Results 81-100 of 764 for speaker:Kathryn Reilly

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: -----and for those at the top level in the civil and public service-----

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: -----but this Government slapped reform in the face when it broke its own pay ceilings for ministerial advisers on 14 occasions and when the Taoiseach insisted on a €37,000 salary hike for Fine Gael's former director of communications.

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: Fragile consumer and business confidence will be crushed by the rise in VAT and the anticipated fall in public sector demand, and the reality of falling incomes, will depress job creation. The economy has been starved of investment in recent years, and we cannot begin the process of recovery in the absence of significant investment. Without consumer demand and the ability to spend, and...

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: Since 2009 the underlying deficit has shrunk by less than 2%, falling from 11.8% to just over 10%. More cuts in the same vein as those introduced in the past two days affecting the same people will not lead to a better outcome. We needed a budget today and yesterday that changed the direction of economic policy. We needed a budget that prevented the experience of a lost generation. We...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: The events unfolding in Europe are, together with the budget, a source of fear for people throughout the State. Agreements are currently being made between powerful European states and this week's Council summit will have a potentially long-lasting effect on the State. Last week the Taoiseach clearly stated his opposition to further treaty change, before the Tánaiste indicated that the...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jan 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: The Leader mentioned that the Minister for Health will attend the House. Yesterday, there was an announcement that there would be a 25% cutback in staffing in outpatient departments in Cavan and Monaghan hospitals. The proposed cutbacks in Cavan are completely unacceptable when one takes into account the further curtailments that occurred in Monaghan hospital last year. This demonstrates...

Seanad: Suicide Prevention: Statements (12 Jan 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for attending. Senator White referred to money and resources. I am speaking from personal experience. A 24 year old approached me last weekend and said, "I wish I had money so that I can get my boyfriend treatment". She did not want money not to go out, travel or buy clothes. No 24 year old should have to say that. I will speak about a person close to me...

Seanad: Education (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (25 Jan 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I welcome the Minister. I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss this Bill given that it is a very tough time for education in Ireland. I would like to make a few points on the legislation. In regard to more power being given to the Minister to decide on appointments and redeployments in the name of legal certainty and efficiency, my concern is around the nature of the new powers,...

Seanad: Services for People with Disabilities: Motion (25 Jan 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I second the amendment.

Seanad: North-South Interconnector (25 Jan 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I welcome the Minister to the House and am delighted he could attend in person for the discussion on the report he commissioned. I thank him for convening that group and publishing its report. The commissioned report is a detailed piece of work, the result of intensive lobbying by concerned communities throughout the State, especially in the Cavan-Monaghan-Meath region, in respect of the...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (1 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: The Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, said that we need to make a decision on the North-South interconnector and to proceed with doing the business. We must do that with due regard to current best European practice and the emerging technologies. We need to take account of the expert commission report published only a few weeks ago by the Minister's Department. It found that the undergrounding of...

Seanad: Priorities in Foreign Affairs: Statements (2 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Given that the US Secretary of Defence, Mr. Leon Panetta, has stated categorically that Iran is not building nuclear weapons or developing a nuclear programme, why did Ireland support the EU's move to ratchet up tensions by imposing sanctions on Iran via the oil boycott? In The Irish Times of 24 January the Tánaiste is attributed as having said: Here we're dealing with an undisputed fact...

Seanad: EU Fiscal Compact Treaty: Statements, Questions and Answers (7 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. In the spirit of setting the record straight, particularly with the issue of the referendum, a high level European official was recently reported as saying the treaty had been specifically crafted to minimise the prospect of a referendum in Ireland. At a recent meeting of the European affairs committee, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign...

Seanad: General Practitioner Services (7 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I thank Senator Wilson for sharing his time on this issue. The people of Mullagh do not have access to a GP service in their town. No matter what the HSE says about an existing contract, the service is actually not being delivered. The GP service in the town finished in February 2011 when the GP in place informed the HSE he was discontinuing his sessions there. Under the terms of his...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I would like to be associated with the expressions of sympathy to the family of the young girl in Tallaght. The issue I wish to raise is addressed to the Minister for Justice and Equality, but concerns his other responsibility, defence. Will the Leader arrange to bring the Minister for Justice and Equality to the House to address the deplorable situation where the Department of Defence...

Seanad: Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I will be brief because as previous speakers mentioned, this is a technical Bill to which we are not opposed. Therefore, we will not vote against it. However, we do have concerns about the IMF and its domination by developed countries which account for 15% of its members but which hold 60% of the votes. This must change. Further reforms are needed, central to which is giving the...

Seanad: Food Wastage: Motion (15 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: As a Cavan woman I can say we definitely would not throw out perfectly good food; we would make sure to eat as much of it as we can. I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank Senators Quinn and Mary Ann O'Brien for tabling the motion. I have a keen interest in the area of food labelling having been a researcher on a report commissioned by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise,...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Feb 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I ask the Leader to arrange a debate with the Taoiseach or the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Last month the European Commission announced in a very public way that it intended to send an action team to Ireland to discuss the issue of youth unemployment. Yesterday this team came and went without any public consultation or discourse with public stakeholders. As soon as...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: No longer will our children, like our cattle, be brought up for export. We are all aware of last weekend's juxtaposed images of the Ard-Fheis of the party founded by the man who made that remark and the Working Abroad Expo in the RDS that saw 20,000 people seeking employment outside the State. This morning, the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, stated that emigration was not always the worst...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: It is petty of the Senator to resort to a remark like that when discussing such a serious issue.