Results 421-440 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I want to get this Bill finished in proper form as soon as possible. Instead of having another utterly uninformed and speculative debate next week, however, I would rather wait for two weeks, have the report, and the Minister could then come here to respond.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: Yes, let us do it on the Tuesday after the Easter recess. The Minister could then respond to each Committee Stage amendment tabled by myself and Senator Zappone. We can deal with Report Stage two weeks after that. I do not see the point in rushing Committee Stage and having another speculative debate without a Minister responding.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: It will really hamper our ability to draft something properly for Report Stage that responds to the Minister's arguments because we will not know what the Minister's arguments are.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I would still push the idea that it should be the week after Easter because it gives us more time.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I will respond to the Minister of State's comments and not go over the ground covered. In terms of the original Bill being judged to be constitutional, she acknowledged in her contribution that it does not mean that other Bills, with different approaches, would not be found to be constitutional. I express again, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, my concern about how long this process has...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I did not realise I had such distinguished visitors behind me. I support the overall point Senator Zappone is making. Senators Zappone and Norris have argued there is a distinction to be made between a court saying that the Bill in its original form is consistent with the Constitution, but it is a hell of a long stretch from that to assert that it is required by the Constitution. That has...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (9 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: In broad terms I support the point Senator Zappone is trying to make in the amendments. It is important to refer, and I will do so in very brief terms, to the overall impetus behind the Bill, which was introduced last May. I made the point during the last debate that while I welcomed the fact that any move was being made to address this legislation, I am strongly of the view that the Bill...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I am due in the Seanad for an education debate in a few minutes. I agree with Senator O'Donnell but that is only true if there are genuinely equal opportunities for education and employment and I do not accept that there are.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: The problem is, as I have outlined, I met a group of students who said they had been discriminated against on the basis that they are Shia and not Sunni. Professor Kelly referred to the distinction between the different hospitals. No Shia muslims work in King Hamad hospital. For anybody wondering why someone did or did not get a job, whatever about saying that the qualifications of a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I am not sure. I would like more detail. Professor Kelly referred to making sure he had a good sample of students. I would like to see that it is not just the college which is involved in offering him enough students. I have no problem with the fact that he is being given enough but it is important that he would speak to former students, visit and talk to Ali al-Ekri, whose background is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I wish to clarify one issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I seek clarity on one point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: Several speakers have referred to the desirability of the RCSI remaining in Bahrain. I did not call for it to withdraw from there. I made it clear, in fact, that that was not what I wanted. I am asking for an independent structure to be established to ensure the education provided meets the standards we demand here. As long as the college is in Bahrain, we need structures that protect the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I will start with a bit of background for members who were not at the Ceartas briefing. In fairness, the last speaker, Ms Doyle, referred at least to the human rights context.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: A lot of latitude has been given to those making presentations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Accreditation for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Facility in Bahrain: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: For those who were not at the Ceartas meeting on the last occasion, the background to this is the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors in early 2011 in Bahrain, and that those protesters were then brought to the hospital for treatment and the doctors, seeing that protesters had been shot in the back of the head, that they had been unarmed and that they were clearly just making a peaceful...

Seanad: Higher Education and Research (Consolidation and Improvement) Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: Yes, that is fine. One issue is the importance of a student voice in higher education. The CEO of the HEA mentioned this yesterday and it is crucial and should be central to any future vision for higher education. I am concerned about allowing institutions to set their own fees because it would create a two-tier system of an expensive, elite and cheaper higher education institutions. I...

Seanad: Higher Education and Research (Consolidation and Improvement) Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Averil Power: I welcome the Senator's Bill on consolidating and improving the higher education sector as an important contribution to the debate on the future of higher education in Ireland. I welcome that the Government will allow the Bill to proceed to Committee Stage. It is a large, complex piece of legislation and it has clearly taken much work to consolidate the existing legislation, so it would be...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (26 Mar 2014)

Averil Power: I appreciate that the Minister is replying on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Reilly, but I have written to the Minister about Beechpark Services previously and the issue has been raised by my colleague, Deputy Billy Kelleher, and other Deputies in the Dáil over the last two years. To be honest, the reply has not really changed since then. The Department is still referring to the fact...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (26 Mar 2014)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I tabled this debate to highlight the impact that the underfunding of Beechpark Services and child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, is having on children in the north Dublin area. It makes it impossible for children with autism and other special needs to get a proper education and puts their welfare and that of their fellow pupils...