Results 81-100 of 519 for speaker:Mary Ann O'Brien

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank the Minister and his officials for all the obvious work and for acknowledging our amendments and fears. I support what Senator Quinn stated. As an employer, I found the Bill difficult and technically very different. I am thinking if that is how it is for me in here, what will it be like for other employers, employees and agency workers who will have to grapple with it? With all of...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I draw the House's attention to new plans unveiled yesterday by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government that drew little or no attention from the media. I send a note of caution to Government officials to the effect that, while chasing big business and investment is important, it must not be done to the detriment of small local businesses. Under the Department's new...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I draw the House's attention to a statistic from the RGDATA report by Mr. Jim Power, which was published in November 2011. I thank the Cathaoirleach for bearing with me. Were the UK multiplier effect applied to the Irish situation, the report reads: An extra €100 euro spent in a locally owned would result in an injection of €250 into the local economy. The same €100 spent in a large...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Yes. This statistic highlights the value of the local economy to Irish society. At the Leader's convenience, will he arrange for a debate during the coming weeks on the value of the local economy? Let us forget the word "globalisation" and think of "localisation" with a view to enhancing Government strategy in an effort to create jobs.

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Second Stage (3 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to the House and congratulate him and his officials on the introduction of this detailed Bill, which updates existing legislation. It is long overdue. We are all aware that we are in a space where thankfully commercial agribusiness has become central to our growth and survival. It is an area of great hope for our future. While the balance achieved by...

Seanad: Review of White Paper on Irish Aid: Statements, Questions and Answers (9 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I would like to pick up on what Senator Feargal Quinn said about looking at Irish Aid from a business or value for money perspective. Have the Minister of State and his team considered the possibility of bringing all Irish Aid organisations under a single umbrella? I am aware of the existence of Dóchas. We need to imagine what Irish...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I want to comment on and ask about rehiring retired workers in the public sector. Late last year we made great play of the announcement that we were seeking the early retirement of 6,000 or 7,000 of our public sector workers, and that happened. The scheme was not targeted at areas of the public sector where there is fat or excess, which meant that specialised fields were left open to sudden...

Seanad: National Lottery: Motion (23 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I wish I did not have to second the motion and follow such a beautiful speaker.

Seanad: National Lottery: Motion (23 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Yes. I second the motion. All I have to say in respect of Senator O'Donnell's contribution is "Follow that". I thank the Senator for the work she has done in bringing this motion before the House. I welcome the Minister and I hope he will be in a position to address our concerns in respect of the proposed sale of the national lottery. When times are tough it is all too simple for...

Seanad: National Lottery: Motion (23 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: -----local golf courses, sports clubs, schools, etc. If members of the public were asked to name a project of national or international importance funded by the national lottery, they would be unable to identify one. There is no equivalent to Sydney Opera House-----

Seanad: National Lottery: Motion (23 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank the Minister for that and I accept that Wexford Opera House was constructed using lottery funding. The finest and closest example of how to run a lottery is in the UK, where profits are paid into designated trusts and thereby protected from political interference. Unfortunately, that is not the position in Ireland. More often than not, the organisations that regularly receive...

Seanad: National Lottery: Motion (23 May 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Governance is all about the art of making choices. I firmly believe that there is never a situation in which there are only two choices. It is for this reason that I would like the Minister to give further considerations to the options available in respect of raising money in order to discover whether there are any which will not have as negative an impact in the overall context as selling...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I call on the Leader to lobby the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to publish the Laurence Crowley value for money report and policy review of the HSE's disability services as a matter of urgency. If we cast our minds back to last January, when I introduced a Private Members' motion in the House that highlighted the glaring flaws in disability spending,...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House for this debate. During the 20 minutes I had to prepare for this debate, I researched the basis for the establishment of the Government's constitutional convention. I was interested to read that the Government proposes to establish the convention "by Resolutions of both Houses of the Oireachtas", which will "provide for the Convention to...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Did he do so on the basis of his experience over the years? I am not quite-----

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Was it a fleeting moment in Citywest? When the Taoiseach nominated me to this position, I told him I had heard him say that he intended to abolish the Seanad. He said he had that in his mind. I do not think for a moment that the Taoiseach, being the man I know he is, would not sit down and discuss the wheres, the whats and the whys. We are running a giant company here. Things have...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: -----but who cares whether it is seven or five years? With regard to a voting age of 18 or 17 years of age, I do not mind but 17 years sounds better. The Seanad versus the Dáil argument or the Seanad's abolition is serious and needs to be discussed. It is the lifeblood of every citizen in the country that we are talking about. I also want to put a question to the Leader that we can...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank the Senators. If we have two chambers and we reform, how many Deputies will be in the Dáil and how many Senators will be in the Seanad? As we know, it is not just the Seanad that needs to be discussed. There is much to be discussed here. A lot has gone wrong and we have huge challenges ahead so we all know that the problem is greater than the reform of the Seanad. It is not...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Over 50 Senators voted today but where are they? What is more important than this afternoon's debate? Where is everybody, Minister?

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Is that true?