Results 521-540 of 1,026,734 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Cormac Devlin) in 'Committee meetings'

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The Taoiseach has accepted some of the Government's failures but I would not put them at the feet of just the Department. The Minister stood here and said 33% of schools would have a disadvantage in their allocation of hours under the model that was suggested and there was no adequate consultation but the Taoiseach is working to correct that. On the rates of people with disabilities in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: There is sometimes a difference in the classification of disability across the EU but that does not take from the broader point the Deputy made about our participation rates of people with a disability in the workforce not being where they need to be. At a time of full employment, we need to address areas of underemployment where people with a disability would like to access the workforce....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Michael Lowry: I raise the issue of community cancer support centres. A diagnosis of cancer can bring with it a myriad of changes. Life can suddenly become a roller-coaster of medical appointments and hospital stays, being unable to work, financial worries, a loss of independence, unintended isolation and a tsunami of fear and uncertainty. These all-consuming changes come at a time when a person is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this really important matter. As he started speaking, I was reminded of a delegation he brought to see me many years ago, when I was Minister for Health, from the Circle of Friends group in Tipperary town. He will remember that at time, the late, great Sarah Gleeson came to see me with Jennifer Jones Hickey and others, and I think of Sarah and her family...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The report makes absolutely clear that half of households, both parents and children, struggle, go without and worry.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: Yes, and let us talk about it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is the upshot of the Barnardos report. It is an echo of Social Justice Ireland, which equally recorded those stresses and strains. Insulting me does not take from that reality. I have put to the Taoiseach that he has made and stated his intention that he wishes to tackle the cost of living. He has made quite a production around this. That is good and he should do that. I am saying...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy must not be a sensitive soul. When I talk about holding her to account for what she said, it is not insulting. I would never insult her. I have great respect for her as a person, but this is what she said about the budget. That is what she said and I can only judge her on the figures she produces and so can the Irish people. I want to motorists to know that, as a Government,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: So, he is not doing it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Please. The Taoiseach, without interruption.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: We are keeping it under review and will make those decisions and continue to keep it under review. However, I am glad the Deputy has also referenced the issue of child poverty today. Child poverty is a really important issue, and we need to do more, but let us look at our record versus Sinn Féin's. In the last budget we extended child benefit, benefitting 60,000 more children. Sinn...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Not true.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: We put €45 million more into hot school meals, they put a paltry €15 million in. We increased the domiciliary care allowance. Sinn Féin did not think those parents deserved any more.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

David Cullinane: We did.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: We provided a lump sum payment for families on qualified child payment. Sinn Féin did not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I can feel another fact check coming on.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: We increased the income threshold for working families, and Sinn Féin did not do that either. In Northern Ireland, where Sinn Féin is now leading the government longer than I am leading this one, it does not yet have a strategy to tackle child poverty. The Deputy can read what the Northern Ireland Audit Office has said.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Thank you, Taoiseach, time is up.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: When is the Sinn Féin First Minister going to deliver a child poverty strategy in Northern Ireland?