Results 121-140 of 228 for speaker:Déirdre de Búrca

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the fact that the outgoing Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, will address the House tomorrow on the issue of the Lisbon treaty. We frequently have debates here about the relevance of the Seanad and we question how we can get the media to take more seriously the business of the House. I suggest that if the Taoiseach of the day were to address the House on a more regular basis, it...

Seanad: Pharmacy Services (22 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: Will the Minister of State clarify what contingency plans the Health Service Executive has in place should pharmacists withdraw from dispensing as part of the community drug scheme, as they have threatened to do from 1 May? I know this issue was raised with the Minister during the previous debate on patient safety, which was appropriate, and during her response the Minister made several...

Seanad: Pharmacy Services (22 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I thank the Minister of State for her response, although I did not find it very satisfactory. I deliberately avoided getting into the substance of the pharmacists' dispute with the HSE and focused very much on the contingency plans. Only one paragraph in the response dealt with that and it did not provide much information. I suppose it made me aware that the HSE has a national contingency...

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (22 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: It is an independent authority established to drive improvements in the quality, safety and accountability in this country's health and social care services. The authority's priorities include establishing a standards framework for health and social care, implementing a comprehensive programme of monitoring, measurement and, where necessary, enforcement, against the standards, as well as...

Seanad: Patient Safety: Statements (22 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank her for addressing the issue of patient safety. There is little disagreement in the House that patient safety must be the top priority for all our health care systems. The importance of the issue of patient safety was recognised in the current programme for Government in which the Government is committed to initiate a periodic review of...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I draw the attention of the House to the fact that today, 22 April, is Earth Day, a day that is marked internationally. The purpose of the day is to promote greater awareness of some of the threats that face our earth, the greatest of which is climate change. I congratulate the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, on the series of advertisements...

Seanad: Death of Former President: Expressions of Sympathy (15 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: On behalf of the Green Party I wish to pay our respects to the family of former President Patrick Hillery, and to pay tribute to Dr. Hillery himself, who was a very fine Irish statesman and a committed public servant. Perhaps the most outstanding tribute one can pay to a former eminent public representative such as Dr. Hillery, who held so many positions of importance, including TD for...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Second Stage (9 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the Minister of State and the opportunity to comment on the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006. As Senator Alex White said, the Bill contains amendments to 30 pieces of legislation. The changes are mostly to non-criminal areas of law. There are many small but important changes and I will refer to some. I refer to the creation of the office of the legal ombudsman....

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Second Stage (9 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I hope the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and other relevant Departments will consider this matter soon. As stated by other Senators, section 67 waives the contribution payable for legal aid and allows the Legal Aid Board much more discretion. The Green Party's understanding of this is that it will improve conditions for those eligible for legal aid. I am disturbed to hear...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I congratulate Deputy Brian Cowen on his election as leader designate of the Fianna Fáil Party and wish him luck in his new role. By taking up this new role, it will mean he will appoint a new Minister for Finance. When the new Minister for Finance is appointed, will the Leader invite that person to the House? The Department of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and...

Seanad: Lisbon Reform Treaty: Statements (Resumed). (8 Apr 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the Minister of State to the Seanad and thank him for his very interesting presentation on the Lisbon treaty. He came to the House on the same day as the President of the European Parliament who addressed us here and touched on the Lisbon treaty in his presentation, which we were fortunate to hear. I welcome that the President of the European Parliament addressed the Upper House...

Seanad: Sustainable Residential Development: Motion (19 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Gormley, to the House. I also welcome the publication of the draft planning guidelines on sustainable residential development in urban area and the accompanying best practice urban design manual. It is fortunate that every time the Minister comes into the House it is with a good news story. I congratulate him for grasping the challenges that faced him in his...

Seanad: Home Births (13 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The matter I am raising on the Adjournment concerns the future of the domiciliary birth service, which is more commonly known as the home birth service, in this country and, in particular, the immediate threat that indemnity cover will be removed for independent midwives who really provide the home birth service to women who choose to birth their...

Seanad: Home Births (13 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: While I thank the Minister of State for the response, only the question regarding indemnity cover for domiciliary births was answered. I also asked the Minister to outline her vision for the future development of the service and I am afraid nothing in the response gave me any hope for the future of the service other than the hope that a system will be put in place to extend indemnity cover....

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has been in the House to debate the Immigration Residence and Protection Bill and is determined to produce legislation that reflects best international practice in the area. The Bill integrates our ad hoc refugee and immigration legislation, which is a worthwhile exercise. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: It also makes useful recommendations to the effect that there should be no deportations while judicial reviews are under way and about separated children. We want to make sure this legislation reflects best possible practice. Will the Leader raise these issues with the Minister so that when he is next before the House we can discuss them directly with him?

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Agency Workers) (12 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am pleased to have an opportunity to discuss this Labour Party Bill which attempts to highlight an important issue that requires Government attention. Temporary agency work has been the most rapidly growing form of atypical work in the EU over the past 20 years. The use of temporary agency workers has increased fivefold in Denmark, Italy,...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Agency Workers) (12 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: ——to progress the negotiations at EU level and to support an EU-wide directive to protect these workers.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I wish to express my concern that Dublin Port Tunnel was closed again yesterday for several hours owing to problems which arose, causing major traffic congestion in the city centre. This is not the first time it has happened. There have been a number of incidents in the past couple of months which have caused the closure of the tunnel. Yesterday the tyre of a heavy goods vehicle travelling...

Seanad: Electoral Commission: Motion (5 Mar 2008)

Déirdre de Búrca: I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, to the House. I also welcome this opportunity to discuss the establishment of an independent electoral commission which, as Senator Boyle stated, forms part of the programme for Government. The Green Party was active in negotiating its place in the programme for Government. It is important to...