Results 1-20 of 6,696 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Catherine Connolly

Housing and Homelessness: Statements (22 Mar 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Comhghairdeas leat, a Cheann Comhairle. Ní bhfuair mé deis é sin a rá ar an gcéad lá. Guím gach rath ort. An méid sin ráite, ní dóigh liom go mbeidh an tAire sásta leis an méid atá le rá agam, ach feicfimid. The arrogance of the Minister, Deputy Kelly, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach is incredible in the...

Housing and Homelessness: Statements (22 Mar 2016)

Catherine Connolly: A tenant or housing applicant, on becoming involved in this scheme, is removed from the waiting list and considered to be adequately house. This was mentioned earlier by one or two Members but it has not been mentioned thus far by anybody from the caretaker Government. There has been a fundamental change in housing policy but this Government has not learned anything, in particular, that the...

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I take exception, as one of the Independents 4 Change Deputies, to being told that we are sitting here not participating, particularly by the Labour Party, but also by other parties in this House. It has been about seven weeks since the election, and seven is usually a significant number. It was considered the age of reason for a very long time, certainly throughout my childhood, and we...

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I did not interrupt the Deputy. She had plenty of time to talk. I will quote from another organisation that is not known as radically left-wing, Sherry FitzGerald. It tells us in yesterday's newspapers: "The property market is in crisis". It goes on to state: "Rising housing prices mask true dysfunction of property market". I have not heard one single proposal to deal in an integrated...

Health Services: Statements (20 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I want to tell the Minister that I am here as an Independent, not to lambast or pick up a cudgel, metaphorical or otherwise. I am here to articulate what the people elected me to, which is a different narrative from the one the Minister has articulated. In regard to the health service, people have told us repeatedly at the doors in Galway that they want a public health service based on...

Health Services: Statements (20 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: There was one Minister here for most of the morning. I welcome the other colleagues who have now come into the Chamber. In regard to the Minister's speech, I deplore the lack of vision and the utter failure to recognise the crisis that exists in health, as it does in housing - two issues among a number of other issues that have driven me into the Dáil to have a voice. There is an...

EU-UK Relations: Statements (21 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I am sharing time with Deputy Pringle.

EU-UK Relations: Statements (21 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I agree with Deputy Pringle that we should leave the sovereign state of England to make its own decision. It is noteworthy that we have given aside all of today to discuss, ostensibly in a neutral manner, the effect of the possible exit of Britain, when the real sub-text is, "Please, do not do this because we will be down". As Deputy Pringle said, we have had a discussion of the possible...

EU-UK Relations: Statements (21 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Twenty. I will conclude as it is late in the day. It is interesting that we gave this day to something over which we have no control, a vote of a sovereign people, but we did not give a day to water charges. We do not have time to discuss water charges, housing or health with a view to tackling the things over which we do have control.

Ireland's Stability Programme Update April 2016: Statements (27 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: If anything underlines the empty rhetoric of new politics, it is this empty Chamber. If anything underlines the emptiness of new politics, it is being given a document today with no time to read it. If anything underlines the emptiness of our ongoing celebration of our independence, it is being told that we can make no input into this document and that it is going to Europe with or without...

Irish Water: Statements (27 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Yes, five minutes each.

Irish Water: Statements (27 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I am sufficiently new in the Chamber to still be aghast at the arrogant, contemptuous and self-serving content of the speech given by the Minister. I would have thought I would have seen a little humility and a hands-up acknowledgement of the mistakes made and the debacle of Irish Water as clearly outlined by various Deputies, in particular Deputy Smith who outlined the money that has gone...

EU Migration and Refugee Crisis: Statements (28 Apr 2016)

Catherine Connolly: As far back as September 2015 the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the current situation was primarily a refugee crisis. Notwithstanding that, today we have a mixture of talk about migration and refugees. The Commissioner said the vast majority of those arriving in Greece come from conflict zones such as Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan and they are simply running for their lives. All...

Agriculture: Statements (4 May 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Let me assure the Deputy who was worried about hares being raised that I will raise legitimate concerns. I will use my five minutes to focus on one issue in the Minister's speech, a subject that received one sentence in a 13-page speech on agriculture and yet, along with climate change, poses the most significant threat to agriculture and fisheries, which is the Transatlantic Trade and...

Agriculture: Statements (4 May 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Let me just raise some of my concerns about it. It has been conducted in absolute secrecy up to now. If one is happy with that type of secrecy, fair play.

Agriculture: Statements (4 May 2016)

Catherine Connolly: The main goal of TTIP is to regulate barriers which restrict the potential profits to be made by transnational corporations on both sides of the Atlantic. These barriers are in reality-----

Agriculture: Statements (4 May 2016)

Catherine Connolly: These barriers are in reality-----

Agriculture: Statements (4 May 2016)

Catherine Connolly: These barriers are in reality, given that most tariffs between the EU and USA are already at minimal levels, some of our most prized social standards and environmental regulations such as labour rights, food safety rules, and the regulation of the use of toxic chemicals. In addition to this deregulation agenda, TTIP also seeks to create new markets by opening up public services and...

Climate Change: Statements (4 May 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Unfortunately, Kerry's Deputy "Palin" Healy-Rae has left the Chamber, but I refer him to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and in particular to their fifth assessment report and its headline. The Deputy might read the details. I will give him a copy of it. It is at least 95% likely that human activities, chiefly the burning of fossil fuels, are the main cause of warming since...

Climate Change: Statements (4 May 2016)

Catherine Connolly: -----which will be one of the main problems resulting from a failure to deal with climate change. It is an agreement that the Government is championing. I agree with the leader of the Green Party when he says this is a golden opportunity and we should be leading. It is an absolute golden opportunity for us to take the business opportunities offered by alternative energy and to lead the...