Results 20,141-20,160 of 21,525 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Tánaiste committed to publishing the residential institutions statutory fund Bill during this Dáil session. This will be a difficult and controversial item of legislation, particularly for survivors of institutional abuse who still await State recognition and redress. The interdepartmental committee on the Magdalene laundries has not reported back to the Dáil and I am disappointed...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Today the troika will give its verdict on the first full year of implementing the so-called "bailout". I for one have no doubt it will place a big gold star on the Government's copybook in recognition of its policy of cutbacks and the ongoing assault on the livelihoods of low and middle income earners. I have no doubt the troika will say we are getting there, we are ticking the boxes and we...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am certain I am not alone in the sheer boredom and tedium I feel when I hear the Tánaiste talk yet again about his inheritance. He is in government now. This is his gig and all of this is happening on his watch.

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is utterly perverse for the Tánaiste to ask people to pull on the green jersey in order to bring about cutbacks in our schools and in the health system, and to take half a million home help hours out of the system. That is not the stuff of the green jersey, it is the stuff of seeking a gold star on a copybook from the Tánaiste's friends in the troika. He says it is all about recovery...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Without even rehearsing, yet again, all of the utter misery that the cutbacks agenda, which the Tánaiste so enthusiastically pursues, is bringing to people's lives - even by those objective measures, the bailout strategy is failing. It defies logic that a person who bemoans their inheritance and urges others to put on the green jersey, does not have the simple wit to realise that when one...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Our policies would have people back at work.

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: No, but you might.

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (18 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 115: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide the terms of reference of the current review of the FÁS community employment programme; the way the distinctive nature of the CE ring-fenced drugs rehabilitation projects which have a critical role in delivering the national rehabilitation strategy will be taken into account as part of this review; if she will give...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Government has already done that.

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (17 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 200: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will publish the new report drawn up by the central expenditure and evaluation unit. [2105/12]

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (17 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 206: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will define in detail a public service body in the context of existing and the new single scheme public service pension schemes legislation. [2490/12]

Written Answers — Immigration Service: Immigration Service (17 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 361: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the full cost of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service new computer system AISIP; if the system was fully tested before going live; the action the INIS is taking to address the backlogs in processing and the creating of correspondence arising from the new system; the reason the INIS was unable to ensure the transfer of all...

Written Answers — Preschool Services: Preschool Services (17 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 411: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is reviewing funding for the free preschool year; and if she has ruled out any cut to the scheme funding. [2015/12]

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Where?

National Sports Campus (12 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 9: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the position regarding the developments at the sports campus at Abbotstown, Dublin; the further developments he intends to undertake there; and a timeframe for same. [1564/12]

Rail Services (12 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 12: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport the position regarding the progress of the LUAS extension [1579/12]

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (12 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Question 120: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the full-year expenditure saving arising from his decision to implement from 2012 a phased withdrawal of supports in some schools from earlier disadvantage programmes or schemes predating the current DEIS scheme. [1753/12]

Private Members' Business. Special Educational Needs: Motion (Resumed) (12 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am sure we all remember when the budget was announced in the House. We were told that one of its greatest achievements was that the pupil-teacher ratio had not been affected. That was the stuff of smoke and mirrors because in significant ways the pupil-teacher ratio in schools had been adversely affected in respect of the provision of guidance counsellors, proposed staffing schedules for...

Private Members' Business. Special Educational Needs: Motion (Resumed) (12 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Government deserves credit for what it did during that time under the stewardship, in particular, of Niamh Breathnach when she was Minister, but it must be said the Minister is prepared to undermine these very achievements. He said there were no cutbacks in the DEIS programme. He is dancing on the head of pin.

Private Members' Business. Special Educational Needs: Motion (Resumed) (12 Jan 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister tells us that he wants to address the issue of posts pre the DEIS programme. He also told us last night that the retention of pre-DEIS programme posts was a concessionary measure. His language in the course of the debate in recent weeks has been extremely revealing in the sense that there are legacy issues at play. The Minister knows them well - the legacies of deprivation,...