Results 20,321-20,340 of 21,499 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (12 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: Staying on the issue of health, since the Government was formed, we have seen a doubling of child and adolescent mental health services waiting lists. In 2020, 1,115 children were waiting for first-time appointments. This year, that figure has risen to 4,421. In the area where I live, CHO 9, children are waiting more than 200 days for treatment for suicidal ideation and more than 100 days...

Ceisteanna - Questions: British-Irish Co-operation (12 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: 18. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the recent meeting of the British-Irish Council. [55163/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: British-Irish Co-operation (12 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: The First Minister-elect of Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, wrote to the Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris, last Friday emphasising the gravity of the current stalemate in the North and the imperative for urgent action. The Taoiseach will be aware that all-party talks commenced yesterday. The public administration in Belfast is facing massive financial challenges including the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: I rise for the last time this year. I wish everybody a happy Christmas. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for all his work. I thank the staff here in the Oireachtas who I am sure will be relieved to see the back of us for just a short while. Life in Ireland is hard for renters. Research published this morning by the Residential Tenancies Board cites affordability and insecurity of tenure among...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: Rents are too high. I hope the Taoiseach is not disputing that. I hope he is also not disputing the fact that in the third quarter of this year, 4,518 people received notices to quit - eviction notices. More than 80% of those were no-fault evictions. In other words, the people concerned had done nothing wrong. They had paid the rent, looked after the property and so on. The Taoiseach is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: For families facing eviction now and particularly at this time of the year, at Christmastime, it is a solution for them for the Government to intervene and protect them and ensure that they will not present as homeless, as hundreds do every single month. In October, it was 352.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: We can avoid that happening at Christmastime. We can give these families the care, support and breathing space that we need. We can do that through the reintroduction of the temporary ban on evictions for people who have done nothing wrong.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am asking the Government to act compassionately in this regard.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes, but they are not being evicted.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: Did you hear the stories I shared with you?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: Jesus. Happy Christmas, Taoiseach.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: If the Minister could come out and debate, it would solve that for you.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is a joke. An absolute joke.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I will refrain from comment on that, a Cheann Comhairle. I welcome everybody back and wish them a happy new year. That is good news to start the year off. In April 2021, a vulture fund was on course to buy up the majority of homes in Mullen Park, Maynooth. Does the Minister remember that? She should, as it provoked widespread public anger. At the time, the Government said it was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: We know, and the Minister has reiterated the fact, that Fine Gael and the Government benches do not want housing to be affordable. There is no great surprise in that. Certainly, our farming friend in Monaghan and people beyond that know full well that if they ever had an expectation of homes being affordable on the Government's watch, that expectation is truly dashed at this stage. There...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: In a bid to be helpful to the Government, Sinn Féin will this evening bring forward a motion with a solution to that problem, one that will stop the vultures. Is the Government prepared to back that solution to stop vulture funds snapping up these homes and-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----to allow hard-pressed people, families and especially young people, a chance to actually buy their own homes?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: What about the vulture funds?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Go raibh maith agat. Three years ago, the Taoiseach's Government promised it would stop vulture funds bulk-buying family homes from under the noses of ordinary homebuyers. This followed considerable public anger on the back of a fund attempting to buy up the majority of homes at Mullen Park in Maynooth. On the floor of the Dáil the Taoiseach said: What happened in Maynooth and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I have set out the facts for the Taoiseach. I have acknowledged and put it to him that he did respond in 2021 on the back of the Maynooth situation. I also reminded him that, at the time, he was advised that he had not gone far enough. I also told him that, in July of last year, Department officials told the Minister that the regulations were failing. They said very clearly that funds...