Results 541-560 of 1,352 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I join Senator Buttimer and all Members of this House in celebrating Pride month and lamenting RTÉ's role in this situation. It would be welcome if the Leader could facilitate a debate on the issue. As we have come out of the pandemic, this is our first Pride month in almost three years during which we can get together and celebrate. In the Dublin Central constituency, we will be...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Built Heritage Protection) Bill 2022: Second Stage (16 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I thank and commend Senator Norris for this legislation, which I, on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party in the Seanad, will support. I urge the Minister of State and the Government to support and to adopt it. This Bill is a labour of love. It comes from the heart. It is not dead or boring legislation or just words on paper. It...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regeneration Projects (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister for coming to the Seanad. Last year, he included the wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Dublin 7 in the more than €121 million allocated funding for urban regeneration in the north inner city of Dublin. We greatly appreciate the funding. I have asked him to update the House on the progress that has been made by Dublin City Council, DCC, in using the funding...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regeneration Projects (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. The Minister's commitment to the north inner city is unquestionable.It is spectacular that since he took office he has dedicated more than €120 million to just this part of the north inner city. Those funds will be used not just for the fruit and vegetable market but for Moore Street, Wolfe Tone Square where DCC has done a fantastic job, Mountjoy...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I raise the issue of housing. As we all know, we are coming out of a decade of undersupply of housing, so I specifically welcome the latest report on housing supply and delivery that indicates the highest number of housing commencements on record in more than a decade. There have been more than 30,223 new housing commencements which are to be welcomed. These are new homes being built, and...

Seanad: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Second Stage (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward the legislation. I also thank the officials. I also thank them for their engagement with the Oireachtas joint committee, which benefited from the evidence not only of the Department but of many stakeholders, political parties, political activists, people from non-governmental organisations and those involved in modern communications and...

Seanad: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Second Stage (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Building Control (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (23 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I also welcome these amendments. They come after other amendments that have been put in place by this Government over the course of the last year or so to protect renters, enhance their protections and increase their security of tenure, which is welcome. The protections that were put in place are all welcome and include: additional notice periods; caps on rent increases; and the extension...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I would like to return to the issue of violence against women, which is an issue we have discussed in the Seanad. Yesterday, together with my colleague, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and other members of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, and with the support of Jason Poole, we launched our policy on tackling violence against women. The document is written from the perspective of the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (28 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Now.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I again call on the Minister for Finance to commit to the introduction of a vacant property tax, which would discourage vacancy and encourage the renovation of vacant properties. Recent CSO figures indicate that there are more than 160,000 vacant properties nationally, with more than 30,000 in Dublin. In a housing emergency, it is morally, environmentally, economically and socially wrong to...

Seanad: Electoral Reform Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I support what Senator Kyne said about timing, in particular the monitoring of online activity. We live in a 24-7 world and social media is in everybody's pockets or palms nearly every waking moment of the day. The electoral process is not one that is isolated to the 12 opening hours at a polling station. It is an ongoing iterative process every single day, so we should adopt a stop-start...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (5 Jul 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for attending the House to respond my Commencement matter calling for a vacant property tax. No more than anybody else I do not like taxes. We must accept, as everybody does, the housing emergency gripping our State. The Government has provided unprecedented funding and made changes to housing policy since taking office. A glaringly obvious waste of built...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (5 Jul 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for the response. We all believe in reasonableness and fairness and we can all accept that properties can be from time to time vacant. Nobody has any argument with that. In fact, the joint Oireachtas committee states that reasonableness must be applied. I welcome the fact that the Department has made progress with the report and on its summary. I urge it to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Social Welfare Offices (6 Jul 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I welcome Deputy Troy and commend him on his role as Minister of State with responsibility for trade. He has been doing tremendous work since taking office in building trade relations and expanding Ireland's trade opportunities, which bring employment. I want to discuss the Intreo office on the Navan Road, which served people in the Dublin 7 area who find themselves without employment....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Social Welfare Offices (6 Jul 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Gabhaim buíochas. I appreciate what the Minister of State has said and I am not going to shoot the messenger in this instance. I must say, however, that his reply is revealing. It reveals that this had been in planning for a long time and that planning did not include any form of consultation with the clients of the Dublin 7 Intreo office. In fact, it demonstrates a complete...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Universal Design In Building: Discussion (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank all of the witnesses for attending. We appreciate their time. I also thank them for the contributions they made to help the Government produce the national housing strategy for disabled people, which was agreed earlier this year. It is very important that we have a strategy. I accept the criticisms. I have heard them and they are not news to me, but it is important to have a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Universal Design In Building: Discussion (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Thank you. That is an issue we need to raise.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Universal Design In Building: Discussion (21 Jun 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Chair.

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister for coming to the House this morning. I thank not only him but also his Department, everyone who has worked on the defective concrete blocks working group and all of the homeowners who have so patiently engaged with the Minister, Department officials and the local authorities concerned. This legislation is very important. This is about families' homes. This saga has...