Like Senator Hannigan, I welcome the announcement that agreement was reached last night in Croke Park on the international treaty banning the use of cluster munitions or cluster bombs. The central role played by Ireland in organising this conference and in pushing forward the issue must be acknowledged, as must the role the United Kingdom [...]

As I was not aware I was sharing time, I will have to pare back what I intended to say. It is difficult to make a meaningful contribution to a debate on the health services in four minutes. However, I will do my best. 

I welcome the opportunity to debate the Labour Party’s motion. It is [...]

 
I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity to approve the motion to extend for a further eight months the investigative period of theCommission to Inquire into Child Abuse. 

This debate is taking place because it is necessary under the Act for both Houses of the Oireachtas to approve the order to [...]

Will the Leader invite the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to the House to address the issue of planning enforcement? I raise this because there is a report in the national newspapers today on a case in County Wicklow involving an unauthorised development beside the N11. It has been unauthorised for many [...]

Green Party Senator and EU Affairs Spokesperson, Déirdre de Búrca has welcomed a strong result (1) in a recent vote by the European Parliament’s Environment Committee on proposals to include aviation in the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS):
 
“This vote demonstrates the EU Parliament’s determination to get tough with the aviation sector. It is [...]

Reacting to the European Parliament’s overwhelming support in favour of a Directive on criminal sanctions to protect the environment, Green Party Senator De Búrca and Spokesperson on European Affairs  said: 
 

“I welcome this first ever proposal for a European Directive on criminal sanctions, which establishes that serious environmental offences should be considered criminal in the European [...]

98th PLENARY SESSION 

Thank you, Chairman.  Chairman, I would like to welcome the Taoiseach to the Forum.  As the Taoiseach knows, we are now into the last few weeks of the campaign on the Lisbon Treaty and I know that he himself very strongly encouraged his party to become involved in the activities in terms of promoting the Treaty [...]

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate him on his promotion. It is not an enviable task. The “Prime Time Investigates” programme has concentrated much public attention on the Minister of State’s area of responsibility and that is the context in which this debate is taking place. It is always important not to respond [...]

Green Party Senator, Déirdre de Búrca has supported a resolution put forward by the European Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament calls for negotiations witha view to a global ban on depleted uranium weapons.
 
“The Greens/EFA resolution calls for negotiations leading to the establishment of an international treaty to globally ban all production, transfer and [...]