Results 6,421-6,440 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: Before speaking on the amendment, I wish to make a point about the budget which I believe is important. On budget night, it is a tradition that the Departments of Social Protection and Finance produce fact sheets on the budget. All of the politics is contained in the budget speech of the Minister for Finance and then we receive the fact sheets and find out what exactly is the situation. I...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: -----it should be a fact sheet and it should not contain propaganda such as stating that the State cannot afford the current level of social provision. This is a political statement.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: It is not a statement of fact; it is a political statement. It also states that taxpayers must contribute according to their means so those who can pay most will pay most. Again, this is a political statement. It is propaganda. It is entirely untrue, by the way, in respect of the budget. It is propaganda, and we should not be getting this type of propaganda from the Department of...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: People on the reduced level of minimum wage will be brought into the tax net and they will pay €8.42 in tax. This means a person going out to work for 40 hours a week will take home less than €300. I do not know whether Deputy Gogarty is aware of this; probably not, given the other universe in which the Green Party tends to live. Can anybody in the House imagine what it is like to work...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: This is precisely the purpose of the amendment. We want to copper-fasten the minimum protection which low-paid workers have at present. We also want to ensure those on low incomes are protected and cannot be abused further. There is no question of this being an issue in the context of competitiveness, a lie which has been peddled in recent times. The average wage in Ireland is €22 per...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: The Deputy has not been listening to us.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: It normally is.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: It normally contains facts rather than political propaganda.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: The Department of Finance document has changed. That is the point I am making.

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: It is not agreed. As Deputy Gilmore said, we received 30 pages of Report Stage amendments to the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill, which were circulated at 10.40 last night. Members have not had an opportunity to consider them. The amendments contain four major new policy initiatives about which we were not given notice, including a proposal for a sovereign annuity...

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: The Government is showing complete disregard to Members. It is not possible for us to get a briefing in time to deal with these proposals adequately. Will the Taoiseach show more regard for Members and for the major legislation he proposes to ram through today?

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: I did not hear anything about that.

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: What is the Taoiseach going to do now? Will he produce a briefing for us?

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: What is the Taoiseach undertaking to do?

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: The debate is about to start. What exactly is the Taoiseach undertaking to do?

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: Do not be sulking now. What does he propose to do?

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: It is not.

Order of Business (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: We oppose it for the reasons I have stated. There are 34 amendments tabled and the likelihood is that we will get to debate a handful of them in the time allowed. That is unacceptable given the scope of some of the new proposals which we only saw this morning. There is no justification for the guillotine and the Labour Party opposes it.

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Instruction to Committee (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: In reality, a Cheann Comhairle, if the Minister had any respect for the House, he would circulate his speech. We have been bounced into this without any information or briefing. It is simply no way to do business. I agree with Deputy Ring that we need the speech circulated before the Minister proceeds.

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Instruction to Committee (14 Dec 2010)

Róisín Shortall: This is essentially a Second Stage speech, so we are entitled to a copy of the Minister's speech.