Results 1-20 of 1,637 for speaker:Labhrás Ó Murchú

Seanad: Appropriation Bill 2015: Second and Subsequent Stages (15 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I compliment him on doing a fine job. Every time we have emergency situations he is certainly doing a good job. The big debates in this House over recent months were on issues such as health, law and order, legislation on burglaries, home care for the elderly and child care. Those are the big issues. We all appreciate that the books must be...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill 2015: Second Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The review by the Department of the criminal justice system, as a result of the recent spate of burglaries, is very important, as is the legislation before us. I do not have to remind the House that people in rural Ireland are absolutely terrified at the moment. This is evident from the fact that public meetings that have been held on this issue...

Seanad: Gradam an Uachtaráin Bill 2015: Second Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Cuireann sé an-áthas orm aontú leis an mBille seo agus molaim go hard an Seanadóir Feargal Quinn. Tá sé thar a bheith soiléir go bhfuil machnamh domhain déanta aige air. Mar duine a bhfuil clú agus cáil air cheana féin, tuigeann sé go maith díreach cad tá i gceist anseo. Tá seans againn anois sa tSeanad agus...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: For many people, Christmas is a time of celebration and goodwill. For people of the Christian faith, it is the most significant event on the religious calendar. However, there are many thousands of individuals who will not benefit from this celebratory mood. I am thinking, for example, of those who have no homes, those who are facing eviction, families that trying to make ends meet on a...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Not just homelessness, but the charitable organisations, the work that they do for the deprived people in society and how we might respond to them and their needs.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I thank the Leader for his positive response.

Seanad: Charities and Voluntary Organisations: Statements (8 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I thank the Leader for facilitating this debate. I was taken by surprise when I suggested it be included on the Order of Business and the Leader very graciously allocated us the time for it this evening. The point I was making on the Order of Business was that Christmas, as we all know, is a time of celebration and goodwill for most people but that there are many people who will not benefit...

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I imagine that one of the surest ways of improving integration is work. People would then be in touch with the community on a day-to-day basis and, in a work situation they would become aware of many other issues and would feel part of their adopted communities. It is vital that the issue be at the top of the priority list. I take the points made by others as well. The whole question of...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: We have to look at the history to date of appointments to the role of chairperson. My belief is that it has not been bad generally. Therefore, it is important to start from that premise. It does not take away at all from the merits of the amendment, which is obviously promoted in the context of democracy rather than good governance. I do not mean that in any way as being a slight on the...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I agree with the sentiments of Senator Ó Clochartaigh. It has been a very valuable exercise, both on Committee Stage and here. I was particularly pleased about the passion in the previous debates, showing that people were very committed to the whole concept of cultural institutions, art and so on. Very often we seem to think that is not central to our remit here and that it belongs to...

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: Second Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank her for bringing forward legislation here this evening. At the beginning, if I would make one appeal on this legislation it would be that when we come to Committee Stage we might approach it in a flexible way because it is a complex issue which to some extent is changing day by day. As we watched the television pictures in recent times of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Dec 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I am glad to have the opportunity to touch on an item on which I believe we should clarify our standing. We should be proactive in our position on global terrorism, as evident from some of the contributions in the Seanad each time there is an atrocity underpinned by the type of depravity seen in Paris. We should not feel that we are outside the loop in terms of responsibility. I recall a...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I compliment the Minister of State on her decision not to oppose this Bill. It sends the right message to the public. Intentionally or otherwise, the Taoiseach may have done this House a favour by holding a referendum on the abolition of the Seanad. Until then, we were depending largely on guesswork and innuendo as to the public attitude to the Upper House. By allowing citizens to decide...

Seanad: Services for People with Asthma: Motion (18 Nov 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I compliment the Senators who tabled this motion. It is clear from the statistics and from our own personal experience of people who have asthma that very often it seems to be below the radar. If we get a common cold, we can feel very sorry for ourselves but we know it will pass very quickly. One has to stop and think why people who suffer from asthma all the time feel they are not being...

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Nov 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I am glad we have the opportunity to discuss the Bill. The Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, of which I am fortunate to be a member, and the pre-legislative debate gave us an opportunity to understand precisely how the Bill would help the National Concert Hall. We had a number of public hearings which allowed us to meet and discuss...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Oct 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: Will the Acting Leader arrange an urgent debate on the persecution of Christians worldwide which has reached genocidal proportions? Thousands of Christians have been exterminated due to their beliefs and hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes. In parts of the Middle East and Africa, an ethnic cleansing campaign is taking place. Surprisingly, the UN has been most inactive...

Seanad: United Nations Principles for Older Persons: Motion (21 Oct 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I, too, would like to compliment the Senators who tabled this motion. We all agree that this is not a debate about charity but a debate about our obligation as a people to those who built up our country, worked, paid their taxes and reared their families. Sometimes the wrong perception goes out because at times we seem not to value the worth of people because they have reached a certain...

Seanad: United Nations Principles for Older Persons: Motion (21 Oct 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I hope that this is just the first debate that we will have here. It would be well worthwhile if we could come back in the near future and have a further discussion because this subject is important. The people concerned are assets to this country, so we need to look after them and fulfil our obligations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Socio-Economic Contributions of Music in Ireland: Irish Music Rights Organisation (6 Oct 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: I welcome the representatives from IMRO. I am delighted they have come before the committee because there is no doubt music is one of the most important industries we have at present. In the context of tourism, it is huge. One need only read the various surveys carried out over the years, in which people were asked what they did while they were in Ireland, to discover that the vast...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Socio-Economic Contributions of Music in Ireland: Irish Music Rights Organisation (6 Oct 2015)

Labhrás Ó Murchú: The committee might be interested in the statistic that 1.1 million people watched the fleadh cheoil on television.