Results 2,101-2,120 of 4,931 for speaker:Mary White

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: It was not.

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I am delighted to welcome the Minister to the House. I do not find Senator Fitzgerald's ideological argument convincing. Her heart is not in it.

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: Anybody with common sense would know that one pays according to one's means. I accept that in the new revised scheme, 95% of people over 70 will have a medical card. I do not believe that people who are well-off and can afford to pay for medical services should get a free medical card.

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I do not believe that, in her heart and soul, Senator Fitzgerald thinks people who have the money should not pay.

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I am talking about universality.

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I support the revision. As spokesperson on older people, I was pleased to see that older people in Ireland were able to exert their influence to get it changed and rather than the 62% who would have been given a medical card it is now 95%. We were talking this morning about the United States and the people of that country engaging in the political process. In my view, real-life politics...

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: We need to have a good debate in the House on a vision and a strategy for old age. I am meeting Julia Neuberger on 24 November in the House of Lords. She is bringing in to meet me a number of people in the UK who are interested in the whole vision for older people. I congratulate the Minister on making the changes when she saw the democratic response and I congratulate her on the fair deal...

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: Some Senators have said the public does not realise the seriousness of the economic situation. I believe the public is prepared for some taxation——

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I do not need to be prompted. If we want to make radical changes in policy——

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: We must take the public with us and a national debate is required. What is the Minister's view on this? I believe there should be a pay freeze for two years for the private and public sectors and that is the end of the story. It would solve the problem.

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: The public is ready for something such as this. We cannot let Mr. David Begg decide what to do. We must bite the bullet. Will the Minister provide an update on the new proposals for the regionalisation of the Health Service Executive?

Seanad: Medical Cards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: Of course; we have plenty of time.

Seanad: Nursing Home Standards: Statements (5 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Hoctor, to the House and compliment her, the Minister, Deputy Harney, and the Department of Health and Children on overseeing the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People, published by the Health Information and Quality Authority. In the wake of the report by Professor Des O'Neill, consultant geriatrician at Tallaght...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I would like our Leader, Senator Donie Cassidy, to urgently request the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan, to come into the House urgently to discuss the rising unemployment level and advise us on how the Government intends to address it. We read in this morning's newspapers that 260,000 people are unemployed, and the figure is rising...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2008)

Mary White: Unless we get a better economic competitive environment, our exporting companies will not succeed. I advise my colleagues, who may not be aware of this, that our industrial energy costs are the highest in the European Union and are 34% higher than the EU average. How can our companies compete in those circumstances? Last night, the president of the Irish Exporters Association told the...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2008)

Mary White: The people who work in the public sector are outstanding but that sector does not apply the same management techniques on a day by day and hour by hour business that a private company must apply to survive.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I will be brief. In one of today's newspapers there is a report on the incidence of elder abuse. It is indicated by the HSE that 600 people reported alleged elder abuse in the first six months of this year. Some 93% of the older people who were abused said it happened in their own homes. Some 40% of them said it was their sons or daughters who abused them. We in Ireland overlook the...

Seanad: Fishing Industry: Statements (12 Nov 2008)

Mary White: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Sargent. I take this opportunity to talk about the special protection area, SPA, and special area of conservation, SAC, designation threat to Wexford Harbour. The mussel industry in Wexford Harbour has spanned three centuries and today exports up to 20 tonnes of live mussels to the Continent, providing much needed revenue for Wexford and the...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2008)

Mary White: Will the Deputy Leader request the presence of the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan, to bring the House up to date on the national strategy for improving our competitiveness? Last week I said that our industrial electricity costs are the highest in Europe, at 34.4% above the EU average. I tried to decode where these costs arise other than in...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Nov 2008)

Mary White: ——to open up cashflow. Even very reputable companies are being asked for this and pressure is being put on them. The country was invigorated and engaged with what the Government did for the banks to save the economy. I am talking about saving employment in our country, so that companies will not have to let people go. I want the Government to come out forcibly and put pressure on the...