Results 321-340 of 704 for speaker:John Kelly

Seanad: Business of Seanad (10 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I doubt that very much.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I second Senator Landy's proposal that we ask the Minister for Social Protection to attend the House and update Members on the final detail of the JobsPlus scheme because it can be highly beneficial to employers. I believe it can be a great success but we all need to know a little more about the final details. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Health to the House for a debate on...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: Like others, I welcome the JobsPlus initiative announced in recent days by the Ministers, Deputies Bruton and Burton. I championed this cause in this House and at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on numerous occasions. That was acknowledged by the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and by the Chairman of the committee today. Whereas self-praise is no praise, I point...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: That is an achievement for the Seanad.

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I also asked the Minister whether the JobsPlus plan has any negative impact on other incentives to employ people, such as the tax incentives and enterprise board employment grants. I am glad to say that it does not. It is a major boost particularly for employers in rural areas to have these packages to take these people off the live register. Again, I am delighted that that idea originated...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister. I also welcome the JobsPlus initiative. The Minister may recall that I suggested this initiative to him eight or nine months ago at this committee. I said it was pointless paying someone the full rate of social welfare to stay at home and do nothing when half of the payment could be given to an employer to take a person off the live register. The Minister did not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: -----but I have always argued this point and perhaps the Minister has warmed to it as a result of the good weather. I also raised it on numerous occasions with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, and I am glad to see that common sense has prevailed on this one. I am confident the initiative will work. I agree with Deputy Dara Calleary that we should be informing all of...

Seanad: Promoting a Sustainable Future for the Post Office Network: Statements (4 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister to the House. I have always been a strong supporter of the small rural post office. I have said on many occasions that every effort should be made to retain them. I have a historical vested interest in that my father grew up in a post office and my sister has continued as the post mistress in the same post office. I must inform the Minister that she is not making a...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: Some day soon.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I raise an important issue that has just come to my notice in regard to medical card assessments. The practice in the past was that if somebody had a house improvement loan it was allowable in the medical card guidelines. A person who had a car for going to work was allowed €50 for depreciation, etc. Since the beginning of April this facility has been withdrawn. I phoned the...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I, too, pay tribute to the tidy towns committee in Castlecoote on the great work it has done. It is a beautiful village. The committee has put Castlecoote and Roscommon on the map. Roscommon has always been the forgotten county when it comes to tourism, but many villages such as Keadue, Ballintober and Castlecoote have a great deal to offer tourists. Indeed, Senator Leyden is preparing to...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I have. It appears that if somebody cannot acquire the type of money required to satisfy the bank - in other words, if he or she has a debt of €150,000 and the most he or she can come up with is €90,000, and the bank realises it can get more by selling the person's home, it can sell the person's home. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Finance to intervene personally in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Home Care Provision: Discussion with Home and Community Care Ireland (2 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I asked about the €117 million in savings, which I do not understand. How are those savings being made?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Home Care Provision: Discussion with Home and Community Care Ireland (2 Jul 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome Mr. Bryan Meldrum and Mr. Ed Murphy. As with Deputy Peadar Tóibín, I have reservations about the privatisation of the home help service, purely because one could set one's own price if it were privatised. If there is privatisation, circumstances will change. I agree with Deputy Peadar Tóibín’s remarks on elderly people. I spent 28 years working with...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I thank the Senator. At a wind energy conference some time later, the Taoiseach declared to that large lobby group that he did not support my Bill. One man decided that he would not support it and that was the end of it. If this is how democracy works, I am at a loss. It is obvious that four people are running the country and that Deputies and Senators do not have a say.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: This nonsense about the abolition of the Seanad is a diversionary tactic to distract from the real issues. It fools people into believing that if we save €4.2 million, we will somehow rectify our economy. I am looking for that amount for a project in my town. The real issue is that we put €64 billion into the banks, which is 15,238 times the cost of running the Seanad. What...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: If the Taoiseach thought anything of us, he should have considered holding this referendum four and a half years into our term. We are trying to do the best we can. Let the people decide after they have seen more of our work. Seanad reform is necessary and the Whip system that is applied in the House must be lifted. I will support putting the referendum before the people, but I will...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, to the House. He has always been very accommodating of Members. I do not wish to personalise the debate on the abolition of the Seanad. I believe the Taoiseach has made this very personal. He has made it very personal to all of us because we are all hard-working Senators and take our role very seriously.

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: He has also made it personal to people in this House with certain expertise, something that one could not buy. The standard of debate and contributions by Members with expertise in this House has been excellent. If people listened to them they might realise it would be worthwhile to reform this House rather than abolish it. I also think the Taoiseach has made it very personal to his 11...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: The Taoiseach was in Glenties before the last election and he made it quite clear and gave categoric support for the retention and reform of Seanad Éireann. That is what we want. At the time, my party leader was riding high in the personality poles so the Taoiseach decided to go with this populist nonsense and advocate the abolition of the Seanad. That is not democracy. If that is...