Results 23,421-23,440 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Child Care Services Provision (24 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: 699. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if, in relation to policy underlining his Department's remit to develop policy in relation to mainstream pre-school and after-school care for children, any research or studies have been conducted to establish the effects of transferring children with special needs from ABA environments to mainstream non-ABA environments; if any policy...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (19 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Will people have to fill out separate forms? Will the transfer list be a new initiative and what vehicle will be used to facilitate it? From the Limerick pilot, does it seem that this is a fundamental change to the overall housing policy, where those in receipt of long-term supplement support remain on the housing list? Has something happened since we started debating this Bill?

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (19 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: The Minister of State needs to set out, chapter and verse, whether the points system will still apply and whether people will be reinstated to a list in the same position. Is this a shift from direct provision to a system where the exclusive responsibility for social housing will delivered by the private sector through a market-led approach?

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (19 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: It is very difficult to reconcile what local authority personnel appearing before committees have told us and the Bill we are debating, which has several identified issues. The officials from the Department are telling us one thing but the Minister of State is saying something else. I cannot see any area within the legislation to clarify the issues.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (19 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: When RAS was introduced, I found myself talking people into it because they had no prospect of being housed. Depending on their position on the list, they were required to be renting for 18 months. In many cases, I tried to match a tenant with a landlord to make the scheme work because it offered people some element of security in a rented house. The tenancies were usually for...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (19 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 41:In page 64, lines 38 and 39, to delete "15 per cent" and substitute "5 per cent".

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (19 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: 61. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the supports that are available in situations where teachers and parents at a mainstream school wish to facilitate the continued education of children with moderate learning disabilities due to, for example, Down's syndrome, in that mainstream school environment where they believe this would be beneficial to the children in question, either...

Public Sector Management (Appointment of Senior Members of the Garda Síochána) Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (18 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. In principle, I absolutely believe we need to separate politics from the appointment of the Garda Commissioner. I think a Member on the Government side outlined the fact there were 200 appointments, of which I was aware, but he said that of those 200, one pretty much takes the Garda Commissioner's list. That is all the more reason...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: The third funding stream is the property tax, which is essentially being used to replace the general purposes grant and is estimated to bring in €290 million in 2014. In a recent Sunday Business Post article, Michael Brennan outlined in graphic detail how only nine local authorities will have the capacity to fulfil the commitment to reduce the property tax by 15%.

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: What analysis was done prior to the Taoiseach giving his commitment that Fine Gael councillors would reduce the tax by 15%, and will he publish that analysis? What measures will he now introduce to ensure the 15% reduction is at least possible? It seems to me that the only thing that can be done is to reverse the cut in the general purposes fund. Will the Taoiseach agree to do it?

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: The Taoiseach is saying that it is too early to say what the budgetary figures will be, but this did not stop him from making a promise which people took at face value. If one walked into a shop advertising a 15% reduction on all goods only to find there was just one small rail where that reduction applied, one would be a disappointed customer and probably would not return to the shop. This...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: In the absence of reversing the cuts in the general purposes grant, there is no chance of a reduction of 15% in the property tax. The Taoiseach is not giving people at local government level the possibility of effecting that cut. I have asked the Taoiseach if he will reverse the cut in the general purposes grant. Will he also give an absolute assurance that 80% of property taxes collected...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Yesterday, we listened as the Fiscal Advisory Council stated that we must plough ahead with a further €2 billion of adjustments in this year's budget, on the basis that economic growth is uncertain and the national debt is alarmingly high. The idea of a further cut of €2 billion will strike terror into those who have already been ravaged by years of austerity. With the national...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Industrial Disputes (18 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: 66. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a resolution to an longstanding unresolved issue (details supplied) over an employment dispute is likely to be forthcoming in the near future; if he will indicate a timeframe to which a substantive response is likely to issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26344/14]

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I mentioned earlier that Kildare County Council does not operate a transfer list. A person who goes on the transfer list because he or she is unsatisfactorily housed essentially goes on the council waiting list. If they go on that list today, they get the number for today. If a person who has been taken off the list because he or she is deemed to be satisfactorily housed needs to be placed...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I know the Department of Social Protection has the ability to make a deduction from a social welfare payment if there has been an overpayment at some point in the past. In some cases, the Department goes back very long distances. This section of the Bill allows for a 15% deduction. Can this be applied in addition to another deduction? If there has also been a social welfare overpayment,...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I acknowledge there is a poverty trap in the rent assistance system which prevents people from going to work. Essentially, they are worse off where the entry level for employment is quite low. I can understand why it becomes an issue. There is no doubt, therefore, that this is a positive aspect of the legislation. However, the biggest negative is that people will be taken off housing...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 35:In page 62, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “52. (1) The Minister shall, six months after the coming into operation of this Part, cause a review to be conducted which shall assess the effectiveness of the measures contained in this Part under the following categories:(a) the net effect on the numbers of families waiting for accommodation to be...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: There are a variety of processes rather than tenants understanding what the rules might be and fairness. For example, a young woman I am dealing with who is homeless had a baby about a month ago. She cannot register the baby because she has no address. She has a four year old in school in north Kildare. It was suggested to her that there was rented accommodation in Monasterevin, which...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: The Minister of State did not say if she was willing to consider a period of more than three months and whether an amendment can be tabled in the Seanad. Does she plan to continue with the legislation as it stands?