Results 81-100 of 786 for speaker:Catherine Ardagh

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Catherine Ardagh: I would like to be afforded the same opportunity afforded my colleagues.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Catherine Ardagh: I will not speak at the end if that makes it any easier. I thank the Minister for coming to the House to address it about many points, including those on Committee Stage. I echo the sentiments expressed by Senator Higgins about pension reform. I hope that after Christmas, the Minister will really drive the bus concerning pension reform. He has made flippant comments such as there will be...

Seanad: Registration of Wills Bill 2016: Second Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister for coming to the House again. I congratulate Senator Leyden for bringing the Bill to the House. He has worked tirelessly on it for many years. As other Members have stated, I would like to congratulate him and commend his perseverance. It is a great idea. I am still involved in a solicitors' practice and we often receive e-mails from the Law Society or see notices...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2016)

Catherine Ardagh: I would like to address the House on the proposed new rent certainty legislation. We all know many parts of the country, and this city in particular, are in the midst of a housing and rental crisis. Many of our clinics are attended by families one rent hike away from being out on the street and homeless. Arbitrary rent increases due to a complete failure by this Government to increase the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Issues Facing Lone Parents: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Jan 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the witnesses for coming in and for their presentations. As my colleague said, they were very enlightening, with a lot of food for thought. One of the things which jumped out at me and which was mentioned by Ms Maher and Mr. Allen was the complexity of the system in terms of lone parents knowing what services and what benefits and supports are available. There is no streamlined...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jan 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I welcome my colleagues back and I look forward to an excellent 2017 working with them all. I am disgusted and shocked by reports that staff working at Dublin Airport have been arrested and are being investigated as part of a major immigrant smuggling racket. It is believed that 100 or more people per year have been getting into the country as part of this scam. This alleged exploitation...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jan 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: Yesterday's edition of the Irish Independentcontained a report by Niall O'Connor on the help-to-buy scheme announced by the Government last October. It is of great concern to me that I have been inundated with queries in my constituency office from first-time buyers who are seeking to purchase properties built by contractors who have not registered with the Revenue Commissioners. The grant...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I would like to raise two issues today. The first is that of rental housing supply in the market. A report published today by the Simon Community has shown the gap widening between rent supplement and actual market rents. The report illustrates that 83% of rental properties are beyond the reach of rent supplement. The Simon Community supports over 8,300 individuals and families at risk of...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I congratulate Martin Groves and his family on the appointment. I look forward to working with him and it has been a pleasure so far working with him, so we will continue in that fashion. On 9 November 2016, I entered this House and raised concerns for the undocumented Irish in the United States of America after it became apparent that Mr. Donald Trump had won the election and would become...

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I would like to convey the sympathies of the Fianna Fáil Party to Mr. Gowan-Smyth's family and, in particular, to his wife. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. I wish to mention a matter I have raised many times in this Chamber, that is, the housing crisis and this Government's lack of action on it. The issues relating to the crisis include spiralling rent costs, a rushed and...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I wish to raise two matters. The first matter relates to Brexit. Last week, I raised serious concerns about the threat of a hard Brexit and the serious effect this would have on the Irish economy. Yesterday, MPs in Westminster voted to invoke Article 50. A hard Brexit is no longer a threat but, in fact, a reality. To compound the severity of this development, earlier in the week, the UK...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: Like many others, last night I watched "RTE Investigates: Living on the List" and was shocked and horrified by the programme's content. It is unbelievable that, in this day and age, people are left to suffer on hospital waiting lists to the extent that they contemplate suicide. Last night's programme unveiled that waiting lists may be significantly longer than those published by the...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I read today in The Irish Timesand saw yesterday at the health care committee that the chief of the HSE made a statement that the HSE cannot progress the national children's hospital at the St. James's site. This is absolutely shocking. This Government knew about this hospital being constructed before the general election. It waved the site around. It has already spent money on...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I am proposing that the Minister for Health attend the Seanad today to address us and give us a proper detailed update on what is going on with the children's hospital.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I will put an amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: The second matter I would like to raise is the job losses in Leixlip at the Hewlett Packard plant. It was confirmed just before we came into the Seanad today that these job losses will go ahead. It is a massive blow to the local economy, which has apparently been in recovery since 2014. I have worries that this may be a sign of one of Mr. Donald Trump's protectionist policies. However,...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: The amendment is being pressed.

Seanad: Amendments to Councillors' Conditions: Statements (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister for being present in the House. I agree with all the sentiments that my colleagues have expressed. I was very proud to be elected to Dublin City Council in 2014, having run in 2009. I was doing the work of a councillor for many years without being an elected councillor. I enjoyed the work and did it with pride. Being a public representative and being elected to the...

Seanad: National Children's Hospital: Statements (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, for attending. It is disappointing that the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, has not come to this House this evening to clarify the comment made by the HSE's director general, Mr. Tony O'Brien, at the meeting of the Committee on the Future of Healthcare yesterday. Given that it fell to Mr. O'Brien to tell members of the...

Seanad: National Children's Hospital: Statements (8 Feb 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I do not think the Minister of State can question our commitment to the hospital.