Results 281-300 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I agree fully with the Senator's sentiments.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Whole-School Approaches to Mental Health and Bullying: Discussion (27 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the witnesses for the presentation, which was most comprehensive. They hit the nail on the head in terms of mental health policy, which is excellent. We said as much when it was launched, but without resources it will not make a difference. It is frustrating for many teachers not to have the necessary supports.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Whole-School Approaches to Mental Health and Bullying: Discussion (27 Mar 2013)

Averil Power: What are the priorities? I accept reference has been made to the integration of services. Is there a signal that progress is about to be made in that regard, or are people waiting to hear when the new director for mental health is appointed whether real attention will be given to the area? What lessons have emerged from the recent projects supported by Headstrong? I did some work with...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: They defer to the Labour Party.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 3: In page 28, line 25, after “subsection (9)” to insert the following:“, at least two of whom shall be representative of learners”.The Minister is welcome back. On Committee Stage I raised the need to have two learners on the body. I will not reiterate all the points I made then. Suffice it to say that there are 21 members on the board and...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I support the comments of my colleagues about the need to have local parental involvement. The amendments are not prescriptive because we did not want to use complicated language in primary legislation. They simply provide for a ballot of local people and this allows flexibility for the Minster and the Department to work out the best way of doing that. It does not have to be a complicated...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister for the debate on the legislation and for his final comments on parental representation. In general the Minister is very good at listening to suggestions from this side of the House and trying to accommodate them when he can which is very much appreciated. This legislation is very important. The VECs have provided a very important service for decades, but it is...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Drug Treatment Programmes Funding (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I wish to raise the proposal for a south-east Fingal drugs and alcohol project, sent to the Department by the Howth Sutton Community Council in January of this year. Basically, the request is that the Department replace a project that was serving this area up until the middle of last year. There was a Howth-based project that was providing a service for Howth, Sutton, Baldoyle, Bayside and...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Drug Treatment Programmes Funding (23 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister of State for acknowledging the merit of the proposal and that a gap exists. While the Minister of State has advised it that it should make a proposal to the local drugs task force, at the same time the Department has clearly advised the local drugs task force not to recommend new projects. My understanding is that it has been advised that its funding is only on the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: The Minister of State is welcome and I welcome the Bill that is before us today. It is difficult to believe in this day and age, in 2013, that thousands of people are trafficked across the European Union, but figures published by the European Commission show that between 2008 and 2010 almost 24,000 people were trafficked across EU states and the Bill is an important part of a co-ordinated...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Apr 2013)

Averil Power: The Minister of State needs to tell her colleagues.

Seanad: Youth Unemployment: Motion (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: Fianna Fáil strongly supports the motion. The Minister has picked holes in the statistics, but there is no doubt that people of all ages and their families have been devastated by the economic crisis. Young people have suffered the greatest toll by far in recent years. This is true across Europe. The Minister cited some statistics and the Sinn Féin motion cites others, but the...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: Before the Minister leaves the House, the Cathaoirleach accepted an Adjournment matter on a proposed sewage treatment plant for north County Dublin, which was tabled to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. More than a year ago, the Minister gave the House a commitment to investigate this matter.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: The Cathaoirleach ruled on this issue this morning. I am being entirely reasonable. In the past two days, my office has received a succession of telephone calls from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform seeking to transfer this matter to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I have refused to accept this suggestion because the matter I raise relates...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: His decision is offensive, not only to me but to the House.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: This project will cost almost €500 million, yet the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform does not believe it is appropriate to answer questions about it. That is an absolute disgrace.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Water and Sewerage Schemes (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: While I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, to the House to debate this matter, the proposed massive sewage treatment plant in north County Dublin comes within the purview of the Department of the Public Expenditure and Reform. This matter was tabled to the Minister at that Department, Deputy Brendan Howlin, who gave a commitment to...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Water and Sewerage Schemes (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: In response to the Minister's comment, unlike his Cabinet colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, I accept that there is a need for increased sewerage treatment facilities in north Dublin. Neither myself nor other members of my party have ever argued that capacity should not be increased. However, we have questioned the logic behind having only one plant. We have argued...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Water and Sewerage Schemes (12 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: That is the kind of small-minded nonsense that one might expect from the Minister, Deputy Reilly, but we have not actually taken that approach. The Minister referred in his response to the fact that, on the basis of the figures published yesterday, the preferred site option will cost €80 million less than the other options. That is as much as he has said on the costings. Has the...