Results 161-180 of 394 for speaker:James Heffernan

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2015)

James Heffernan: I welcome the Minister to the House. It is good to see the Oireachtas and the Department were ready for this issue and got there to shut the stable doors before the horse has entirely bolted. I put it to the Minister, however, that the national drugs strategy is not working. There is widespread availability of all the substances we are seeking to outlaw. I am not from a great metropolis,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy, to the House. This matter concerns the need for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to establish an environmental ombudsman office to deal with complaints made against the EPA. This stems from a number of sources. It goes back to the report commissioned by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: With the greatest of respect, that is just pure waffle. It is what I heard previously from the director general of the EPA, namely, that an acceptable form of wording could not be found. How many experts are working in the Department who could not formulate acceptable wording? It is no good telling this to people whose children are getting cancer.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: I do. I will show the Minister of State exactly why there is a need for an ombudsman inquiry or a different form of inquiry into the EPA. Let me refer to the preliminary documentation produced by the EPA in 2007 regarding the granting of a licence to Aughinish Alumina, the plant about which I am talking. The documents states: "Notwithstanding this clause the licensee is prohibited from...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: I have.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: The meeting to which I referred resulted in the advocating of the deletion of the whole final sentence. True enough, when a licence was granted to these people, who are continuing to pollute in my area-----

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: -----there is no sign of that at all. We still have no bond in place. We still have no protection for the taxpayer or the people in Limerick and elsewhere around the country. If something goes wrong, we will be left picking up the tab again. This was a decision made by the EPA.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: That stinks to the highest heaven and has to be investigated by someone somewhere. If an acceptable form of wording cannot be formulated to bring the EPA under the remit of the Office of the Ombudsman, I despair over the quality of the staff being employed by the Government.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Environmental Policy (18 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: At a cost of thousands or millions of euro to ordinary people.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: There has been a great deal of reporting recently in media circles on members of the Traveller community, including Sarah Dunne, the daughter of the Pecker Dunne and a very positive role model in the Traveller community.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: Gabh mo leithscéal. I had a number of other people whom I would have liked to name, but I cannot do so. There was an issue the other day involving a Wicklow hurler who had received a great deal of racial abuse because he was a member of the Traveller community. There are positive aspects, including "Norah's Traveller Academy", Norah Casey's television show on RTE, although the...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: Yes, I do. There are various building scams and other criminal acts. In Rathkeale in my constituency there are a large number of people with the finest houses and newest Jeeps who have no visible income.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: There is widespread social welfare fraud.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: We need to have a debate on the issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: Absolutely; I agree with what the Senator said earlier that a criminal was a criminal, regardless of where he or she came from.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: I call for a debate in the Chamber with whoever is the relevant Minister. I imagine it is the Department of Justice and Equality, but it is not a matter related to equality. I call on the Minister to come to the House to tell us what measures are being taken. Criminality, lack of respect for law and order and taking the law into one's own hands cannot be tolerated in any section of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: That is an outrageous statement.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: Yesterday saw the defeat of the Bill proposed by Deputy Clare Daly on fatal foetal abnormalities. I found the defeat distasteful and shameful. I remember when the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill was debated in this House that I voted in favour of an amendment to include families and women affected by fatal foetal abnormalities-----

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill was debated in the House and an amendment was tabled to it to cover fatal foetal abnormalities.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

James Heffernan: Senator Jillian van Turnhout proposed the amendment and I voted in favour of it. I wish Deputy Anne Ferris the very best. She stood by her principles and the longstanding principles of the Labour Party.