Results 181-200 of 4,168 for speaker:Susan O'Keeffe

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Amnesty International 70 page report, Deadly Reprisals, which it compiled by sending its brave members on the ground to dangerous and difficult places in Syria. They did this work at the risk of death and have confirmed, as the organisation can do given its status as an international organisation, that it is state policy to overthrow those opposed to the government. Amnesty...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: That is an extraordinary statement. I have heard of rewriting history, but really-----

Seanad: Euroscience Open Forum 2012: Statements (14 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is good to be here discussing something as bright and exciting as the Euroscience Open Forum. I believe this debate is being held at the suggestion of Senator Quinn for which I thank him. I also thank him for his contribution to getting Dublin to host the event. It will be a wonderful event - the Minister of State has described it as the...

Seanad: Euroscience Open Forum 2012: Statements (Resumed) (14 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: May I raise a point of information?

Seanad: Euroscience Open Forum 2012: Statements (Resumed) (14 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: When I mentioned collaborating with Sligo IT as champions, I should have stated also that the collaboration would be done in conjunction with the Sligo Education Centre. Education centres are vital to this work. I have spoken to them. I raise this point in the context of suggesting a model.

Seanad: Euroscience Open Forum 2012: Statements (Resumed) (14 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Can we put that on the record?

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I join others in calling on the Leader to ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, to come to the House to discuss today's report. Others have stated how important and urgent it is to have the debate and I imagine the Leader will do his best to facilitate it. I call on the Leader to ensure that we keep the issue of the independence of our cultural institutions on...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Has the Minister a friend who knows the answer?

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome this morning's report from the Irish universities' nutrition alliance. This week we had hearings by the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on cancer and heard calls for changes in our lifestyles, including the way we eat and drink. The IUNA report found that 23% of children aged two to four years, are now obese. This is a serious problem. While we have started this good work...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I ask that the House extend sympathy to the family and friends of Eugene Moloney, a journalist who was murdered at the weekend. Mr. Moloney worked hard throughout his life and had just finished working when he was murdered. On behalf of the House, I extend sympathy to his family and friends. I offer some reassurance to Senator Darragh O'Brien who became excited about the issue of personal...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Fianna Fáil Party is not the only party prepared to sit later or longer.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: That is a matter for the Leader to decide.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I ask the Leader to request that the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to consider reconvening the NGO liaison group. Particular concern has arisen over the rights of older people, an issue discussed by the House at the most recent meeting of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee. The loss or absence of the liaison group at this time will make this...

Seanad: Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration: Statements (27 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I welcome the Minister. I commend the committee and its report. I am not a member of the committee but particularly welcome the clarity of the recommendations, the manner in which they are laid out and the work members have done to achieve this. I am interested in hearing the Minister's view on a couple of the observations of the committee, particularly on the consultation process involving...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions: Motion (27 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Steady on.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions: Motion (27 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: The Minister is welcome to the House. I am delighted to be able to take part in the debate. It is always good to have a debate, although there are serious issues at stake. It is worth saying, if I might shamelessly talk about Yeats Day for a moment – the Minister and I had the pleasure of being part of the inaugural launch of Yeats Day in Sligo two weeks ago - that in the current times...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions: Motion (27 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: I believe the Government is as committed as the Minister to the ongoing independence of these institutions. From conversations I have had, that is what I understand. Independence does not have to be the sacrificial lamb of reform, nor should it be. The public service reform plan is one of the planks of reform that will continue over a period of time. It is part of the jigsaw puzzle of...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jun 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: Given Senator Ó Murchú's comments regarding the handshake and the relevant difficulties, I am looking forward to next Tuesday's address by Mr. Drew Nelson, the grand secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, in pursuit of the idea that we listen to and communicate with one another. It is a slow, gradual process and progress is clearly being made. I add my voice to the calls for a...

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: It is good to have the Minister back in the House. I am not sure I can extend my creativity, as other Senators have, to include William Butler Yeats, yet again. I do not believe beehives qualify under the Wildlife Act. Like others, I welcome this Bill. I am not somebody who shoots, I am not a member of a gun club and I have never engaged in that activity, but I understand its importance in...

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Jul 2012)

Susan O'Keeffe: As other Senators have done I thank the Minister and look forward to a debate on biodiversity. I share Senator Ó Clochartaigh's view in respect of wide consultation prior to the 2014 legislation. People have opinions about wildlife, the environment and biodiversity. The Minister was correct to praise the farmers as the custodians but many others want to have a share in that. An...