Results 241-260 of 519 for speaker:Mary Ann O'Brien

Seanad: End-of-Life Care and Bereavement: Motion (16 Apr 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank Senators O'Donnell and Norris for tabling this motion. I am naturally going to focus on the sad story of end-of-life care for young children because I represent the Jack and Jill Foundation, which was set up in 1997 to provide specialist care to children with life-limiting conditions. It is a nationwide service serving the Twenty-six...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Apr 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I join my colleagues in condemning the desperate treatment afforded to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, by the cowards who delivered the package to his house. I express my personal and professional sympathy to the Minister. The Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, is definitely throwing the baby out with the bathwater with his White Paper on universal health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Coillte Teoranta: Chairman Designate (3 Apr 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I join all the other speakers in welcoming Mr. Moloney to the committee. It is so exciting for Coillte to have him on board. As Senator O'Neill pointed out, we can look at where he brought the dairy industry and Glanbia. There is no pressure. We cannot wait to see where he will take Coillte. I am sure when Mr. Moloney arrived in 2013 and looked at the financial figures, he saw that the...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Sinn Féin motion and the opportunity for us all to debate and discuss this rather serious subject. The London School of Economics, LSE, published a report in February. The LSE is an entirely independent body which has published several pro-wind-energy reports. This one examines 1 million property sales over a one-year period. The value of houses within 2 km of wind...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Mar 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Yesterday the Taoiseach very proudly opened the Irish world heritage centre in Manchester and spoke to TheIrish Post about it. The Government has allegedly already given upwards of £1 million to the centre and plans to give more. I ask the Leader to arrange a discussion with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on our education, archaeology, architecture, inland waterways,...

Seanad: Child Protection: Motion (5 Mar 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I salute Senator Jillian van Turnhout for her brilliance in introducing this all-party motion. I thank the Minister, Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell and all the previous speakers for their contributions to the debate. I could not agree more with them. The objectification of children is a disturbing subject and child beauty pageants objectify children. Childhood is the most precious time in...

Seanad: Action Plan for Jobs: Statements (5 Mar 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Minister and join others in congratulating him on the immense progress that has been made. As he observed, however, there is still an awfully long way to go and a brick-by-brick approach will be necessary. The Minister for Finance came before the House last evening and I asked him about capital gains tax, CGT. I am an entrepreneur and I often speak to young entrepreneurs....

Seanad: Economic Growth and Job Creation: Statements (4 Mar 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I am happy to share my time with Senator Catherine Noone.

Seanad: Economic Growth and Job Creation: Statements (4 Mar 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I too salute him for all he has done and the progress that has been achieved to date. I wish to raise the issue of capital gains tax, CGT. A company called Storyful sold for €16 million. It was a wonderful success story and very good for the Government because Storyful created 40 jobs. It paid €6 million in capital gains tax....

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Industry: Statements (19 Feb 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I found the speech by the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, of comfort but none is in the mood for such comfort because we all know the allegations against Bord na gCon are very serious. Matters such as the Limerick scandal and the misuse of taxpayer's money was consider by the Committee of Public Accounts. One of the reason I wish to address this matter is that Dr. Patrick Wall, who is...

Seanad: Greyhound Racing Industry: Statements (19 Feb 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: That is not good enough. Has an internal audit committee, such as those that are in place in the county councils, been put in place? The Minister of State has indicated that there is an internal audit committee. Why was that committee not waving a flag at the Minister to highlight that there was a debt of up to €30 million? If Bord na gCon was a registered charity, similar to Rehab...

Seanad: Political Reform: Motion (12 Feb 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: Some of our citizens, on behalf of whom we are here, think that Irish politics is reverting to its pre-2008 standards with the flight of the troika. I salute the reforms that the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, and the Leader have clearly and eloquently outlined but, as Senator Quinn pointed out, we have a long way to go. Our citizens are more disenchanted with politics than ever. They...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Bill 2013: Society of Irish Foresters (11 Feb 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I know very little about this area, apart from the knowledge I have gained through being on this committee for the past couple of years. It was envisaged that this Bill would make things easier for people who are in, or want to go into, this business. Deputy Ó Cuív is right to say that I have a business but I fail to see what role legislation plays in telling me that I must have a...

Seanad: Charities Sector: Statements (4 Feb 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Minister to the House this afternoon and thank Senator Ó Murchú for his kind words. I entered this House having had the experience of setting up a charity and the parallel experience of having a business. As the business grew, I understood that corporate governance was very important and necessary, although I have put on the record that it was a very boring, part of...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I wish to share my time with Senator Bradford and Senator Healy Eames.

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I wish to support my colleagues, Senators Zappone, Crown and Quinn. I am a Taoiseach’s nominee but I have no problem with what Senator D’Arcy suggested. One of the things that has affected me is getting to know my colleagues in the Seanad. As has been pointed out, this is another light week in the Seanad. We are closing early this evening. There is not a lot of legislation...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Dec 2013)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I join Senator Aideen Hayden today and Senators Rónán Mullen and Paul Coghlan yesterday in highlighting the serious issue that has arisen in terms of the media spotlight on the charities sector. None of us should assume that the issues that were identified are unique to the Central Remedial Clinic. It seems clear that if all the charities operating in Ireland were examined...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2013)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I second the views of the Members who have mentioned the use of the AV room. I cannot tell the House how strongly I feel about this issue. We have been through the referendum on the Seanad. One of the points made over and again was that we all want inclusiveness for our citizens. That is why we are here. What are we doing? We are going backwards, making our own little laws in here in...

Seanad: Report on Grocery Goods Sector: Motion (20 Nov 2013)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I will make a final point, after which I promise I will sit down. The dreadful horsemeat scandal occurred at the beginning of the year. Regardless of whether one likes my opinion, I could feel the pain. We will never get to the bottom of the situation. When retailers are under pressure to produce ever more cheaply, for example, when footfall demands the cheapest burgers, that pressure...

Seanad: Report on Grocery Goods Sector: Motion (20 Nov 2013)

Mary Ann O'Brien: I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming to the House to debate the report by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There is a very delicate balance in the supply chain between producers, processors, retailers and consumers. We are entering the big bad world of business, yet we are talking about our citizens who are paying tax, have voted us in and are...