institutional places. The move has been too dramatic...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I support the remarks made by Senator Callely that we do not adequately use home help and home care facilities. There is potential in those services to do more good and it is madness not to use them more to make our services more cost effective and bring savings rather than further expenditure. This is the season when we remember people living alone and call on people to visit them. During...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I agree with him that it is criminal to hand over such a vital resource to private companies. I agree with his remarks on Veolia, but will leave debate on that for another day.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2007)

Joe O'Reilly: I will conclude by wishing colleagues a good Christmas. We can be collectively and individually proud that we have had an exceptionally good Seanad term and that the quality of debate has been excellent.

Seanad: Substance Abuse: Motion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is an appropriate and worthwhile debate. The first thing we need to give our young people is the confidence to say "No". Therein lies the key. To give young people the confidence to say "No" is to engage in a holistic set of practices from the time children are born. I believe that a State system of preschool education, which may seem...

Seanad: Hospitals Building Programme (30 Jan 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State and thank my colleague, Senator Wilson, for sharing his time on this issue. I greatly appreciate it and it is consistent with his approach to public life, in that he puts the interests of the community ahead of narrow partisan considerations. I reiterate my full commitment to and belief in the maintenance and development of services at Cavan General Hospital...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I concur with Senator Norris's remarks on the pharmacists' dispute. It should go to arbitration immediately and an outcome should not be pre-empted. The recent decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw a major charge in the case against Mr. Eddie Halvey was somewhat contentious. The DPP stated that he cannot give details about the process by which he arrives at decisions...

Seanad: Climate Change and Energy Security: Statements (31 Jan 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister and appreciate the way he has engaged with the House and the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on the issue. Such an engagement is important in terms of reaching consensus. A high level of awareness now exists on the issue. Our recent weather patterns have persuaded most people of the indisputable evidence on climate change. The science...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (6 Feb 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I support Senator Wilson's welcome to the announcement by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources last night that there will be an independent study of all the implications of the new North-South, and ultimately east-west, interconnector, cables and pylons. I am proud that Fine Gael was to the fore in calling for this and congratulate Deputy Simon Coveney on his...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Feb 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I congratulate my colleague, Senator Fitzgerald, on raising the serious matter of road safety. Its seriousness has been sadly underlined by events in the past week or ten days. That we have not successfully put speed cameras in place is a significant failure of Government. Will the Leader request that immediate action be taken on that? Will the Leader also ask the relevant Minister to...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Feb 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I am not having a debate but I ask the Leader to obtain answers on those issues and come back to the House with them. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his indulgence. I join Senators Quinn and Mary White in their support for the view that there should be automatic organ donation if people have not opted out of it. The fact that people are waiting is bizarre.

Seanad: Forestry Issues: Statements (20 Feb 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I join in the general welcome extended to the Minister of State. We served together on an Oireachtas committee some years ago to good effect. We must be concerned about the statistic that 10% of the land in Ireland is under afforestation, while the EU average tends to be in the range of 35%. Bearing in mind the food shortage and all other considerations, we should still aspire to having a...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Feb 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: I support the proposition by Senator Fitzgerald for an urgent debate and, more importantly, urgent action on the alcohol problem in our society. While we correctly focus on the difficulties concerning hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin, this may have distracted us from the fact that the fundamental problem in this country arises from alcohol abuse. It gives rise to so much domestic...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Feb 2008)

Joe O'Reilly: Most of our media depend on advertising revenue and the threat of losing that revenue could silence many outlets. It is a matter of serious concern.