Results 4,001-4,020 of 21,440 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. Purcell should be able to tell me that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: This is obviously a matter for the HSE, but I think it is also a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality. These young people and children go missing, yet it does not seem to be a matter of concern for many. I would appreciate it if Mr. Purcell, as the top person in his Department, came back to us on this with all of the detail he has and the most up-to-date figures. I would...

Leaders' Questions (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yesterday, Sinn Féin published legislation providing for the abolition of the family home tax.

Leaders' Questions (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: This tax is lifted straight out of Fianna Fáil's four-year plan. It is the latest blow that this Government has delivered to hard-pressed families. One in four mortgage holders are in distress, yet he asks the same families to pay this unfair tax. It takes no account of ability to pay, negative equity, mortgages in arrears, or indeed the thousands of euro that many have already paid...

Leaders' Questions (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does the Taoiseach accept that the Government has made a mess of this issue? Does he accept that it is fundamentally unfair for families living in unfinished ghost estates to be hit with this tax? Can he indicate whether the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, is revisiting the issue of ghost estates and the payment of this tax? Does he accept...

Leaders' Questions (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Given that the Taoiseach refers to it so often, I would have expected him to do his homework and familiarise himself with the significant difference between the system of rating in the North and the tax on the family home he is proposing. For instance in the North, citizens do not pay for their bin collection. There is no suggestion of people paying for domestic water. People have...

Leaders' Questions (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Taoiseach should do his homework.

Leaders' Questions (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I was not casting aspersions on her but on the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan.

Leaders' Questions (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I was casting aspersions on the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: That was an unusually short response.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I welcome the initiative taken since this matter was last raised in the Dáil to publish the minutes of meetings of the clearing house group on the website of the Department of the Taoiseach. The minutes are interesting and reveal how the industry lobbied to have IFSC-based international insurers excluded from the Quinn insurance levy. As we know, a 2% levy was imposed on all non-life...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: The minutes also reveal the extent of the industry's access to senior officials in the Departments of the Taoiseach and Finance, the Central Bank and the industry's regulator. The minutes of the meeting of 17 January 2013 are not yet available online. However, the minutes of the previous meeting, on 22 November, indicate that a number of-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am giving a flavour of what is contained therein.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: A number of pre-budget submissions were received from the IFSC working group. Will the Taoiseach indicate precisely how many of these pre-budget submissions were received and elaborate on their main focus? With regard to the strategy the Taoiseach launched for the IFSC in July 2011, a commitment was given at the time to create 10,000 new jobs. How many of these new jobs have materialised...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: To clarify, I asked the Taoiseach about any pre-budget submissions that might have been made. Clearly, I do not simply want the number of submissions that were made. What would be interesting, useful and essential to have on the public record would be the nature of those submissions and what exactly they asked for. It is reasonable that the Government would meet with representatives of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Appointments to State Boards (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: When Fine Gael was in opposition, it and the Labour Party were quite animated about the issue of cronyism and corruption as it pertained to Fianna Fáil and State boards. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport went so far as to publish a Bill proposing publication of the qualifications of each candidate nominated for a role on a State board, which was not a bad proposition. Of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Appointments to State Boards (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: They relate clearly to the question that has been asked. I am giving the Taoiseach examples of the shortfall in the system. He spoke about the appointments he has made in respect of the NESC, but I have a broader question for him as Head of Government. What role does he have or what actions will he take to ensure that Departments and Ministers in his Government make full use of the new...

Order of Business (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I object to the guillotining of the debate on No. 27. True to form, the Taoiseach wants to rush through in record time a measure which will penalise people. He is not prepared to have sufficient democratic scrutiny or debate. It is bad enough that the Taoiseach wants to take medical cards from people but he does not even want to afford Members of the House and the Opposition in particular...

Order of Business (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I also want to raise the issue of legislation arising from the Croke Park deal. Legislation will be required irrespective of the view the trade union membership takes. One of the items of legislation is a new financial emergency measures in the public interest Bill. I do not yet have an idea of how the other items of legislation will be framed. The new Croke Park deal takes effect on 1...

Order of Business (26 Mar 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is irrelevant.