Results 161-180 of 459 for speaker:Phil Prendergast

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: The Senator's party will be concerned about stag parties next.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I ask the Leader to organise a serious debate on Ireland's suicide rate, which is of concern because it is the fourth highest in the EU. We have to address the circumstances which meant that 250 children were treated in adult psychiatric hospitals last year. Child mental health services and supports will have to be a priority for the Government. While I acknowledge that there have been...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Second Stage (15 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I wonder if we are all talking about the same Bill. I welcome the Minister but I do not think she will like everything I have to say. This Bill is not just another piece of legislation; it is an affront to parenting, to the public service and to national solidarity. It is appropriate that this Bill is being guillotined because it is the blade that will slash through the fabric of society....

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Second Stage (15 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: The harmonised index of consumer prices, HICP, is a more accurate measure of the cost of living and it is used by the EU and is preferred by Colm McCarthy. The HICP is 2.8% year on year. The Minister has cut 1.8% from welfare payments by abolishing the Christmas bonus. The reduced rental allowances of €15 to €20 euro per week, increased fuel costs and new medicine charges will more...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009: Second Stage (15 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: This Bill is the means by which society is being divided not just into the haves and have-nots but into potential Fianna Fáil voters and those who have already decided they will punish the party at the next election. These are the people at whom Deputy Gogarty and his fellow travellers are really directing the big "f you". Having regard to the provisions of the Bill, it is parents,...

Seanad: Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Bill 2009: Second Stage (9 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. I wish to make some points in support of my colleague, Senator Brendan Ryan. Making vouchers redeemable for five years benefits the issuer and consumer. Having in place specific legislation is also likely to benefit both parties. As my colleague Senator Ryan stated, and this was also mentioned by the Minister of State in his...

Seanad: Farming and Agrifood Sector: Statements (9 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sargent, to Seanad Éireann and I appreciate the opportunity to present my party's views on farming and the agrifood sector, which is a vitally important indigenous industry. Many difficulties face Irish farming at present and they have been well articulated by my colleagues, already. There is the free fall in farming incomes and the collapse in milk...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I support Senator Fitzgerald's call for additional resources to be allocated to implement the recommendations made in the Ryan and Murphy reports. I hope child benefit will not be affected in today's budget. I have been contacted by many people who are concerned about what they will hear today. Child benefit is particularly important to them as one of their vital weekly resources as they...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Mental Health (Involuntary Procedures) (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (2 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I welcome the Minister of State. I have witnessed ECT and seen its positive effects. I can only judge it as positive from what I have known beforehand. I will not be descriptive of cases where it may not have been positive as I do not have the experience to discuss it in fine detail. I admire the way the Minister of State is going about his brief and visiting all units around the country....

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: With regard to the proposal for 12 days' unpaid leave in the public service I wish to comment on how it would operate in the nursing profession where there is a policy of summer closures in different hospitals, specifically in South Tipperary General Hospital where nurses routinely take unpaid leave and often at the end of a period of maternity leave. Therefore, this arrangement is already...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment. Amendment put.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Flooding: Statements (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I join with you, a Leas-Chathaoirleach, in welcoming the Minister to discuss this problem, which is country-wide. I sympathise with the thousands of people throughout the country who have been or will be affected by the ongoing floods. I include those in my county of Tipperary. We have a little more insight than most people into the hardship flooding causes for people. I live in Clonmel,...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I, too, extend a céad míle fáilte to the Seanadóir nua, James Carroll. He is very welcome. I support my colleague, Senator McCarthy, in his proposal to give over our Private Members' time today to discuss the serious issue of flooding, including the Clonmel aspect and what is going on there with respect to the flood alleviation process and the impact it has had. There have been some...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2009)

Phil Prendergast: I second that.