Results 5,081-5,100 of 5,133 for speaker:Mairéad Farrell

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: My colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, and Sinn Féin in general have been calling for a roadmap for a return to education for a number of months. We were promised one for 12 June, but what we got was a document that outlined a number of elements, including how children might only return for a few days per week if social distancing of 2 m applied. Subsequently, however, the then...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I also notice that in his opening statement, Mr. Ó Foghlú outlined that the aim is to prevent Covid-19 getting into any school. That obviously is the aim of the game but in the event of a child or a teacher becoming ill with Covid-19, which is a likely situation, will the State carry the liability for any cases that may follow or will the Department expect the board of management...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: As Mr. Ó Foghlú mentioned, hygiene is a central aspect of this entire situation. Sinn Féin has long called for the Department to cover all additional hygiene costs as schools simply cannot bear the costs. There is also a concern that the cost would then be passed on to parents. We know that many families are struggling financially at the moment. Can the Department guarantee...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: On PPE, there is quite a debate at the moment about masks and the importance of wearing them. Is it being considered that children or teachers would wear any form of masks or visors? That could then have educational impacts. Does Mr. Ó Foghlú envisage any educational impacts from the wearing of masks in terms of a lack of visual cues for children with special educational needs?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: There is a huge volume of work for all involved in delivering this. Will additional secretarial supports be provided and will teaching principals get additional release dates to allow them to focus on making the school safe?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Gabhaim buíochas as an gcur i láthair. I found the opening statement extremely powerful and what is particularly scandalous is that we have known of the concerns for workers in meat processing factories and it is something that is not new. We have known of the scandalous mistreatment of these workers, of which such a proportion are from the migrant community. Covid-19 was...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: ----

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: That is something that I would have imagined to be the case as well What Ms. McGinley said about Ireland being a low-pay economy highlights the impact of low wages on people's lives. A significant element of the Government's response to Covid-19 was based on personal responsibility but having read the centre's opening statement, the reality is that if a person is in a low income job it is...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I come from a German-speaking household, as my mother is German, and so I understand the language barriers from when my granny moved over. I found it distressing and disturbing that the Government failed to translate the literature that was key for so many people to ensure they had accurate information on social distancing and their rights. We learned this week that huge money was spent on...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I totally agree with Ms McGinley on that. Unfortunately, that is the reality in our society across many workplaces. The quote included in her opening statement regarding contact tracing was outrageous. I know there were some translation services available but was English the main language used in contact tracing? Was the information given to workers with Covid-19 in their native language...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Of course, MRCI can only do so much.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Absolutely. We will pursue this with the HSE because that is a huge issue for so many people, especially when there are low levels of literacy and all that. It is outrageous that this information was not provided in workers' native languages from the very beginning, particularly given that we know a certain number of specific languages are mainly used. I refer to the agency staff. One...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis na finnéithe as teacht os comhair an choiste seo. No one can claim that they did not know about this issue because it was raised by ICTU and the unions in early March. The Government was well aware of it. SIPTU wrote to the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, on 3 April to warn him of their concerns...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Mr. Healy said that there were substantial measures from early on. Mr. Carroll told Deputy Bríd Smith that it was not perfect. We need to realise that this was disastrous for the people who worked there and were affected by this. We are talking about 1,100 people being infected with Covid-19, a disease that has caused a global pandemic. To say that substantial measures were taken...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Temperature checking is a measure that has been implemented around the world. I will go back to something previous speakers have raised. I was talking to people who work in these factories before coming to this meeting and there is a high level of concern due to the lack of sick leave. While it may be provided in certain factories, other factories do not provide sick leave. If someone is...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I think we would all agree on that. This shows the importance of people having paid sick leave and I hope MII's members and all workplaces take note of that. Another matter that was brought to my attention was the filling out of questionnaires before going into work to show that one is not sick. One report showed there were ten key languages spoken by people whose English was not that...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Meat Plants (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: I will definitely welcome what the witnesses come back with on the agencies because there seems to be a huge amount of confusion. Do the agencies have a role in health and safety? They have a huge role in bringing people to these workplaces and getting them the jobs. Do they put the employees in touch with local GPs?

Rent and Mortgage Arrears: Motion [Private Members] (8 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: Tá sé thar am dúinn déileáil leis seo. We absolutely support the call for a system to deal with rent arrears. The Government inaction on this will just leave more children in homeless accommodation. We in Sinn Féin have been calling for this issue to be tackled for some time. We know from data published by the ESRI that young people and those renting are more...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (7 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: 273. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act 1997 outlined a central funding model for water services and removed the power of local authorities to make charges for supply of water for domestic purposes; the funding per year estimated by his Department to be made available for the provision of water services through...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (7 Jul 2020)

Mairéad Farrell: 274. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if planning applications relating to proposed developments on State-owned land that are submitted to a local authority by State bodies, such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service under the auspices of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, are required to be published publicly in regional newspapers and...