Results 301-320 of 1,352 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Extending the tenant in situfacility for social housing tenants is the objective of this legislation so the people who are not on a social housing list and are earning above the social housing income thresholds can avail of the rental property, providing it is being sold. That is a decision the landlord takes independently. At that stage essentially it becomes their permanent home. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Local authorities, to be fair, would have an obligation as a landlord. Their best interest is served as a responsible landlord to ensure sustainable and good management, whether it is an estate or a block. On the timeline issue, from my experience with the tenant in situscheme with Dublin City Council, it has worked well on both sides. It has worked well for the tenant because they do not...

Seanad: Recent Violence in Dublin City Centre: Motion (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I second the motion.

Seanad: Recent Violence in Dublin City Centre: Motion (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister for being here and I thank the Fine Gael group for putting forward this motion. It gives the House an opportunity to discuss what was arguably the most important public order event in recent times, not just in the city but in the country. I want to start, as everyone else has done, by thinking about Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Like others, I want to express my sympathies and condolences to the family of Tras Honan. May she rest in peace. Today I want to speak to the appalling events that took place in my constituency and my community last Thursday. I want to start by talking and thinking about the children, their families and their carers and everybody at Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square. It...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: All of our energies should be going on addressing what caused it and ensuring it never happens again. We need to have an uncompromising response to crime and antisocial behaviour in our communities. It was my community last week but it will be other Senators' communities another day. Unless, as a society, we have an uncompromising response to crime and antisocial behaviour, it will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the witnesses for the work they have done to get the legislation through. This has been far too long coming so it is good we are having this discussion. It is an enormous responsibility. All around the world democracy is being rivalled by autocracy. Here, our democracy is under attack on a daily basis. I do not think any of us should be blasé about this. We need to take the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: What validation is being conducted on the existing 3 million supposed voters registered?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: The local authorities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: They have done none.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Have any of them done it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It sounds like the Department has done a lot of work in this space. Would it be possible to give us a report on the extent of the work, the funding provided, the local authorities that have engaged and what they have actually done? I am going to run out of time. My other question was about officers in polling stations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: What qualifications do they need?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I am referring to the people who are recruited to man polling stations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Do they need to be able to read or write?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is there. It is public information that the people who man our polling stations have no qualifications. They do not even need to be able to speak English or Irish. That is the reality. We can do a post-electoral review if we want but let us be honest with the public. That is the context within which our ballot boxes and democracy operate. It is a serious red flag. We need to do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: That is a valid point. I agree with Mr. Ryan. Traditionally, that is the case but we are at full employment. There is no sector that is not struggling to recruit. Every profession is struggling, even good professions with good pensionable jobs. One must ask how important our democracy is and how important the job we ask them to do is. We ask them to give a minimum of 16 hours, deal with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: There are 85 presiding officers, all of whom are drawn from the public service and are educated, qualified people with plenty of experience. Within each polling station, there are multiple tables and officers. Traditionally, political parties put people in - this tradition ended quite a long time ago - which meant there was some level of independent, or quasi-independent observation of what...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I agree completely with the Cathaoirleach. I urge the Electoral Commission to be enthusiastic and ambitious and to sort out the issue of posters, before the next election if possible. It is environmentally bad. It has a distorting effect. I do not think we should ban them entirely. They do, of course, have a value. A reasonable limit should be set, though, and a level playing field...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: We should aim for a level playing field and we should not leave this to Tidy Towns' groups to undertake.