Results 1,601-1,620 of 3,871 for speaker:Catherine Byrne

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 40 - Children and Youth Affairs (Revised) (3 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I apologise, as I must leave shortly to be somewhere else. It is welcome that the funding is being maintained at the current level, but I agree with Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. I work on the ground locally and know the benefits of working with young people, particularly children in poorer areas. Without some of the community organisations, the volunteers in particular,...

Protection of Life in Pregnancy (Amendment) (Fatal Foetal Abnormalities) Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] (6 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I thank Deputy Clare Daly for bringing this Bill to the House. If there was ever a Bill I would like to support, it is this one. However, as the Minister already stated in his opening remarks, this Bill is unconstitutional and a referendum would be required to amend the Constitution. However, I believe Deputy Clare Daly knows this very well and, therefore, I cannot support this Bill at...

Protection of Life in Pregnancy (Amendment) (Fatal Foetal Abnormalities) Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] (6 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I thank Deputy Clare Daly for bringing this Bill to the House. If there was ever a Bill I would like to support, it is this one. However, as the Minister already stated in his opening remarks, this Bill is unconstitutional and a referendum would be required to amend the Constitution. However, I believe Deputy Clare Daly knows this very well and, therefore, I cannot support this Bill at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (12 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I will resubmit my questions, Nos. 21 and 22, and break them down better, because the replies were of no help. Would Mr. O’Brien guide me with regard to whom I should send them to? It is a pleasure to have the witnesses here, particularly the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I thank the Minister of State for her honesty. She is always up front and does not beat around the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (12 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I want to return to the issue of Hollybrook community nursing unit in Inchicore. When local people telephone me asking why people living in the area cannot access the unit, I have to tell them it is a step-down unit for St. James’s Hospital to facilitate the national children’s hospital. When this unit was first opened, I stood on a platform as a local public representative...

Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: The next speaker is Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice who is not in the Chamber. I will go to the next speaker on the list. The Government grouping is: Deputies Fergus O'Dowd, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, Jim Daly and John Paul Phelan. As Deputy Fergus O'Dowd is not present, I call Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Update on Employment Activation Measures: Department of Social Protection (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: Whether it is lone parents or unemployed people, some of the programmes on which the delegates spoke are designed to bring people back into education and training and, particularly, into an employment programme that will ultimately give them secure employment and financial independence. This is very important. Whether one is a lone parent or an unemployed person, accessing training and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Update on Employment Activation Measures: Department of Social Protection (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I thank Mr. Egan for his reply. We will expand on the consistent poverty issue in the next session. Do the officials have statistics for the numbers of people who are lone parents or are in one-parent families who have gone back to education? I have been conducting a study and to quickly run by the figures-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Update on Employment Activation Measures: Department of Social Protection (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: It has to do with education. Will that issue be dealt with in the next session?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Update on Employment Activation Measures: Department of Social Protection (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I will hold onto my question for the next session.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Update on Employment Activation Measures: Department of Social Protection (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: Where is that information available?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Update on Employment Activation Measures: Department of Social Protection (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I thank Mr. McKeon.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment: Discussion (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I thank everyone for making a presentation. I will not go through all the names as that takes too long. Anybody who has spoken agrees that we must make work pay. The reality is that nobody will go back to work if they are not going to be better off than if they stay at home. There are great difficulties for single parents in particular being able to access child care. I am a firm...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: One-Parent Family Payment: Discussion (18 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I would appreciate it if the witnesses could expand on the back to education payment and the uptake of the scheme, particularly among one parent families. I am sorry for taking so long.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Pensions Payments (24 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: 220. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons currently in receipt of the over-80s allowance; the cost of this in 2014; the number of State pension recipients who currently receive an increase for a qualified adult, for a person who is 80 years of age or over; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8273/15]

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I warmly welcome the Bill, which is a crucial element of child-centred reform that will amend laws regarding children's rights and child protection. It is about modernising family law and addressing the particular needs of children in the areas of parentage, guardianship, adoption and custody access. I commend the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, on her publication of the Bill and I...

Income and Living Conditions: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (25 Feb 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I am very grateful for the opportunity to address some of the points made by Members of the Technical Group in their motion. They paint a very dismal picture of this country and its people, a picture which I reject strongly. Of course, there are still many areas of society that need support and investment, but we have come a long way in the last four years and will continue to do so. I...

Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Mar 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill which introduces a number of changes to the social welfare system, some of which were introduced in budget 2015. I acknowledge the work being done in this area by the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, and her Department. This Government is very committed to a fair welfare system which supports those who need it most and helps people come out of...

Family Home Mortgage Settlement Arrangement Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Mar 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill introduced by Fianna Fáil and acknowledge the situation of people in mortgage distress. I wish there was a quick fix but, unfortunately, there is not. Since taking office, this Government has been working very hard to fix the economy and is making good progress. This is reflected in the growth in international confidence in Ireland....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Cost of Prescription Drugs: Discussion (5 Mar 2015)

Catherine Byrne: I hope to be brief. I thank Ms Maher for her presentation and compliment the local pharmacies. In every community, the local pharmacist is as important to customers as the general practitioner, GP. Many of the questions on generic drugs have been answered, but how does the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, explain generic drugs to customers? Whenever people, even family members, speak with me,...