Results 9,961-9,980 of 21,499 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I can fully understand and get why professionals flee a system that is chaotic, under-resourced and totally pressurised.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: In benchmarking across the water in the National Health Service one can see that it is consultants do not earn the salaries available within the Irish health system, yet they stay the course.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am not arguing that the NHS is perfect, but there is more to it than simply pay rates in professionals staying or leaving.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The point I am making about this legislation which purports to unwind the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation is that it should be done in a way that is fair and equitable. The Minister must stick to his word that the priority and focus are those on lower incomes and wages of less than €65,000. That was the commitment given by him.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: That was the Minister's commitment

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister gave a commitment which was his line of argument in advance of publication of this legislation. For the purposes of clarity, can he point me to the provision where officeholders, Ministers of the Government and Members of the Oireachtas are excluded from the reduction in public service pensions, etc? Where is it?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: My amendments argue that the provision should be included in the legislation. With all due respect to the Minister, how much longer has the Administration to run? Perhaps it has two months to run.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Perhaps two months or three months.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I will presume no such thing. What I know is that the Minister has not provided, in line with the announcement he made, for the exclusion of Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and, more particularly, members of the Government, from the restoration outlined in the legislation. I imagine, given his declaration, that he will be happy to support amendments Nos. 10 and 16 in my name.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I wish to press the amendment.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 6:In page 6, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:“(5) Notwithstanding the generality of the foregoing, nothing in this section shall provide for increases in the salaries of members of the Houses of the Oireachtas or Ministers of the Government.”.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 7:In page 6, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:“(5) Notwithstanding the generality of the foregoing, nothing in this section shall provide for increases in the salaries of public servants in receipt of salaries in excess of €100,000 before the coming into effect of this section.”.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I suggest the Minister provide the data for us band by band.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes and distribute them to the committee.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I alluded to this amendment earlier when dealing with the proposition of suspending the operation of incremental pay scales for two years for any public servant not encompassed by a registered collective agreement as outlined in section 7 of the Act. Will the Minister explain the rationale for this? The view of many teachers and members of the TUI is that this measure is aimed explicitly at...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister's modus operandi from outset was to negotiate and get agreement, mar dhea, but-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Hold on. Where agreement could not be reached, he would swoop in to legislate. He has given us a tutorial in his perspective of industrial relations, how they work and their basic tenets. One of the fundamentals of the relationship between the State and its workforce is that it is voluntarist and has not traditionally utilised legislation in this way. That was a significant shift. We...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Not all of them. The Minister is referring to congress.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister knows of the significant unions in question. Deputy Healy cited the gardaí and teachers. It is the view of the TUI in particular that this provision is directed at teachers.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I believe that the TUI is right.