Results 81-100 of 152 for going forward speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Commission of Investigation relating to disclosures by members of An Garda Síochána: Statements (9 Feb 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...McCabe came before the Committee of Public Accounts. At the time, the controversy in question arose in respect of the penalty points system. Members will recall that Sergeant McCabe stepped forward in an unprecedented way, came before the committee and gave evidence. That evidence was contested. It was certainly my impression, as a member of the then committee, that the system had no...

Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: This afternoon, we will debate the establishment of a commission of investigation into whistleblower allegations that go to the heart of Garda administration. I welcome that. It is long overdue. The protected disclosures that are the subject of the commission outline an alleged orchestrated campaign by some in senior Garda management positions to undermine Sergeant Maurice McCabe. Those...

Establishment of Commission of Investigation into the Stardust Tragedy: Motion [Private Members] (25 Jan 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I acknowledge the presence of the families who are here in the Visitors Gallery and commend their work. I also commend our colleague, Deputy Broughan, for bringing this motion forward. It is straightforward in seeking a commission of investigation. No parent expects to bury a child. It goes against the natural order of things, yet these families faced that reality and have lived with...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...that it had not notified the decision to its advisers that brought the deal and was still working that through. It was sensible to have a joint view, it said, and asked how to approach the issue going forward. At that point, Ms O'Reilly, Mr. Stewart's boss, states that there were no reporting obligations for NAMA in respect of its advisers and no need to take positive action. She goes...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...charge which will only escalate. There is nothing for the squeezed middle in respect of student registration fees or apprenticeship fees. The Fianna Fáil benches correctly criticised the last Government for its U-turn on and betrayal of third level students and their families. It seems to have conveniently forgotten all of that. Student registration fees of €3,000 are a...

Mental Health Services: Motion [Private Members] (5 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...many of its recommendations are still to be implemented; - the crisis in our mental health service has been exacerbated by the failure to implement A Vision for Changein full; - the current Programme for Government provides no significant detail on plans for the implementation of the reforms laid down in A Vision for Change; and - there remains no state-wide 24/7 crisis intervention...

Leaders' Questions (5 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Here we go again - another week and another controversy surrounding the Garda Commissioner and the treatment of Garda whistleblowers. The protected disclosures made by two senior gardaí to the Department of Justice and Equality during the past week outline an orchestrated campaign by some in senior Garda management positions to undermine whistleblowers. They include the distribution of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Banking Sector and Central Bank of Ireland: Discussion (26 Jan 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Here is the problem, Governor. An issue arose; it had to be independently adjudicated on - we absolutely agree on that - but it was adjudicated on by a firm that was subsequently used by the Central Bank to address the issues in the audit report. I have no doubt that the same firm does a myriad of other work for the bank. That gives rise to a question regarding the capacity to really...

Hospital Emergency Departments: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (14 Jan 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...of health service we want and how we can get to a universal system of health care that is free at the point of delivery. That needs to be at the core of the next general election. If members of Government and, perhaps, others go out and engage in auction politics, promising to decimate the tax base, they then need to explain how we will arrive at that universal health service - how we...

1916 Quarter Development Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (15 Dec 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is true but this seems to have been set aside and abandoned. The essential point is that however we go about it, we should define the national monument beyond an isolated number of houses in the terrace to encompass the whole area, including the laneways of history. We should truly preserve what is a very historic site. The Minister of State remarked that the Moore Street area is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of a Public Sector Standards Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...whistleblowers would penalise vexatious or malicious endeavours, just as it does here. If not, it would be a recipe for bounty hunting. The advice to look to international best practice is very good and we should follow it. In many instances, whistleblowers turned to Members of the Oireachtas because they felt there was nowhere else to go because the culture within which they operated...

Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 Oct 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...a new primary school was promised to St. Laurence O'Toole school on Sheriff Street but that never materialised. That was a cause of considerable local anger and although various plans were put forward, the long and short of it is that it did not happen. Other primary school facilities in the docklands area and up to East Wall have gained in some small measure from the largesse,...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...eye on the clock, Cathaoirleach. The well managed competitive process involved the first preferred bidder, PIMCO, with Mr. Cushnahan in tow, being excluded from the process because PIMCO came forward, let us give it credit for it, to blow the whistle and to tell NAMA that there was funny business going on and there were requests for "payola", to use that term. PIMCO say that and get...

Order of Business (29 Sep 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...to believe it would be prioritised in the course of this Administration's tenure. It now appears the legislation will not have come through the Oireachtas by the time the Dáil is dissolved and we go to the people. This is a matter of immense frustration. I engaged in lengthy correspondence with the previous Minister, Deputy Shatter, on this issue. He rather unhelpfully wrote to...

Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015, was only published on Monday. There were no heads of a Bill and there was no pre-legislative stage. The convention of having a two-week gap between each Stage has gone out of the window because that does not suit the Government. What suits it is to bring this legislation forward, shut down or minimise debate and get it done and dusted in order that...

Central Bank (Mortgage Interest Rates) Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (10 Jun 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...also acknowledge and thank my colleague Deputy Pearse Doherty for introducing this legislation, and I thank Fianna Fáil and Independent Deputies for stating their support for allowing this Bill to go through to Committee Stage. The Minister of State's rhetoric is depressing, though not unexpected. We are disappointed but not terribly surprised that Government will not support...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (7 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes, that is correct. In fact, at the finance committee yesterday, a motion was brought forward asking for different individuals to come before that committee. On legal advice that motion was withdrawn on the basis that the commercial interactions, be it around Siteserv and the commercial wisdom of decisions made, are not for that committee or for our committee to scrutinise or...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Apr 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: .... I am struck by the fact - this is my interpretation and I am not attributing this thought process to the Comptroller and Auditor General - that the Department indicated a willingness to bring forward legislation to expand the role and remit, and, by extension, the role and remit of this committee. Our experience has been, to my way of thinking over the past number of months, that, in...

Freedom of Information Act 2014: Motions (2 Apr 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ..., the Department of Justice and Equality, not by the agencies, on the very spurious grounds that it had concerns around third party access to personal data. That is rubbish: that was never going to happen. People's personal information is protected. The other concern was that third party FOIs might delay judicial reviews of the organisation's decision making and give rise to significant...

Freedom of Information Act 2014: Motions (2 Apr 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: ----- going back to 2008? What is the purpose of all of this? I said to the Minister in the committee that this is not only a very bad idea, it is extremely alarming, and I am disappointed that he would bring forward such a motion at the behest of a Fine Gael Minister for Justice and Equality. Far from enhancing freedom of information or this area of policy it sets the clock back.