Results 1-20 of 605 for speaker:John Whelan

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Health to explain to the House his plans to resolve the chronic shortage of junior doctors which is affecting hospital services throughout the country. Although I defer to the superior knowledge of Senator Crown in this area, I understand the situation is reaching a crisis and will come to a head on 11 July when the new roster for junior...

Seanad: Water Charges: Motion (8 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: I am pleased to welcome the Minister, Deputy Hogan, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, who have taken time out to clarify the confusion that has surrounded the issue in the media in recent weeks. It is not just important that water charges are introduced, it is imperative. Such a measure is long overdue and should be done on merit, regardless of any EU-IMF bailout criteria. Of...

Seanad: Water Charges: Motion (8 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: No, Bord na Mona should be the agency involved. We already have enough chiefs and chief executives but not enough people working. This brilliantly conceived and visionary project would create 1,000 jobs at the construction stage alone and hundreds more thereafter in its operation and spin-offs in eco-tourism and leisure activities. The capital cost of €470 million would be borne by Bord...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: Through the good offices of the Leader of the House, I call on the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to attend the House to set out his policy on Grid25 and the development of an energy supply network throughout the country. There is a great deficit in the provision of a power supply along the eastern seaboard, especially in the south east. It requires the roll-out...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: I do not suggest the item I wish to raise is as urgent as the special needs assistants issue, nursing homes or the shortage of junior doctors. Nevertheless, it is important for us to seek clarification. I call on the Leader to use his good offices to write to the director general of RTE to establish who decided, and why, not to broadcast "Oireachtas Report" on Tuesday, 14 June. The Dáil...

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: I wish to share time with Senator John Kelly. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, for attending this debate to listen to our earnest views on this important issue. I am grateful to colleagues on all sides for offering cross-party support for the motion and adopting non-partisan positions on what is a serious matter. While the longest day of the year fell this week, one needs...

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: In that case, I will conclude my contribution. The motion is a genuine, non-partisan effort to find a solution, part of which must be that those in charge of the banks, who were partly responsible for causing the problem, should not be left in their posts. I ask the Minister of State to address this point.

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: I will not try the patience of the Deputy Leader and call for the Minister of Health to come into the House. There is a long list of questions before him and it will take him a couple of days to get through them all. It reminds me of a comment made by a previous Minister of Health and former Taoiseach that there are more landmines in the Department of Health than in Angola. It still seems...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jun 2011)

John Whelan: It is an urgent matter. It is important that the Minister for Justice and Equality does not expose the Government to any costly court cases for litigation owing to any removal of the accident and emergency facilities in Portlaoise. Rioting and trouble in the volatile environment of a prison and incidents of self harm which happen daily in the prison do not occur from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I commend Senator Feargal Quinn on his choice of necktie this morning. It is very fetching.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I could not resist commenting. I call on the Leader to request at the earliest opportunity the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to come before the House. I know he has a heavy work schedule and much legislation pending. There has never been a more appropriate time for him to set out his stall and give preliminary notice to the House of his plans for what I believe...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: My question is whether the Minister will come before the House at the earliest opportunity to set out his plans regarding legislation on media ownership because the issue of cross ownership of broadcasting and print media is important. Many Members might not be aware that even small local and regional newspapers such as the Kilkenny People and the Limerick Leader are no longer locally owned...

Seanad: Mobile Phones: Motion (13 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I wish to share time with Senator John Gilroy.

Seanad: Mobile Phones: Motion (13 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I thank the Minister of State for taking time out from his busy schedule to come to the House to discuss this matter. Contrary to Senator Mark Daly's view, to be fair, he has done good work on this issue, which I want to acknowledge. The motion has merit in its own right. It is important that the Fine Gael group has brought it forward in a week when we have debated the Public Health...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I too had the pleasure of attending the IFA showcase of Irish Food and the expo of Irish Food. I am surprised that there are so many here this morning, it was so appealing. The Taoiseach made an excellent speech at the showcase, he reminded us of the critical importance of the agri-sector and of artisan and small producers to the economic recovery. At that event, Ms Darina Allen, who is...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I do indeed. We learned of a downside at that function. Many of the producers we met last night raised the shocking situation where many of them and others around the county are left severely out of pocket due to the closure and subsequent buy out of Superquinn by another company. In fact the estimates range from €28 million up to €100 million. I call on the Leader to raise this issue...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I support Senator Mary White's call for the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, to appear in the House at the earliest possible opportunity. Job creation is urgent. We and the Minister can talk all we like about it but, unless we protect existing jobs and businesses, we are wasting our time. It is much harder to create jobs than to protect and ring-fence...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation Report into the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne: Motion (27 Jul 2011)

John Whelan: I deplore the contents of the Cloyne report and do not know how anyone could do otherwise. We should stop playing with semantics and call a spade a spade. Child abuse is a heinous and horrendous crime against vulnerable children. The Cloyne report is not the first of its kind and will not be the last. There have been the Murphy, Ryan and Ferns reports. Unfortunately, a litany of further...

Seanad: Arts Plan: Statements (21 Sep 2011)

John Whelan: Thank you.

Seanad: Arts Plan: Statements (21 Sep 2011)

John Whelan: I understand. It is an indication of the importance and central role played by the arts in Irish society that we are having this debate. I commend the Government and particularly those who drew up the programme for Government in difficult economic times for ensuring that the arts has a full Minister in Deputy Deenihan, at the heart of Cabinet. That is a recognition of the importance that...