Results 201-220 of 3,664 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes (3 Mar 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: To use a phrase used by a Minister who spoke recently in the Chamber, I am somewhat bemused by the Minister of State's response. Why should further progress on the Loughrea regional water supply scheme await finalisation of the new water services investment programme when the scheme has been included in every such programme since 2004? The Minister of State's colleague, Deputy Noel Ahern,...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Mar 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: Last week when Senator Coffey called for a debate on how we could develop the green economy, he mentioned the excellent document, Developing the Green Economy in Ireland, which was produced by a high level study group and published last November. It contains many excellent suggestions, on which we need an urgent debate in order that Members opposite can familiarise themselves with the...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes. (22 Apr 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I welcome the Minister of State. Despite the current economic downturn, Loughrea is a burgeoning and vibrant town which needs to have its water supply upgraded in terms of extraction and treatment works and the network that supplies water to the surrounding hinterland. Many communities in the hinterland of the town are in dire need of a satisfactory, clean and reliable public water supply....

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes. (22 Apr 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, for his reply. It is my understanding that Galway County Council is at an advanced stage of planning for this scheme, as indicated in its assessment of needs where it sets out that the timeframe for delivery is 2010. The council has submitted all documentation and information required by the Department. The officials in Galway County Council...

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Apr 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: Next week, this Government will levy a punitive and ill-conceived carbon tax on everyone in this country.

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Apr 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: In particular, it will levy this tax on the farming sector. In the way this tax has been conceived, those of us who put diesel in our cars will experience approximately a 4.4% increase or farmers who put diesel in their tractors will experience a 8.7% increase in their costs. On the day when the ESRI tells us our carbon emissions are reducing because of the recession, one wonders if the aim...

Seanad: Order of Business. (29 Apr 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: It is a warped, blinkered, ideologically driven approach rather than one grounded in the real facts and reflecting the real challenges the farming sector is facing today.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: "3.—The Minister shall within three months of the commencement of this Act, publish a report on the provision of secure care under this Act which shall include consideration of how such provision compares with best practice internationally.". I welcome the Minister of State. This amendment has been submitted...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I will withdraw it on the basis of the significant improvements in reporting mentioned by the Minister of State. I appreciate that he places great value on the experiences and suggestions of Ms Rafter and others on the issue of how we can improve child care. I refer, in particular, to the issues of secure care placements and special care. In that context, I wonder if it is possible for us...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: The American author, Ralph Ellison, once remarked, "If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to blind, imprison, and destroy." There was much discussion on this issue on Committee Stage, yet after a long and tortuous debate on both Second and Committee Stages, the Minister of State will still use the word "detained" in the legislation, even though it has...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I move amendment No. 25: In page 24, to delete lines 40 to 47 and in page 25, to delete lines 1 to 3. This amendment seeks to achieve a balance between the substantial powers vested in the Health Service Executive, HSE, by the legislation and the rights and needs of children in care. It is necessary to mention the subtitle of the recent HSE report, Putting Children First, and meaning it. If...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: Early in the Minister of State's contribution he said this section allowed the HSE not to consult with one of the persons mentioned in the list. It specifically says that all those people are excluded. It can seek not to consult with any of the people involved. If one is to take an holistic whole-child approach to rehabilitation, above all when a child is in secure care, should one not...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: The High Court can direct the HSE to consult if it is deemed necessary.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I second the amendment. Again, this amendment is about striving to achieve that very difficult balance and most importantly, putting children first, at the very heart of the legislation. Section 23ND confers considerable and wide-ranging powers upon the HSE once a child is in special care and gives it, as section 23ND(a) says, "control over the child as if it were a parent of that child"....

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I move amendment No. 39: In page 45, line 14, after "shall" to insert the following: "with the consent of either the child's parent or guardian, a person acting in loco parentis or the child's Guardian Ad Litem,". This is related to previous amendments. Section 23ND(2) allows the HSE to carry out a medical or psychiatric examination of or provide treatment for a child in special care without...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (6 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I second the amendment and support everything Senator White said. The general thrust of the legislation is to allow the HSE in many instances to act in loco parentis for a child who is in such a vulnerable and weak position that he or she must be taken into special care. One hopes the same love and care one would give to one's own children would be given by the HSE to these children. No...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I seek an urgent debate on the reprioritisation of the budgetary allocations. The most human reaction to an entity, be it a country, community or family, experiencing difficult economic circumstances is to protect the most vulnerable by building around them a shield to protect them from the biting winds of recession. However, we appear to have done the opposite. We are allowing those winds...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: Last night I met two parents of two young children, one a year and a half old and the other two years old, with severe disabilities and special needs. The two women concerned are doing the best they can for their children. They tell me that every support upon which they have been relying is slowly being taken from them, leaving them with nothing other than the support of family and friends...

Seanad: Order of Business. (13 May 2010)

Ciarán Cannon: I would like a debate on our vision for public transport in this country, and how it dovetails with our national spatial strategy, which is in urgent need of radical re-assessment. We have learned in the last few weeks that if credible and convenient public transport alternatives are provided, the people will change the habits of a lifetime. A statement yesterday on the Dublin bikes scheme...