Results 541-560 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Further Education and Training Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I acknowledge that a considerable amount of preparatory work has been done over the lead-in period. It is important that the transition is as seamless as possible, particularly in respect of amalgamating courses and getting rid of the duplication that existed in the past. This is very progressive legislation and we strongly support it because...

Seanad: Further Education and Training Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I welcome the passage of this Bill. It is the third Bill on further education we have taken in recent months as part of a process of improving co-ordination across the sector and ensuring that individuals can access education and courses that meet their employment and personal development needs. As we conclude, I would like to mention the importance of community education. It is very...

Seanad: Further Education and Training Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: Will the Minister of State provide further clarification on when it is expected FÁS will be dissolved, with particular reference to arrangements in the interim? Given that the VECs have evolved into education and training boards, what will be the relationship between the boards and FÁS in the intervening period, particularly in respect of the training aspect of their brief and how...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Youth Services Provision (2 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I also thank him for his positive comments about Sphere 17. It is an excellent service and I am glad the Department appreciates that. Will he bring the recent break-in to the Minister's attention and the fact that the building in Priorswood cannot be used in order that she will be aware of the urgency of this application? Will he extend an...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Youth Services Provision (2 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to discuss the need for urgent accommodation for the Priorswood outreach service, Sphere 17. This service provides a wide range of services for young people from Darndale, Bonnybrook and Priorswood areas of Dublin 17, which is one of the most socially disadvantaged parts of the whole country. Last year, the service worked with over 1,250...

Seanad: Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I second the amendment. As I said last week, the move towards greater transparency in the reporting of family law cases is good. There has been far too much secrecy and at times it has undermined people's faith in the system unnecessarily. It is good to have more reporting. However, it is important - this is the objective of the Bill - that this be done in a responsible way, that there be...

Seanad: Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I second the amendment. As I said last week, the move towards greater transparency in the reporting of family law cases is good. There has been far too much secrecy and at times it has undermined people's faith in the system unnecessarily. It is good to have more reporting. However, it is important - this is the objective of the Bill - that this be done in a responsible way, that there be...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Youth Services Provision (2 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to discuss the need for urgent accommodation for the Priorswood outreach service, Sphere 17. This service provides a wide range of services for young people from Darndale, Bonnybrook and Priorswood areas of Dublin 17, which is one of the most socially disadvantaged parts of the whole country. Last year, the service worked with over 1,250...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Youth Services Provision (2 Jul 2013)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I also thank him for his positive comments about Sphere 17. It is an excellent service and I am glad the Department appreciates that. Will he bring the recent break-in to the Minister's attention and the fact that the building in Priorswood cannot be used in order that she will be aware of the urgency of this application? Will he extend an...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sporting Events (26 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I appreciate the Minister of State's support and I recognise that the Department and Fáilte Ireland have been assisting. I would like to impress on the Minister of State the need to ensure personal endorsement at Government level while the selectors are here. I would ask the Minister of State or the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to meet them during that period and to use...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Sporting Events (26 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ring. The reason I tabled the motion is to discuss Limerick's bid to host the 2018 Gay Games and to specifically ask the Government to proactively endorse the bid and to do everything it can to ensure the bid is successful. The Gay Games is one of the largest participative sporting events in the world. It is the largest event that is open to...

Seanad: Courts Bill 2013: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I strongly support Senator van Turnhout's amendment and thank her for putting so much research into best practice elsewhere in Europe and other jurisdictions. It is essential that we have a fair balance and, as the Senator pointed out, of course there must be the right to a fair trial. However, in doing so we must ensure that we do not necessarily re-victimise people by making the process...

Seanad: Courts Bill 2013: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I accept the point, as the Minister stated at the outset, about the need to inform creditors that someone has been obliged to seek an insolvency arrangement. As the Minister indicated, people who are owed money by that person of course need to know what is the position and must be put on notice regarding the protective order to prevent them from being able to move against the borrower....

Seanad: Courts Bill 2013: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I strongly welcome the inclusion of the new provision. It is important to increase the visibility of family court proceedings as it will improve confidence and reassure people that there is consistency across the board. The provision will shine a light on what has often been a very secretive area of Irish law. However, it is essential that we have watertight provisions to protect people's...

Seanad: Courts Bill 2013: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 10: In page 8, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:“6. Section 133 of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4): “(4) A register maintained by the Insolvency Service shall remain confidential at all stages.”.”.The amendment arose out of discussions that the Fianna...

Seanad: Courts Bill 2013: Committee Stage (26 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: We support this amendment in respect of the Coroners Acts. In general the lack of support for families and people who have to face inquests is dreadful. It is a very stressful process. Many families find it bewildering as they have not been party to an inquest previously, particularly when there have been tragic circumstances relating to a death within a family. There is a desperate need...

Seanad: Further Education and Training Bill 2013: Second Stage (20 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I am finding the Senator's contribution most interesting.

Seanad: Further Education and Training Bill 2013: Second Stage (20 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister and extend the good wishes of the Fianna Fáil group to the Minister of State. We have had good exchanges with him on further education and training issues and I hope he will make a quick recovery. I very much welcome the legislation. It is the third Bill relating to reform of the further education sector that we have discussed in the past few months. It is a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motion (19 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: The Fianna Fáil party strongly supports the extension of the powers contained in the motion. I would prefer if we did not need a Special Criminal Court to hear cases but, unfortunately, we do. During the last debate we discussed the ongoing threat posed by dissident terrorist groups in this country. The scale of gangland crime that is evident in Dublin and other cities is frightening....

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motion (19 Jun 2013)

Averil Power: Sorry; I will say it endorsed terrorist activities in this country in the past. It had a very close connection, a deep and personal relationship, between three people involved in the Sinn Féin party and terrorist groups in the country that led to the deaths, as pointed out earlier in our discussion of the previous motion, of innocent civilians and members of the Garda...