I welcome the opportunity to debate this Bill. Senator Boyle has already spoken about the prison at Thornton Hall in the Seanad several weeks ago. He made it clear that the Green Party has qualms about the location of this prison. We accept a decision has been made and we are prepared to live with [...]
I welcome the opportunity to make a statement on older persons. This is a key issue for the Government because it is important that we start planning for aging in Ireland and ensure that we make it a positive experience. There is none of us here who will not experience the aging process and it is important [...]
I participated in the Dublin Pride parade in Dublin on Saturday. It was a very enjoyable experience and very good humoured, but there were several references to the hope that the civil partnership Bill would be introduced as soon as possible.
Members had a good debate in recent months on the Civil Partnership Bill and there [...]
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, to the House. Like the rest of us he is probably trying to digest the verdict of the Irish people on the Lisbon treaty, which we became aware of last Friday. There is an opportunity to define what is the problem. Given this unpredicted result, I have [...]
– EU institutions cannot have authority without popular consent says Green Party Europe spokesperson
In today’s Seanad debate on the Lisbon Treaty, Green Party Spokesperson for European Affairs, Senator Déirdre de Búrca called for urgent action by the European Union to address the issue of the democratic deficit and the levels of disengagement by citizens [...]
I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am glad of this opportunity to debate the charter of fundamental rights that is attached to the Lisbon treaty by means of a protocol. The treaty sets out to bring the EU and its institutions closer to citizens, as well as making itself more relevant [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done to date in promoting the Lisbon treaty. This needs to be a priority for all of us. The new Cabinet will be announced today and we should all focus on putting all the very positive aspects of the Lisbon treaty to the public because there [...]
