Results 141-160 of 204 for speaker:Tony Mulcahy

Seanad: Social Welfare Appeals System: Motion (7 Nov 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: The Minister is welcome. I will be voting in favour of the amendment, unfortunately. It being the Government position one has to do that. I want to clear up some issues raised by the Minister. Perhaps we should deal with the problem in the first place rather than with the appeal. I state clearly that we should not use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The Minister rightly pointed out that...

Seanad: Social Welfare Appeals System: Motion (7 Nov 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I do not dispute that but I have seen three and one was wrong. The GP's form was wrong but all the clinical documentation and assessments by the early intervention services were correct because I went through them and visited the homes. They read the first page but they did not read the rest of it. There is a problem in the Department.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Domiciliary Care Allowance (23 Oct 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: The answer is there - desk reviews are completed, which means one sits at a desk and decides. Given we have so few medical assessors I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister for Social Protection to list the actual qualifications of each of the 25 assessors without naming them. I will reserve my opinion until I receive this information.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Domiciliary Care Allowance (23 Oct 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: The best way of setting the tone in terms of this issue is by way of example. I have recently come across a number of cases involving applications for domiciliary care allowance, in respect, primarily, of young children with intellectual disabilities. One case involves a young child of four and a half years who is in nappies, cannot talk and struggles to walk and has been clinical diagnosed...

Seanad: Life-Limiting Health Conditions in Children: Motion (26 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Although it sits uneasily with me, I cannot but fully support the motion. Perhaps I cannot support it in its entirety but I can empathise with the proposers of the motion. When we table amendments, I wonder whether we examine what we are writing and how we are presenting it. To give the impression that we have matters under control in the delivery of services in palliative care or...

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: All politics is local but, unfortunately, flooding is also local. We have had that experience in County Clare. Senator Byrne referred to climate change and now we have a name for it. In 1974, we went on a family holiday in Ballybunion, County Kerry. After three summers, eight days into our holiday my father brought us home because there was 3 ft. of rain on the street in the middle of...

Seanad: Flooding and Flood Prevention Measures: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: It is critical there is a cohesive approach to solving this problem. Many flooding issues may not need flood prevention but may require management measures to resolve them. That is my experience in Clare in 2009. I wish the Minister of State well.

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today and giving me the opportunity to speak about Irish Water. I want to address some of Senator Daly's remarks. The Health Service Executive was a classic example of giving responsibility to someone else. It was set up and allowed to take responsibility for whatever was said. We will spend the coming years trying to unravel that. We...

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Regarding responsibility-----

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: -----I learned a long time ago that if one doorsteps half a dozen Ministers or Oireachtas Members one will get half a dozen answers-----

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: -----but we have the boss here today, in essence, who will give us the answers we need. The reason he is in the House is to answer all the questions the Senator raised. I have every confidence that we will not end up in the mess created by some of the other agencies set up here. In January I had the opportunity to speak in the House on this issue. I am pleased to see the Minister of State...

Seanad: Irish Water and Related Reforms: Statements (20 Sep 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: That proposal was to provide a new structure for providing water. In addition, this has been EU policy since Directive 2000/60/EC, also known as the EU water framework directive, which was adopted in October 2000. An article in the June 2012 edition of Public Affairs Ireland Journal dealt with the water framework directive and many of the issues facing Irish Water today. The article was...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (12 Jul 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Will the Minister consider increasing the grant for group sewerage schemes from €2,200 to a more realistic amount, say, €4,000 or €5,000, which would be nearer the grant of €6,000 for group water schemes. In the current climate there may not be many more group water schemes but there will be many more group sewerage schemes, given the issue of septic tanks. A substantially increased...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (10 Jul 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I speak as someone who has been an employer for 33 years, a shop steward for ten years and a permanent employee throughout my working life, as I have worked alongside most of the lads I have employed. I am pleased to support this common-sense Bill. Times have changed since I started as a trainee chef in 1974, when I was fortunate to enjoy the protection of a JLC agreement. At that time, we...

Seanad: Mortgage Arrears, Banking and the Economy: Statements, Questions and Answers (3 Jul 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: The Minister is welcome to House. I apologise for not being here earlier as I was attending a committee meeting. I welcome the general thrust of the Bill. Like some other Senators, I have a concern that we are relying on those, the bankers, who made no effort to solve the problem in recent years and we are going to trust them a little bit more to solve the current problem. I have not read...

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

Tony Mulcahy: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following: Recognises: Ireland's obligation under Article 27 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits"; Ireland's national...

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

Tony Mulcahy: I also refute the idea that other parties would not have done the same in similar circumstances. While there is a need to cut costs, on the one hand, there is also a need, on the other, to secure private funding from elsewhere and to put together programmes that will encourage philanthropy from new avenues. As the Minister outlined, we have seen great success, with the National Archives...

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

Tony Mulcahy: I welcome the Minister back to the House. It is important that we are addressing the work that has been carried out by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture as access to oil and gas could be welcome components of a successful economic recovery. The committee has produced an informative report stretching to more than 200 pages arising from...

Seanad: Treaty on Stability, Cooperation and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union: Statements (17 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: Yes, we would all vote "No". At present, however, the only deal in town to manage our household budget, and it is a household and business budget in Ireland, is a "Yes" vote to secure a guaranteed stream of funding so we can maintain our services. Our services do not merely include ourselves, the politicians. They include the doctors, the nurses, the teachers. They also include those who...

Seanad: Treaty on Stability, Cooperation and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union: Statements (17 May 2012)

Tony Mulcahy: I have a business viewpoint on this. I have run my own business, a small catering business, for 30 years. The simple rule of business is that one cannot spend more than one earns. It is that simple. It does not matter whether it is £100, €100 or €50 billion.