Results 1-20 of 1,934 for speaker:Tom Shehan

Seanad: Appropriation Bill 2015: Second and Subsequent Stages (15 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Effectively, the Appropriation Bill is an accounting exercise to balance the books and ensure that there is capital in place for issues or emergencies that may arise. The Comptroller and Auditor General has sought this and nobody wants to see Ministers go cap in hand. From my point of view, it is purely an accounting exercise. It is essential...

Seanad: Appropriation Bill 2015: Motion for Earlier Signature (15 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: I move:That pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Appropriation Bill 2015 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to him.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: In the run-up to Christmas, when people are financially stretched and stressed, I reiterate that they should not go to loan sharks. I do not refer only to illegal loan sharks but also to those who advertise everyday. I love the small print at the bottom of their advertisements to the effect that they are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. They absolutely pulverise the people who...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Order for Second Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: I move: "That Second Stage be taken today."

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. One has to look positively on the Bill and the provisions outlined by him. The LPT reliefs for houses damaged and undermined by pyrite and for houses in which people with disabilities reside are a humane, honest and up-front way of dealing with these issues. One must also welcome the certainty that there will be no increase in the LPT before...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: Could the Minister of State shine a light on this for us or take it up with the relevant officials?

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: Not under this Chair.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: Of course, Senator Darragh O'Brien has two ponies.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: If Fianna Fáil is going in with Sinn Féin, it will have to get rid of it anyway.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: Now.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: That is because Fianna Fáil robbed the pension fund.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: The Senator's party took the prize bit of it. The Senator is getting mixed up.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Dec 2015)

Tom Shehan: I welcome the Minister to the House. I am substituting today for my colleague, Senator D'Arcy. There are a few points in the Finance Bill I wish to address. I have spoken to the Minister about these matters prior to the budget. No more than my colleague on the other side of the House, Senator White, and others, I have hobby horses. I recall how long it took the Minister to deliver the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Autism Awareness (26 Nov 2015)

Tom Shehan: I welcome my fellow county man, the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, to the Seanad. I raise the need for the Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for primary care, social care, disabilities and older people, and mental health to introduce Ireland's first ever national autism awareness week from 1 April to 8 April 2016 and to have Ireland's first...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Autism Awareness (26 Nov 2015)

Tom Shehan: I thank Deputy Deenihan for his reply on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I am quite disappointed that she does not feel there is a need to introduce a specific national autism awareness week. Why is that the case? We want to highlight autism and it would be of no cost to the State or Department. I believe strongly that we should have a...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Motion for Earlier Signature (26 Nov 2015)

Tom Shehan: I move:"That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to him."

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Second Stage (24 Nov 2015)

Tom Shehan: I welcome the Minister to the House. He is a frequent visitor and is the one Minister who will always provide great clarity. I will turn first to the Haddington Road agreement. Fine Gael believes that the Lansdowne Road agreement strikes an appropriate balance between the legitimate aspirations of public servants for pay recovery while ensuring sufficient resources for tax cuts for all...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Second Stage (24 Nov 2015)

Tom Shehan: On Thursday, 26 November.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Services for People with Disabilities (5 Nov 2015)

Tom Shehan: I welcome the Minister of State. When the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition took office in 2011, we all knew the state of the State's accounts and that austerity was ahead. At the time, I appealed to the Government to maintain compassion at all costs. I have previously raised the issue of the provision of primary medical certificates to people with Down's syndrome, and I recognised that it...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Services for People with Disabilities (5 Nov 2015)

Tom Shehan: I thank the Minister of State for delivering the response. As she said, this is only the beginning. The ball has only been thrown in by me here today now. I see no reason that the qualifying criteria cannot be expanded to encapsulate and include Down's syndrome. I know people in each category of the qualifying criteria who have driving licences and can drive. People with Down's syndrome...