Results 301-320 of 704 for speaker:John Kelly

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: I refer to an issue in the newspapers concerning discretionary medical cards. The reduction from 80,000 to 56,000 in the number of discretionary medical cards was referred to by Ms Emily O'Reilly. When she asked for files on cases granted discretionary medical cards, she was told by the Primary Care Reimbursement Service, PCRS, that files were no longer available since 2011. I have raised...

Seanad: Pathways to Work Strategy: Statements (25 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister. I heard she was at the ploughing championships and that she had been very well received, which is great to hear. I welcome the great work she is trying to do in overhauling the social welfare system. I will not quote all of the statistics she has given for the schemes available, as Senator Hildegarde Naughton has already done so. We need a change of culture because...

Seanad: Turf-cutting: Statements (19 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: I wish to share time with Senator Whelan.

Seanad: Turf-cutting: Statements (19 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister to the House. I will not repeat everything that has been said because the facts concerning the current position and how it was arrived at have been presented well by Senator Eamonn Coghlan. Turf cutting is an age-old tradition, which is the reason plans to ban the activity have proven to be so contentious. All one hears is that a person's father and his father before...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Wind Energy Guidelines (18 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister. We need to bring people with us on this issue. To do so, we need consensus. Proper set-back distances will achieve that and remove the need to debate the viability of wind energy. According to the Department, the set-back distances outlined in my Bill meant that Ireland would not achieve its targets. At our think-in on Monday, we received a presentation from...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: Like others, I was not going to speak about the referendum on the abolition of the Seanad, given that we should be discussing more pressing matters, for example, the upcoming budget. I hope that today will be the last discussion on the subject until we are closer to 4 October. However, I agree with all of the contributions so far, particularly concerning the lie being sold to the people...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: It is unforgivable that people can be allowed to lie to the people about €20 million in savings when the figure is actually €4.8 million. The price that one lobby group has put on democracy is one litre of milk per person per year. This is outrageous. Most of the people who are being rolled out to campaign for the abolition of the Seanad are former Senators. Why did they not...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

John Kelly: I compliment Ms Gemma O'Doherty on her great work in the Fr. Niall Molloy case. She took it from nothing to being fairly and squarely on the desk of the Minister for Justice and Equality, who promised before the last election an independent commission of inquiry into the death of Fr. Molloy after everything else had been addressed. The cold case investigation has been concluded, the...

Seanad: Membership of Committees: Motion (19 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I was prepared to offer a compromise.

Seanad: Membership of Committees: Motion (19 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: It was brought to my attention that I have been nominated to the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. Whereas I am honoured at being nominated for membership of the joint committee, I was not aware of the circumstances as to how the vacancy arose. On that basis I am not prepared to take up that position.

Seanad: Membership of Committees: Motion (19 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I ask the Leader to have me formally removed from the committee. I fundamentally disagree with the bully boy tactics of removing Oireachtas Members from committees.

Seanad: Membership of Committees: Motion (19 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I disagree that Deputies and Senators are expected to park their conscience at the front door of Leinster House and act like robots for five years.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I call on the Leader to arrange a debate when we come back in September on the future of rural Ireland. Like many other Members, I am very concerned about its future because there is nothing happening there. We see economic activity in Dublin and the large cities, but there is nothing happening in the west. Anything west of the River Shannon is forgotten about. There is probably a need to...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (15 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I support my Senator colleagues regarding the mistruth being promulgated by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, on possible savings following the abolition of the Seanad. The accounts for this House show that it costs €8.8 million. When one accounts for tax, PRSI and the universal social charge, one arrives at a figure in the region of €4.4...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: Yesterday, I raised on the Adjournment the withdrawal by the Health Service Executive of discretionary medical cards from cancer patients. This is one of many serious issues in the health service. The main issue with the HSE, however, is its creation and the fact that it has turned into a complete waste of money, as acknowledged by everyone from the Minister down. I read in the newspapers...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (11 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I thank the Minister of State for the response, which contained everything I expected to be in it. I objected to all categories of people aged over 70 getting medical cards. The Minister of State might have been in government at the time. Previously, the guideline for a medical card for a person aged over 70 was equivalent to two old age pensions so, in effect, the Government was giving...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (11 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I am disappointed that the Minister for Health or one of the Ministers of State for Health is not taking this important issue but I appreciate they are in the Dáil on business and are unavailable. This issue relates to the changes in the eligibility criteria for medical cards which took place behind the scenes and of which I was not made aware. When I telephoned the PCRS I was told the...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I support my colleagues who have raised the withdrawal of discretionary medical cards for cancer patients. I have campaigned on the issue for years. When Ms Mary Harney was Minister for Health and Children I wrote to her explaining the unbelievable stress these people were undergoing and that we should grant them a medical card without a means test. What we are now proposing to do is a...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: ----- and will ask how rational people can make a judgment call at 5 a.m. It is all about how we do our business.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: There is considerable focus on how this Chamber does its business. We have not done that type of business. It is time the focus was on the Dáil and Dáil reform needs to be brought about.