Results 20,061-20,080 of 21,306 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: Where is the Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn? Is he in the Chamber? Shame on him. Not so long ago, the students were outside in fine voice looking for the Government Deputies.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: They wanted to speak to them. Do they know their message? It was that Fine Gael and the Labour Party should keep their promise. It seems their call has fallen on deaf ears. Not only are cuts in education unacceptable, they fly in the face of any prospect for the knowledge economy we need to build to help us recover. In other jurisdictions faced with recession a conscious decision is taken...

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----such as in respect of the use of generic drugs-----

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----and in respect of ending the subsidisation of private medicine in public hospitals.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: What the Minister has chosen to do instead of bringing these savings fully home he chose to cut €50 million in disability, mental health and children's services. Shame on you.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: This boils down to a political choice. The Minister promised one thing in opposition but is delivering another in government.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: In the North of the country, since our colleagues are so interested, my colleagues are fighting with the British Government-----

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: If the Government backbenchers cannot listen to a sensible debate they might want to go outside and play with their Lego sets.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: In the North of this country my colleagues are arguing for the devolution of fiscal powers so the people of the Six Counties can make their own tax and spending decisions.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: As it stands, the Assembly is at the mercy of a block grant, which the Tory Government cuts at will.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: Services are constantly under threat in the Six Counties, while Ministers do all they can to protect them. Therefore, the Administration is faced with hard choices. Members have much to say in this Chamber about Sinn Féin in the North. Sinn Féin has protected the most vulnerable, those on low incomes and at risk of poverty.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: There are no prescription or water charges. A social solidarity fund has been established and the wages of lower paid public servants have been protected.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: It has made fair choices. The Minister could take a leaf out of its book. He says he has no choices, but he does. The European Union and the IMF want us to repay our debts, but they are willing to negotiate on the measures to be taken. The Minister said this, when it suited him, and they stated it, too.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Government chooses to follow a memorandum of understanding reached by Fianna Fáil. The Minister chooses to inflict the same level and types of cuts.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: Why does he protect the status quo? It seems from the carry-on of his party to date that his priority is more about elevating his own position of power than worrying about the little people on whose backs it climbed to get to power. The Minister says his budgetary measures are necessary, but what alternatives did he pursue? Tomorrow the Minister for Finance will set out the Government's...

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: We concentrated on taxes over spending cuts. Deficit reduction is necessary. How it is done is at the discretion of the Government. Did any Minister even once argue at the Cabinet that this balance was wrong? Is the Minister telling us the Labour Party which last year advocated a third tax rate of 48% and adopting a 50:50 approach on taxes and spending cuts now believes a higher ratio of...

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: Bhí gá le treoir dearfach ón Rialtas inniu. Ba chóir fáil ré leis an sean-pholaitíocht, an pholaitíocht a theip. Bhí gá le fís nua do mhuintir na hÉireann. Bhí gá le céim chun tosaigh, ach ní mar sin atá sé. Tá a rogha déanta ag Páirtí an Lucht Oibre agus is ionann iad agus an Rialtas a scrios eacnamaíocht na tíre seo.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: This should have been the day when real leadership was shown, when the failed policies of the past were left behind and the people could see, at last, a fair way forward. Today the Labour Party has made its choices and shown its hand. They are all the same after all. No one in the Dáil struggles on €200 a week, has sleepless nights and the feeling of dread in the pit of his or her...

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: The people know how hard it is. They make tough decisions every day.

Statements on Expenditure (5 Dec 2011)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister has shown he cannot take tough decisions. He will not lead from the front and cut from the top. This is a bad day's work. Shame on the Minister.