Results 29,421-29,440 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: Am I allowed to speak now? Is this how Sinn Féin wants to rule us? We will all be silenced.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: That is what they are used to in their own venue but they will not silence me. We are free citizens in a free Republic. The Deputy should remember that. We are lucky to be able to stand in this House and speak freely. I would be pleased if the Deputies would allow me to do that.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The previous Government, during the period of the boom, raised lone parent incomes very significantly. Unfortunately, the outcome in terms of reducing poverty levels for lone parents was not very good. In fact, the situation grew worse. Worse still, the impact on the outcomes for children of lone parents who grow up in a largely jobless household can be quite poor. Lone parents and the...

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: However, the Sinn Féin vision for lone parents is to say to a smart, bright-----

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: ----- 25 or 30 year old that it wants that person to stay dependent on welfare-----

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: -----until that person is roughly 47 to 50 years of age.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: That is not my vision. I know that lone parents are anxious to take part in work, education and training.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: We introduced the jobseeker's transition payment. More than 13,000 lone parents have already transitioned to that over the past number of years. I do not know if the Deputy knows that.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The impact of that has been a very significant increase in the number of lone parents who have gone on to take education and training with the support of after-school child care which has been funded and with the further development of community based child care. As the Deputy well knows, many lone parents take advantage of this child care, which is delivered at a very high standard and...

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: We want people to prosper, thrive and have opportunity.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: Sinn Féin seems to want people to be stuck in welfare until they are 50 years of age, when they will not be able to get a proper career.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: First, as I said, I am very happy to say the live register now stands at 10%, given that at the height of the crisis it reached 15.1%. The arrangements for helping people to find work have changed significantly. First, I am delighted to say apprenticeships have restarted, including in the wet trades in the construction industry. I met the CIF on a number of occasions in recent times to...

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: Obviously, Clonmel, Bansha and everywhere else in County Tipperary.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: I can assure the Deputy that they will have my full attention, as will everywhere else in the country. However, there has been a problem for a long time in towns such as Tralee where there are many young men not working. What Deputy Tom Fleming is saying about the construction industry is correct. We need to ensure as many of these young men as possible have an opportunity, if that is...

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: I think about thatching also.

Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: The development of a regional economic strategy means that in the case of Kerry, for instance, we will see the Kerry Technology Park expanded and developed. There are a lot of IT-type industries and technologically-based service businesses which will be attracted to Kerry. The chambers of commerce in the county, including the Tralee chamber, members of which I met with recently in the town,...

Order of Business (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: It is proposed to take No. a13, Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014 - Financial Resolution; No. 7, Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2015 - Second Stage (resumed); and No. 1, Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2014 [Seanad] - Second Stage. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. a13 shall be decided without debate....

Order of Business (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: Before responding to the Deputy's questions, I take this opportunity to convey our sympathy to the family and friends of Karen Buckley, particularly her parents and brothers. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, and our consulate office staff in Scotland are doing everything they can to assist the family at this...

Order of Business (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: No legislation has come before Government in respect of the matter the Deputy raised. Whatever form of legislation is brought forward to Government to deal with issues relating to debt, it will thereafter be brought before the House in due course.

Order of Business (16 Apr 2015)

Joan Burton: I do not have a date for the bringing forward of the companies (auditing) Bill. I will seek advice from the Minister on the implementation date for the Companies Act 2014.