Results 161-180 of 704 for speaker:John Kelly

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2014)

John Kelly: On the beef crisis, it is vital that action be taken to alleviate the problems faced by small farmers. The small farmers in Roscommon are on their knees and ministerial intervention will be required to solve the problem. I welcome what is due to happen over the next few days and I hope it yields results.

Seanad: Health Services: Statements (4 Nov 2014)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister to the House. I agree with Senator Crown's contribution on Roscommon County Hospital and the good name of Dr. Pat McHugh. I agree with his words on the Naughton family from Roscommon who have three children with multiple dystrophy. It appears that the Department of Health is doing nothing to assist them. The family are out fund-raising to save the lives of their...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2014)

John Kelly: My colleagues, Senators Landy and Whelan, and I have been fighting with EirGrid over recent years regarding the Grid25 project. As a result, we have brought about an independent group which was set up to investigate the possibility of putting cables underground. Alongside that, we always said there was a need to debate whether this project was necessary. Colm McCarthy has agreed and said...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2014)

John Kelly: I call for debate on the way we do business. We are doing nothing to help the people in this country to access the public service. We established the HSE to replace what I considered to be a working health board system. It has been a disaster. We established Irish Water to replace the operation of the water system by county councils. They did a good job, but investment in the system when...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I concur with Senator Keane in respect of the withdrawal of funding from the Irish Deaf Society. I have no doubt that it will be dealt with in the very near future. I wish to raise the issue of discretionary medical cards that the Taoiseach announced would be restored to people from whom they were withdrawn. From what I can see so far, thousands of those medical cards have not been...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I wish to again raise the issue of wind energy and wind farm developments. I see in today's edition of the Irish Independentthat there are proposals to put up 46 wind turbines, each of which is 165 m high, in County Meath. I see the way that Element Power does its business. Instead of community engagement, it goes to the GAA and offers the clubs of County Meath €375,000 to buy them...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I will be at a wedding.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I support Senator Ó Clochartaigh on the cut in funding for the National Deaf Society. It would be a good idea for the Leader to invite the Minister to attend the House for a debate on that matter. Many of these decisions on cuts are just handled by civil servants and then handed to Ministers who follow suit. On many occasions, however, I do not think the cuts are a good idea at all....

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I have a question for the Leader, which I want to explain. Some 98% or 99% of credit unions were fully compliant during the Celtic tiger era. They have €10 billion in deposits. Approximately ten credit unions in this country lost the run of themselves. We need a credit union movement which provides full banking services. We should also allow credit unions to lend to small...

Seanad: Environmental Protection Agency: Motion (9 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister to the House. I compliment my colleagues, Senators Landy and Whelan on bringing up this issue. It is very important and in some of the cases cited the issues are very serious. It is quite amazing that the EPA does not seem to have the power to insist on higher standards for the protection of people’s health. The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA...

Seanad: Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (9 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I welcome the Minister and the legislation. I compliment the Minister on the way he addressed this issue in a very clear and concise way. This legislation is about reform of the way we deal with employment permits and makes it more focused on our ever increasing needs and demands. I will not go into the same level of detail as the Minister but we had four work permits, which will be...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: The blame game with regard to the cancellation of the Garth Brooks concerts continues but over the past week, all I heard with regard to the residents around Croke Park was a single word, around which I could not really get my head, namely, "lockdown". I was told it was quite serious and was led to believe that people around that area could not go out and buy a loaf of bread for five days....

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: Should one build a stadium that has planning permission to host concerts, the problem could then be solved and facilitated. Yesterday, I mentioned to a colleague that this is something Members should debate in this House. Were a stadium in place for which one was not obliged to seek a licence and that came with planning permission to host concerts, no matter how many, one could breathe life...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on this issue at some time after the Seanad returns in September, because this kind of debacle, whereby residents have stopped €50 million from coming into the city of Dublin, is outrageous.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: To follow on from Senator Denis O'Donovan's contribution, I know of a case in which an Iraqi-born national who has lived in Saudi Arabia since he was five years of age is trying to do business with a Galway-based company that manufactures affordable housing units, some 65,000 of which are required in Saudi Arabia. The Department of Justice and Equality is refusing this man a visa to come to...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2014: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: Having read the explanatory memorandum, there are a few suggestions I would like to make. Giving the Department of Social Protection more powers to recover overpayments is a good idea, but I have seen situations during the years where the overpayment has not been the person's fault. I know of a case involving a couple who came home from Cyprus to look after a elderly person. They have...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2014: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: Let me make just one point.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2014: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: The couple in question declared everything, but one year later they were told there had been an overpayment. If the Department had taken on board what the couple had declared, they would not have received a payment. I do not think we should give the Department too much power to take money from people where it is its mistake in the first place.

Seanad: Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage (1 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: Can they transfer from RAS to HAP?

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage (1 Jul 2014)

John Kelly: Can they transfer from RAS to HAP?