Results 341-360 of 704 for speaker:John Kelly

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 also want to point out, as Senator Ó Clochartaigh stated, that I introduced a Bill in Private Members' time and brought the very important Bill Wind Turbines Bill 2012 through the Second Stage reading. It was meant to restore people's human right not to be forced to live beside massive wind turbines.

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...

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 also want to point out, as Senator Ó Clochartaigh stated, that I introduced a Bill in Private Members' time and brought the very important Bill Wind Turbines Bill 2012 through the Second Stage reading. It was meant to restore people's human right not to be forced to live beside massive wind turbines.

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: Order of Business (27 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I refer to the revelations relating to Anglo Irish Bank. Apart from the damage that was done to the country financially, we need to take into consideration the number of people who lost their homes, the number of people who committed suicide as a result of financial distress, the number of marriage break-ups and all the social issues caused by the actions of a number of these people. On...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: The Minister is welcome to the House. I support everything said by Senator Moloney. I know that most people who lost construction jobs as a result of the crash genuinely want to work and want to do anything it takes to get a job. I spoke to the Minister for Education and Skills in the House last week about a situation in my area where a young fellow who was on the dole for two years...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: We were all disgusted and flabbergasted by the revelations of what went on within Anglo Irish Bank. To a certain degree, I have sympathy for the previous Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, who was an honourable man, but it is clear that he and the Central Bank were being manipulated by the bankers. In light of all of that, and with the benefit of hindsight, we enacted into law a Personal...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Postcode Implementation (20 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister to the House. I wish to raise the issue of post codes, a matter I raised on the Order of Business some weeks ago. I understand Ireland is one of the last remaining countries in Europe that does not have post codes in place. The process of introducing post codes was initiated in 2006 and in 2009 the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon...

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

John Kelly: I welcome the Bill before the House and I compliment the Minister on many of the educational initiatives he has taken since coming to office. He has our full support. I was delighted to hear him state SOLAS will not be a rebranded FÁS. My understanding was that SOLAS would sit down with the former community welfare officer service and social welfare service, and work together to get...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I wish to raise an important issue, but, first, I support Senator Denis Landy's call on the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, on the issue of school transport. It is only right that an amnesty be given to those families who inadvertently picked a school that might be one metre further away than what was perceived to be their nearest...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I do. I have dealt with many cases in which the person applied for disability allowance and was refused. They sought a medical reassessment and were refused. They appealed and six months after appealing the decision their file was sent from Longford to the appeals office. When one asks when the appeal will be heard, the office cannot state whether it will be in three, six or 12 months....

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (18 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I have a question on redeployment. Apparently, the psychiatric nursing service has no HSE transfer policy even though there is only one organisation. How does redeployment apply where there is no transfer policy in place? People are trying to transfer from various parts of the country to other parts of the country. The policy is not in place so it cannot happen. If redeployment was in...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: Like Senator Crown, I raise the issue of the private health sector. I am concerned about what the Senator said because I changed my insurance over to GloHealth this year to save myself some money and it is a major concern for people who are changing insurance providers because they do not read the small print. I did not read the small print and was unaware of the issue Senator Crown raised....

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jun 2013)

John Kelly: I thank Senator Ó Domhnaill for highlighting my Wind Turbines Bill again. Everything he says is accurate in that any wind farm developer who wants to proceed with a wind farm will get the support of the county councils because it is Government policy, and that is the simple reality. Then it is down to An Bord Pleanála as people's last hope of overturning a decision. It is clear...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2013)

John Kelly: I wish to raise the issue of postcodes. Formal consideration of the introduction of postcodes began in 2005. In September 2009 the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Eamon Ryan, said postcodes would be introduced in 2011. It is now 2013 but nothing has happened. It is important that we improve the quality of delivery. More important, we need to facilitate...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Home Help Service Provision (29 May 2013)

John Kelly: In the reply I received from the HSE there is reference to what I call a cut but which the HSE refers to as a technical adjustment. The HSE is more or less saying that a mistake was made. However, I received figures from the HSE about the number of clients in receipt of home help in the first quarter of 2011 showing 51,735 people in receipt of home help hours.