Results 4,761-4,780 of 5,157 for speaker:Mairéad Farrell

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Post-Budget Analysis: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I am conscious of the time but I do want to come in again. The report also notes that Ireland faces a threat from changes to the international tax system. A number of these changes have been enacted in recent years and more are coming down the line. We have had the OECD's base erosion and profit shifting initiative and the EU's anti-tax avoidance directive. Other proposals for EU...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Gabhaim buíochas as an cur i láthair seo. I must declare that I am a member of the FSU, as I worked in banking in the years prior to joining it. However, I had just joined when I got elected, which was a bit of a surprise at the time. The vital role Ulster Bank has played in supporting local jobs is very clear. It employs 3,000 people and that has a serious impact on the economy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I echo what the Chairman said. It is deeply disappointing that Ulster Bank has failed to come before this committee, given the impact its withdrawal would have and the distress it would cause. It is important that Mr. O'Connell relayed the real-life experience of what staff are going through and, as he said, it is not just one particular member of staff, but all staff. It is hugely...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: It is very important that the Minister for Finance reaches out to the British Chancellor and puts that on the record with him. Reaching out to NatWest is also extremely important because 3,000 livelihoods, families and communities will be affected by this. Mr. O'Connell outlined that very well in his opening statement. It has also been reported that Cerberus, one of the most aggressive...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: In his opening statement, Mr O'Connell said, "There should be no place in Irish banking or society for vulture funds." Does he support my colleague Deputy Doherty's no consent, no sale Bill, which would prohibit the sale of mortgage loans to vulture funds without the consent of the borrower?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: On 25 November, my colleague, Deputy Doherty, wrote to the Governor of the Central Bank to request the bank's views on the impact of Ulster Bank's withdrawal on the Irish market, both in terms of competition and consumer protection. He received quite an interesting response from deputy governor, Ed Sibley. In that letter, he said he could confirm that the Central Bank has "regular and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank the witness.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: A great deal of interesting stuff came up after my own questions. What was very interesting and stark was the fact that if a branch closes, lending to the SME sector falls by 64%. This will obviously affect rural, more isolated and smaller places. I represent Galway West, which houses the likes of Connemara. I can see the impact this would have on the likes of Clifden. If Ulster Bank...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Financial Services Union: Discussion. (8 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Mr. O'Connell is right. The key thing here is responsibility. The bank has a responsibility to the 3,000 people who work for it. It has a responsibility based on the fact that it has been around for 200 years. It is outrageous that it has refused to come before us time and again despite numerous requests. It is good that the message coming out of this committee meeting loud and clear is...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I will be speaking in support of amendments Nos. 72, 76 and 77. It is very clear that we are in a climate emergency and we need to act now. We need strong decisive action and leadership by the Government to deal with this climate emergency but we need progressive policies if we want to deal with this it. I am deeply disappointed at the regressive nature of the carbon tax. I spoke at...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I echo the sentiments of Deputy Doherty. I am concerned. We had a lengthy debate on Committee Stage in this regard. I was quite surprised at this amendment because I am concerned it could lead to this section not being implemented for a long time. When we had the discussion on Committee Stage, it was our understanding that it would come into effect on 1 January 2021. I have been...

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (3 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: 70. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on whether applications for the pandemic unemployment payment should be extended to April 2021 in line with employment wage subsidy scheme and the reduced bands restored to their earlier rates in view of the new localised lockdowns and in view of the fact the State is just entering the final quarter of the year....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (3 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: 299. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of staff members of UCD, TCD and DCU who availed of fee waivers remissions for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in their respective institutions in each of the years 2016 to 2019, in tabular form. [40975/20]

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Of course I want to see houses being built. I want to see public houses and affordable houses being built. I want to see an affordable housing plan. As I stated earlier to the Minister, there was a ten-year period during which not one social house was built in Galway city. That is the reality with which we are dealing. The fact of the matter is that a significant number of people are...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I move amendment No. 9: In page 11, after line 34, to the following: “Report on income tax relief 11.The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on an income tax relief equivalent in value to 8.3 per cent of annual rent to all private rental tenants not already in receipt of any State subsidy, examining...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I think this would be an extremely effective way of putting money back into renters' pockets. We have a huge issue, in particular in our cities, of sky-high rents, and I do not see the measures the Government has introduced having a significant effect on those people who come to my weekly clinics telling me they cannot afford their rents and asking me what they can avail of and what can be...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: We are stating very clearly that we do not believe the help-to-buy scheme is doing what it is supposed to do or what it says on the tin, so to speak. It is not helping those who need it most or who are looking to buy a house for the very first time. It was mentioned earlier that we believe there is a need for proper social or public housing as well as a proper affordable housing plan,...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I echo the words of my colleague, Deputy Doherty, about all the assistance that was given in the smooth running of the discussion on the Bill on Committee Stage. It was my first Finance Bill. I thought it ran very smoothly because of the great work put in by a lot of people. I also thank them for that. It has been said that we had a very lengthy debate on the scheme, and I expressed my...

Pay for Student Nurses and Midwives: Motion [Private Members] (2 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I commend Solidarity-People Before Profit on bringing forward this motion. It is scandalous that student nurses are not paid at the best of times. It is even more outrageous in the middle of a global pandemic. These student nurses have been central to our front-line response to this pandemic but have been left in financial hardship by the Government. Many students nurses from Galway have...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Investment Limited Partnerships (Amendment) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I have two questions. Should I ask them or at the end? There are no amendments.