Results 33,561-33,580 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: We must have proper prudential financial regulation of the sector. Remember in the cases of Quinn Insurance and PMPA, the general body of Irish insurance payers ended up paying very long-term levies for insurance policies. I am sure Fianna Fáil does not want to see a return to this. It happened three times on Fianna Fáil's watch.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: I am very pleased as leader of the Labour Party-----

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: -----to have introduced a €5 increase in this year's budget for child benefit.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: I am even more pleased that a significant number of increases have been targeted specifically at lone parents on transitional payments.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The means test and the assessment for family income supplement have been eased significantly. The incomes of lone parents and the parents described by the Deputy working part-time have been very significantly increased over the past year-----

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: -----and will be further increased this year through a significant expansion of the family income supplement to bring up the earnings of such a family significantly. With regard to child care, we have had a very detailed examination over the past year, spearheaded by a number of our Deputies who have taken a particular interest in this subject, such as Deputies Arthur Spring and Ciara...

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: Furthermore, for families on low income we have community-based child care, with which Deputy McDonald may not be familiar, but which is an extremely important facility-----

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: -----for families on low incomes getting community-based child care throughout the country. Not only this, but we are improving regulation, standards and the qualification levels of the people who work in child care. All of this is designed to achieve a much improved provision of child care in this country.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: I am happy to say that next September we will have the introduction of the first child care paternity leave for men, introduced on a modest scale as resources allow for two weeks, and we hope over the life of the next Government to improve and expand this. We also hope, as I said in the course of the budget debate, to expand the further provision of paid parental care in the first year of...

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: I am very proud that the Government of the Labour Party and Fine Gael has been able to achieve that.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: And we restored it.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: We are doing it.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: Will Deputy McDonald tell me why anybody would believe Sinn Féin when Gerry Adams does not even know whether he is the leader of the IRA but does know Slab Murphy is a good republican? Just tell me that, Deputy.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: Let me tell you, Deputy, the moral integrity of people has a great deal to do with child care and the question of whose care our children should be put in. Gerry Adams is a man who cannot even fess up in regard to what happened with certain murders, but Deputy McDonald is asking us to trust her party. The answer is, "No, we do not." However, let us come back to the issue at hand. The...

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: This year, my party in government has employed an extra 1,400 teachers at primary, secondary and SNA level.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: We have also extended SNA preschool support, as asked for by parents, to children with special needs. That is a real breakthrough in terms of preschool policy development in Ireland. Deputy McDonald should be gracious enough to acknowledge it.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: The Sinn Féin Minister in the North, Mr. John O'Dowd, said recently that those wanting to enter the teaching profession should give "very, very careful consideration" to their choice. Prospective teachers should be aware, he said, that they "may not be able to achieve a post within teaching in this society". The society he refers to is Northern Ireland. This year, we are hiring 2,400...

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: I will answer that.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: All our costings will be published with our manifesto whenever the election is announced.

Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2016)

Joan Burton: They will be published in detail and will be available for any level of scrutiny. We will publish a full, costed manifesto, unlike the fantasy manifestos of some I could name and which we have seen in the past. Our proposals will be available for experts to examine as they wish.