Results 1-20 of 1,760 for speaker:Aideen Hayden

Seanad: Order of Business. (1 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I congratulate the Cathaoirleach and Senators Cummins and Bacik on their respective appointments. I also congratulate Senator Paul Coghlan on his appointment as the Fine Gael Party Whip. While I support Senator Moran's call for a debate on the issue of people with disabilities, I ask that the discussion be widened to include Ireland's failure to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: Like others, I welcome the Minister to the House. I also congratulate Senator Bacik, who championed the original legislation, the Female Genital Mutilation Bill 2010. I became aware of this issue when, as a student in University College Dublin, I read an account of an African UCD student. She wrote in a college magazine about how she had been pulled out of her bed at ten years of age, taken...

Seanad: Fourth Report of the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection: Statements (7 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I welcome the Minister and congratulate her on her appointment, which reflects the Government's commitment to child care and child protection issues. I also congratulate Mr. Shannon on his excellent and comprehensive report. As with his previous reports, the common denominator is children who are the most vulnerable in our society. I agree with the Minister that resources are an issue....

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (15 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Lucinda Creighton - and the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, who was here earlier - to the House. I welcome the Bill before us, which contains measures that will assist this country back to economic health. Although I accept the measures in this Bill will contribute to the nation's economic health and will get more of our people back to work, it...

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I move: "That Seanad Éireann: - notes with concern that by the end of 2010 over 200,000 homeowners were in negative equity; - notes that a minimum of 10% of households with mortgages are currently facing significant difficulties with repayments, and that this proportion is likely to increase; - notes the high cost in personal suffering to individuals and families caused by increasing levels...

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: Indeed. I am sure the distressed homeowners in Ireland are very interested in that.

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I am sure we will be joined in due course by our colleagues in the House.

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I note what the Acting Chairman is saying about the time for this debate. I will speed through it as quickly as I possibly can. Reports over the last number of weeks indicate that the difficulties faced by Irish homeowners are increasing at a rapid rate. By the end of 2010, more than 200,000 homeowners were in negative equity, with over 40% of homeowners holding a mortgage that was in...

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: To date, measures to assist Irish homeowners have been what I would term stopgap measures, which are accepted to have given temporary relief to homeowners. However, mortgage-related measures such as deferred interest repayments, interest-only periods and time extensions do not fundamentally alter the levels of debt in which people find themselves. The fact is that temporary relief will do...

Seanad: Housing Market: Motion (22 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I thank the Minister of State for his considered comments on the debate. I would also like to thank our Senate colleagues for the dignified and thoughtful manner in which they have conducted this debate. It indicates all that is right about the Senate. All the debate about reform and about the Senate being a place where we can air ideas which will excite society can indicate that this...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I will be brief. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, to attend the House for a genuine debate on competitiveness. I am surprised by the statements made by one of our colleagues. When reference is made to competitiveness in the economy the speaker always has in mind taking more from already low paid workers. To listen to some...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (23 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I am sharing time with Senator Cummins, in the true spirit of coalition.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (23 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I would also like to welcome the Minister to the House. It is a great pleasure for us in the Labour Party to see her sitting before us for such an important Bill. The Minister has championed this Bill on all Stages and she is very committed to the measures in it. I welcome wholeheartedly the restoration of the minimum wage. It is true that more equal societies are actually more...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (23 Jun 2011)

Aideen Hayden: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Unfinished Housing Developments: Statements (13 Jul 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, to the House and I particularly welcome the discussion we are having on unfinished estates. I agree with my colleagues that ghost estates are the most visible scars in the country today of the excesses of the Celtic tiger. We cannot ignore the plight of those who are suffering in these estates and we cannot kick the can forward. The Minister...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I welcome the Minister to the House and support the legislation. Having been before the Houses since 2009, I am pleased the Bill is being brought to a conclusion. In common with other speakers, I acknowledge the issue of after care. Arising from my professional background as a solicitor and role as chair of the Threshold housing organisation, the issues of children in care and children...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2011: Motion to Recommit (20 Jul 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I move: That Seanad Éireann, pursuant to Standing Order 126 of the Standing Orders Relative to Public Business, directs that the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2011 in whole be recommitted to a Committee of the whole House. Question put and agreed to.

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Jul 2011)

Aideen Hayden: I join others in expressing my deep sympathy to the parents of the Norwegian children who died in such tragic circumstances in recent days. The idea that a gunman can walk up to a child on the beach and shoot him or her at point blank range is horrific to any right-thinking person. Various newspaper reports have indicated that it took the Norwegian authorities up to 90 minutes to launch a...

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Jul 2011)

Aideen Hayden: It would be beneficial if the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, were to clarify for the House the new measures relating to the allocation of social housing.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2011: Second Stage. (26 Jul 2011)

Aideen Hayden: Senators Bradford, O'Donovan and Bacik stated how a question mark hangs over the enforcement of a body of existing law in this area, a point the Minister must consider. The public would be forgiven for believing that white-collar criminals act with impunity. To date, not one banker, developer or member of any golden circle is behind bars experiencing the delights of slopping out in Mountjoy...