Results 501-520 of 880 for speaker:Catherine Ardagh

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I support Senator Ruane's amendment, which will benefit many employees across many sectors of society. As Senator Higgins said, it will also disproportionately affect women in a positive way. Many women will benefit from the amendment because, as we know, the majority of those in part-time work are women and much of that work is low-paid work. I have a concern about who will determine the...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I want to address point the Minister made on the anonymity of cases. Senators Craughwell and Ruane made the point that many people do not like taking employment rights cases as they are too afraid that it may jeopardise their employment. Cases in the WRC are, in the first instance, held in private. From a practitioners point of view, that causes a lot of issues, and we are hearing...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: The Minister's point was that people should be able to bring a case because it is held in private and that they should not be afraid. They could be afraid because it could end up in the Labour Court and the majority of LRC or WRC cases are ending up in the Labour Court these days.

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: Not in the Labour Court.

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I am ad idemwith Deputy O'Dea on this matter and most of the provisions in this Bill. Bogus self-employment is not unique to the private sector, but is also an issue in the public sector. Many State organisations also have employees in bogus-employment situations. We welcome that the Minister will undertake a report on this matter. If this goes to a vote, we will abstain.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I welcome the ladies in the Public Gallery from Mercy Secondary School in Inchicore. I particularly wish to mention the transition year class who are doing a project on the lack of amenities in their area, Inchicore, and the lack of resources for their school as part of the Young Social Innovators programme. They are very passionate about the area. Their school is the only girls school in...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I wish to raise the issue of homeless figures. Some 415 families, including 893 children, registered as homeless in the last quarter for which figures are available. That is a significant increase on the previous quarter, when only 383 families presented as homeless in the capital. Senators are aware that supply is the underlying issue. However, I have raised this issue in the House every...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: How many plans have there been? How many have been implemented?

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: This morning we learned of a very tragic incident in Castleblayney where a young man in his 40s was killed while sitting in a stationary vehicle. A garda has been injured. It is not fatal but he had very serious injuries to his head and limbs. I convey my sympathies and those of the Fianna Fáil group to the family of the victim who was fatally injured and to the garda in question. It...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: There are more than half a million homes and businesses around the country, not just in rural Ireland but also in north County Dublin, that are without high speed broadband. I mentioned in the House before that not having high speed broadband is detrimental to small businesses in particular. In October last, we learned of documented and undocumented meetings by the former Minister for...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I raise a housing issue I have raised previously in the House. It relates to the Player Wills site on the South Circular Road. This site abuts a site owned by Dublin City Council at St. Teresa's Gardens. It is in the control of NAMA and is on the vacant sites register with a value of €23 million. In the week NAMA put it up for sale, I asked in the House that the Government take...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: My great grandfather, Patrick Ardagh, served as a baker in the British Army at that time. I find it disgusting that thugs would cause this damage to a statue of a soldier when so many of us have relatives who fought in the First World War. I thank Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane for their service to the Irish football team. I once had the opportunity to meet Martin O'Neill and he is a real...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I will begin by congratulating Vicky Phelan on being included on the BBC list of trailblazers, leaders and everyday heroes. We all know Vicky Phelan took on the State when she discovered that she had been given an incorrect smear test result.Instead of accepting a gagging order by the State, she went on and was able to reveal the magnitude and scale of the CervicalCheck scandal, and many...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I wish to conclude on the delays associated with An Bord Pleanála. The statutory time limit for dealing with applications should be 18 weeks. Many applications are not being turned around in that time, however, which is causing serious delays for builders who want to get started on houses. This, in turn, has cost implications. If a start date is postponed, there are penalties. The...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage (20 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, Senator Swanick, who is a doctor. The Bill is designed to support risk equalisation, which will mean our health insurance market will allow older citizens and people with illnesses to afford health insurance. Community rating ensures these people are not discriminated against in favour of...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Second Stage (20 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: As the Minister indicated, this legislation directly affects many people who are in receipt of very low wages. Fianna Fáil supports the passing of this Bill to Committee Stage. Our party policy is to ban zero-hour and low-hour contracts that are abusive to workers. We have consistently advocated our policy for the provision of banded hour contracts that work for both worker and...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: Clearly, we are all on tenterhooks regarding the Brexit negotiations and how the deal will unfold. As things are moving at pace across the water in the United Kingdom, at this point it is hard to figure out exactly where it will land. Having had a cursory look at the text, on the face of it, it seems to be a very good deal for Ireland. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste should be...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: Obviously, we need to ensure the deal can be brought home. There is no point in celebrating until we see that it can be properly implemented and is agreed to by our neighbours across the water. I will leave it at that for now. The second item I wish to raise affects a lot of senior citizens. They are receiving scam calls from international numbers. If they answer them, they are charged...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I agree with Senator Norris on the matter to which he referred. I wish to raise a very serious matter referred to by Mr. Justice Peter Kelly in the High Court, namely, the retention and recruitment of doctors in our hospitals. He said that the standard of doctors being recruited to hospitals in Ireland is particularly low and the case before him, whereby a doctor was struck off the...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Deirdre Hargey, Lord Mayor of Belfast (8 Nov 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: Cuirim fáilte mór roimh an Ard-Mhéara as ucht Fianna Fáil. Is lá stairiúil é. Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Ard-Mhéara as an chéad bhean sa ról. Today is historic and it is great that the Lord Mayor has been able to address the Seanad. Having done some research on her, I see that she has done a great deal of work on...