Results 441-460 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Child Protection: Motion (5 Mar 2014)

Averil Power: I, too, welcome the motion and the fact that it has cross-party support. It is significant that the Minister has expressed her support for the motion. The background of this matter has already been outlined. It relates to the decision last year to hold a beauty pageant here. Most of us were shocked and surprised that such an event could take place in Ireland. Thankfully, as was pointed...

Seanad: Reform of Further Education and Training: Statements (5 Mar 2014)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister of State and commend him on visiting New York at the weekend for the "St. Pat's For All" parade. It was important there was a Government representative at that inclusive function in New York. Unlike the official St. Patrick's Day parade in the city, the "St. Pat's For All" event recognises the diversity and inclusiveness of modern Ireland. I am glad the Minister of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Role and Potential of Community and Vocational Education: Discussion (26 Feb 2014)

Averil Power: I thank everyone for their presentations. It has been great to have everybody together in one meeting. I have always felt that we undervalue vocational and community education and I was encouraged by Mr. O'Toole's comments on how that is all being brought together now to put a structure and strategy in place. It is a hugely important area. Ms Brady's point on the need to value education...

Seanad: Teaching Council of Ireland: Statements (19 Feb 2014)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister to the House. As he has outlined, the Teaching Council of Ireland has a number of important functions, including to protect the standards of entry to the teaching profession; to advise the Minister on teacher supply; to promote teaching as a profession; to establish and maintain the register of teachers and to maintain and improve standards, professional practice and...

Seanad: Teaching Council of Ireland: Statements (19 Feb 2014)

Averil Power: That is true. I welcome the developments that are taking place. As the Minister mentioned, the council also has an important function in teacher education. The Minister adverted to several reforms that are under way. I urge the Minister to ensure sufficient resources are put in place to deliver on these reforms effectively because that aspect is crucial. We must ensure that teachers are...

Seanad: Free Speech, Homophobia and the role of the State Broadcaster: Motion [Private Members] (18 Feb 2014)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister to the House for this important debate. As Senator Bacik pointed out, in the aftermath of the revelations of RTE's settlement last month with John Waters, Breda O'Brien and members of the Iona Institute, I called for the Minister to come before the House to discuss this issue. I did so for several reasons. First, I was horrified by the way that Rory O'Neill's...

Seanad: Free Speech, Homophobia and the role of the State Broadcaster: Motion [Private Members] (18 Feb 2014)

Averil Power: I just want to wrap up briefly. A little latitude was shown to others.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Implications for Employees of Changes to Pension Age: Discussion (12 Feb 2014)

Averil Power: I thank each of those who spoke and presented to the committee this morning. It is evident from the last speaker how much anger there is about changes that have been made. I suppose when any change is being made to people's long-standing entitlements, there needs to be a sense of fairness and respect for legitimate expectation. I guess the difficulty in this area is that there is a...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to come to the House to discuss the recent revelations that RTE has paid financial compensation to individuals associated with the Iona Institute in response to complaints made about Rory O'Neill's interview on the "Saturday Night Show". It is incumbent on the Minister to appear in the House and...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I am asking the Leader to invite the Minister to come to the House to discuss this serious issue. The motivation of the Iona Institute in bringing the case is clear. It is afraid of the referendum and the fact that at the Constitutional Convention, in which people heard both sides of the debate over the course of two days, 80% of those involved voted in favour of equality. They voted to...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sentencing Policy (29 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I accept that the Minister of State is responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter. I welcome the fact that change in the 1993 Act on financial compensation will be considered. As far as I am concerned it must be changed. I do not see a case for leaving it as it is. It is never appropriate to give financial compensation in an assault case, be it sexual...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sentencing Policy (29 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: Defendants in a number of serious sexual assault and domestic violence cases over the past several years have had some or all of their prison sentences written off in return for payment of financial compensation, much to the disgust of their victims. Most rape and domestic violence cases are not even reported to the Garda, let alone prosecuted in court. It is disgraceful that women who are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Social Enterprise in Ireland: Discussion (29 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Their point is well made in terms of the necessity for equality budgeting in the context of the broader social consequences of budgetary measures and, in particular, their longer-term impacts. I was very strongly opposed to the proposal last year to take teachers out of DEIS schools, a decision that was subsequently and rightly overturned....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Proposed Incinerator at Poolbeg: Dublin City Council (22 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I will be brief as other members have teased out already the deficiencies in the process thus far at the various levels. I appreciate Mr. Keegan is a new city manager and did not preside over the incinerator plans in that position in the past. I find it shocking that so much was spent and that the figure for consultancy rose from €8 million to more than €30 million. I...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Mr. Tom Arnold (16 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I, too, welcome Mr. Arnold and his officials to the House. As a member of the Constitutional Convention I have been very impressed by how Mr. Arnold has chaired it and the efficient way his team organised all our meetings, communicating with us before the event, ensuring things worked well on the day, as has been mentioned ensuring everybody got an opportunity to speak. The role of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: They do teacher training. They are a location for training courses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I echo the comments made by other speakers. This is a particularly informative debate. I am sorry I missed the first two submissions but I will read the transcript. I was delayed at an earlier meeting. I wish to pick up on two specific issues. Like other members I was intrigued by the points made about children in care. That was probably more of an oversight from the point of view of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: General Scheme of Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jan 2014)

Averil Power: I just wanted to be clear about what Mr. McCabe wants. On the second issue, every group that has come before the committee mentioned its concerns about section 29. The management bodies told us they were nervous about being put in that position. The boards of management do not want to be the last port of call in deciding on an application only to find they are exposed to legal action...

Seanad: Protection of Children's Health from Tobacco Smoke Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2013)

Averil Power: I strongly support this legislation. The last it was discussed in the House the Minister expressed several concerns about making it workable. I understand that Senators have been going back and forth - indeed Senator Crown has catalogued all the correspondence over that period - with a view to trying to reach agreement on this issue. The amendments before us today present a scheme that is...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (17 Dec 2013)

Averil Power: The Dublin City Manager raised a very serious matter today when he said that this transfer had the potential to cause serious financial and operational risks to the council. I agree with the points that have already been made about the transfer of €2 billion worth of assets while leaving the council with the pension liabilities. That is a very serious issue. It is very important...