88TH PLENARY SESSION
Thank you, Chairman.  I would like to welcome Commissioner Wallström to the Forum and to thank her for her talk.  I think the title of her address today Giving more power to the people is very relevant and timely.  Because while in the debates about the Lisbon Treaty there is a recognition that there [...]

I see in this morning’s newspapers that the regulator for the pharmacy sector is considering ways of expanding the services provided by the pharmacy sector to include important primary care services such as screening for diabetes and other common disorders, managing long-term stable conditions and delaing with minor ailments in order that people do not [...]

I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome this opportunity to speak on this Private Members’ motion tabled by the Independent Senators not only because this issue deserves a good airing and debate but for the purposes of clarification. 

The Green Party supports the principle of equality through giving legal recognition to same sex [...]

Last week was an eventful one. The early part of last week saw Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche quoted as describing those who oppose the Lisbon Treaty as follows: “Eurosceptics, some from very shadowy backgrounds, some from the extremes of the left or the right in European politics, few who have been elected and [...]

In her speech on Private Members’ business in the Dáil on 12 February, the Minister acknowledged special needs education has undergone a transformation in the past ten years. Credit must be given to the Minister and her predecessors for putting in place the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 and providing extra [...]

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the House to discuss Ireland’s position on Kosovo’s declaration of independence, because this issue is causing much tension within the EU. The Irish Government has expressed its support for Kosovo’s independence. However, it is a complex because other newly formed states will also [...]

I agree with the remarks of Senator Quinn and express my regret at the comments attributed to the Taoiseach this morning in the national newspapers. He is reported to have said that those opposing the Lisbon treaty were on the ‘loonie left’, and made other comments to which Senator Quinn referred. I say this with [...]

I join with other Senators in highlighting the importance of this House facilitating a comprehensive debate on the Lisbon treaty. Like other Senators, I am a member of the European Affairs committee which is in the process of finalising the stages of a first report examining all aspects of the treaty and reflecting the views [...]

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, to the House. I congratulate her on her new portfolio and wish her well with it. I have no doubt she has various ideas on the way she would like that portfolio todevelop and change. Perhaps I could be so bold as to make some suggestions to [...]

I welcome this opportunity to make statements on the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights on the violent incidents arising from conflict in Northern Ireland.A good context in which to put this debate is the acknowledgement in the Good Friday Agreement that: “We must never forget those who [...]