Results 15,621-15,640 of 21,499 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (16 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: Of course, the reason there is such a recruitment and retention crisis in the Defence Forces is, frankly, because people cannot live on the poverty wages they are being paid. Not just members of the Defence Forces, but more directly their families have, as we all now know, long protested and campaigned on this issue. It is a disgrace to us as an Oireachtas if we praise the blue helmets and...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Communications (16 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: 18. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent conversation with the British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May. [53034/18]

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Communications (16 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Taoiseach for the account of his conversation. When does he propose to speak to Mrs. May? We can speculate and no doubt people will on what form the management of this parliamentary crisis will be across the water and that is all fair enough. The question for us is where Ireland is positioned. Will the Taoiseach make absolutely clear and plain to Mrs. May that the needs and...

Government's Brexit Preparedness: Statements (17 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am deeply saddened to learn there are tensions between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, partners in government, and I am happy to take to my feet as a leader of the Opposition. Táim fíor bhuíoch agus an deis labhartha seo a ghlacadh ar an ábhar tábhachtach um tráthnóna. Since June 2016, when the Brexit referendum result became clear, we have been...

Government's Brexit Preparedness: Statements (17 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is exactly what would happen. Contingency planning must also include provision for emergency EU funding for vulnerable sectors and regions in the event of a crash. Since the Brexit referendum result, Sinn Féin has argued for the establishment of such a fund and has called on the Government and the European Commission to facilitate it. While the Government has belatedly begun...

Ráitis ó Cheannairí na bPáirtithe agus na nGrúpaí - Statements from Party and Group Leaders (21 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Táim lán-sásta labhairt ar an ócáid stairiúil seo - comóradh 100 bliain an Chéad Dáil. One hundred years ago in this very room, revolutionary Ireland found its parliamentary voice. Deputies gathered with a unity of purpose in the cause of equality, independence and freedom. An eyewitness to the day,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: In response to the first question the Taoiseach said our most valuable citizens were children. I challenge him and the Government because it is very clear to me that on his watch children are not our most valued citizens. This morning Temple Street Children's University Hospital released the figure for the numbers of children who had presented at its emergency department last year and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: None of us wishes to see these things happening but they are happening on the Taoiseach's watch. That is the bottom line. The Taoiseach is the Head of Government and he carries the can for this. Despite all his self-satisfied patter, the number of discharges of children from Temple Street Hospital into homelessness has gone up by 29% and not down. Homelessness has been normalised and that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The medical expert who treats these children - not me - states their maladies and injuries stem from the fact that they live in completely unsuitable, cramped and temporary accommodation. The Taoiseach does not have the figures for the State as a whole. I invite him to get those figures-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----and to present them, when he has them, to the Dáil. Rather than giving self-righteous patter-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----I invite the Taoiseach to give words of reassurance as a response to these children and their parents.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am aware of that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: The doctors in Temple Street do not say-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: I want to return to the issue of the mother and baby homes. I understand that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, brought a memo to Cabinet today. As has been articulated, the wrongs of these mother and baby homes are accepted by everyone in this House. I believe we all recognise that many of the victims and survivors are elderly and in ill health. In 2016, the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is hard to disagree with that analysis. I put it to the Taoiseach that survivors of the Bethany Home and Westbank Orphanage have a particular issue in that they feel and believe their exclusion was, to some extent, sectarian in nature because these were Protestant institutions. That needs to be fixed. Why will the Taoiseach not embrace the survivors of the Bethany Home and why will he...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: The issue is not about dues.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is about union recognition. That is staggering.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: 3. To ask the Taoiseach when Cabinet committee G, justice and equality, last met; and when it is scheduled to meet again. [1706/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: I too wish to raise the issue which emerged last week of the almost 8,000 criminal offences - 7,894 to be precise - committed by 3,489 child suspects between the years of 2010 and 2017 which were not progressed because of Garda inaction. There was a failure to progress 37 cases involving a particular child as well as 2,500 cases in which there were multiple offences. Some 55 of the offences...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (22 Jan 2019)

Mary Lou McDonald: 6. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent conversation with Chancellor Merkel. [2491/19]