Results 2,221-2,240 of 5,216 for speaker:Mick Barry

Social Protection (Covid-19): Statements (2 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: I did not intend to return to this subject but I have no real alternative, given the comments of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Josepha Madigan. I made the point earlier that democracy is more important in the middle of a national emergency than it is in normal times. Deputy Boyd Barrett gave examples from the World Health Organization to back up that point....

Social Protection (Covid-19): Statements (2 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: The business we are here to transact requires openness and transparency. I am concerned that if a press conference was held this morning with material handed out by officials and where no questions were allowed from journalists-----

Social Protection (Covid-19): Statements (2 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: I conclude on the matter by saying the two issues go hand in hand. Whether it met remotely or there was a sitting in this Chamber, there had to be a session of the Dáil this week. We must see an end to this type of approach. This must be open and transparent. I will go on with my points about social protection. The drivers at Dublin Bus have been instructed to take a portion of...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: I start by offering solidarity and my sympathies to the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones. I offer sympathy also to all of those who are sick, and solidarity to workers on the front line. I will direct my more health-specific questions to the Minister for Health later today. The main points I wish to raise now relate to the crisis, the question of jobs and the approach....

Irish Economy: Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: Socialism.

Irish Economy: Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: According to this morning's edition of The Irish Times,"There is growing concern in the Department of Finance that current unprecedented State supports are unsustainable in the medium term." I think that refers to the wage subsidy scheme but the particular subject of the article was the Covid-19 payment of €350. That payment is key for huge numbers of Irish people at the moment to...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (Resumed) (23 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: Some 20 years ago, 80% of nursing homes in the State were in public ownership and 20% were private. The position now is completely reversed, with 80% in private ownership and 20% public. This has been the result of 20 years of Government policy incentivising the development of the private nursing home sector. I will not go into that now but it means that the majority of nursing home...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (Resumed) (23 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: I will leave the Minister plenty of time to answer that question. The Minister said earlier in the debate that there has been a collaborative approach but he also said there has been a consensus in the House on the issue of the leaving certificate. That is not correct. There is no consensus in this House on the issue of the leaving certificate. Solidarity, along with People Before Profit,...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (Resumed) (23 Apr 2020)

Mick Barry: I understand. The greatest way to disrespect any person is to force him or her to do something he or she really does not want to do. That is what the Minister is doing to the majority of the students facing the leaving certificate examinations in the period ahead. Will the Minister cancel them?

European Council Meeting: Statements (6 May 2020)

Mick Barry: Last week, the International Labour Organization stated that 50% of the global workforce are in immediate danger of having their living standards destroyed by the coronavirus. "Destroyed" was its word, not mine. In some ways, that statement is only half correct because to be fully correct, it would state that those people's living standards will be destroyed by the coronavirus in the...

Covid-19 (Tourism): Statements (6 May 2020)

Mick Barry: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for fighting for my corner.

Covid-19 (Tourism): Statements (6 May 2020)

Mick Barry: We are an island nation. We cannot have a fully rounded discussion on tourism without discussing the aviation industry and air connectivity. Questions on that must be directed to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport first and foremost, but I wish to raise some points during this debate as it is greatly relevant to tourism. Two key airlines in this State, Ryanair and Aer Lingus,...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (7 May 2020)

Mick Barry: I want to ask the Taoiseach some questions about the leaving certificate. There is clearly now a crisis of democratic legitimacy around this year's leaving certificate exams. Some 79% of nearly 24,000 leaving certificate students polled by the Irish Second-Level Students' Union, ISSU, want cancellation and a mere 15% want the exams to go ahead. These young people feel that they are being...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (7 May 2020)

Mick Barry: I note the Taoiseach's comment on opinion polls but he swept that one under the carpet quite quickly. His Government meets the Irish Second-Level Students Union, ISSU, and recognises it as in some way a representative voice for secondary school students. The ISSU conducted a poll to which 24,000 students responded. What they said does not count for nothing. It was not 51%, 52% or 53% who...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (7 May 2020)

Mick Barry: They are distressed. The certainty they seek is that the leaving certificate exams will be cancelled. Will the Taoiseach give those students a commitment in this House today that the Government will cancel the leaving certificate exams and find a fair and just alternative?

Covid-19 (Education and Skills): Statements (13 May 2020)

Mick Barry: I want to make some points about the position facing the leaving certificate students of 2021, the current fifth-year students, but first I want to look at the reason the leaving certificate exams were cancelled. No doubt the official record will show that they were cancelled due to logistical problems related to organising State exams in a pandemic, the need for PPE in the exam halls, the...

Covid-19 (Education and Skills): Statements (13 May 2020)

Mick Barry: -----for these students in addition to answering my question on school profiling?

Covid-19 (Education and Skills): Statements (13 May 2020)

Mick Barry: Will the Minister answer my question on fifth years?

Covid-19 (Justice and Equality): Statements (13 May 2020)

Mick Barry: I too want to ask the Minister questions about the Skellig Star hotel in Cahersiveen. First, I wish to make some brief points about the direct provision system in this Covid-19 crisis in general. There are 7,700 residents in direct provision. As of last Friday - the latest information we have is five days old - 149 of those people had the disease, while there were ten clusters, ten people...

Covid-19 (Business, Enterprise and Innovation): Statements (14 May 2020)

Mick Barry: When Clerys closed without paying a penny to long-standing workers, the Dáil said that would never again be allowed to happen. It is happening again. It is happening on the Minister's watch. It is happening at Debenhams and more than four times as many workers are involved in this case. Debenhams closed in early April. Liquidators were appointed by the High Court, namely, KPMG....