Results 121-140 of 786 for speaker:Catherine Ardagh

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I welcome the reintroduction of 400 career guidance posts, an action contained in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil confidence and supply agreement. It was agreed at the time that this Government would reintroduce guidance counselling to secondary schools and budget 2017 saw that reintroduction with the restoration of 400 guidance posts, commencing in September 2017. In 2012, 600 guidance...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I rise to mention the recent developments regarding the Tuam Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home. Having read of them, we have all been left touched, shocked and in a state of horror. I wish to make a number of comments on this matter. I am glad that the terms of reference of the investigation were flexible enough to be covered by the current investigation into the Bon Secours home in Tuam,...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I am heartbroken by the tragic news of a fire in a housing complex in Clondalkin which supports women who have experienced violence. It is sad to see any loss of life but when children are lost in such shocking and unavoidable circumstances, it is unforgivable. We have lost two year old Paris, three year old Holly, four year old Jordan and a young pregnant mother, Annmarie. This is a...

Seanad: JobPath: Statements (21 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: Fianna Fáil welcomes the fall in the level of unemployment. Credit must go to the people and businesses that are responsible for the recovery which is due to their resilience, skills, hard work, entrepreneurialism and determination to move forward to secure a better future for themselves, their families and communities. Despite the fall in the level of unemployment, the recovery has...

Seanad: Death of Martin McGuinness: Expressions of Sympathy (21 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group in the Seanad and on my own behalf, I extend my sincere sympathies to the McGuinness family and to the wider Sinn Féin Party on the loss of Martin McGuinness. It is a very sad and difficult time for his wife, Bernie, and his children, Fiachra, Emmet, Fionnuala and Grainne. I hope they take some comfort today from the genuine and kind words...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I rise to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. The anniversary falls in a moment that is particularly complex in light of the internal and external challenges that face the European Union. The economic and social benefits generated by the membership of the EU have been incalculable for Ireland. All we have to do is look at the visible investment that the EU has put...

Seanad: Pensions (Equal Pension Treatment in Occupational Benefit Scheme) (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (22 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I commend Senator Bacik on bringing this Bill before the House. Fianna Fáil fully supports this Bill. As the Senator has outlined, the aim of the legislation is to address the small number of cases where retired employees who were legally not permitted to marry persons of the same sex before a particular date may be deprived of certain pension benefits. The Bill follows on foot of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I wish to raise two issues, the first of which is the recent Garda scandal and the second is the protection of cyclists on our roads. How the Government has dealt with the recent Garda scandal is incredible. Most notably, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality has failed to appear in the Dáil today and has, for all intents and purposes, gone to ground. Some 937,000...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: Today the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, will trigger Article 50, which will eventually see the UK leave the EU over a two-year period. We are all concerned about the impact this will have on Ireland, especially the threat of a hard border. Today it is easy to forget the problems our country faced before the Good Friday Agreement. We take for granted free movement between North and South....

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: The Leader walked into that.

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I rise to again call on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to make some effort to intervene in the Bus Éireann strike. Yesterday I went outside the gates of Leinster House with some of my colleagues and met some of the decent, hard working staff in Bus Éireann who are rightly concerned about their future employment status and the future of Bus Éireann. I cannot...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I fully support Joanne and I hope the Government and the Minister ratify this convention without delay.

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Mar 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Apr 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I again raise in this House the housing crisis this country is currently facing. Since my election to Dublin City Council in 2014 and to this Chamber last year, this issue has been at the forefront of debate and has yet to be tackled in any meaningful way. Last weekend I read reports of a 4.3% increase in house prices for the first quarter of this year.There is no way a person who is trying...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Apr 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: The Minister for Finance.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Apr 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: I apologise. I meant to say the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, in reference to the Central Bank.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Apr 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: The second issue I wish to raise is the stabbing of a drug dealer in the face with a shiv - a makeshift knife - in Mountjoy Prison. I condemn this attack on Mr. Alan White. It might be time for us to contemplate opening a discussion on a replacement prison for Mountjoy Prison which in its current form is not fit for purpose. The Thornton Hall project was aborted during the economic...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Apr 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: The Leader's party has been in government for six years.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Apr 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: How many houses has the Government built?

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Apr 2017)

Catherine Ardagh: The Leader is taking liberties at this stage.