Results 5,861-5,880 of 21,404 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yesterday, I raised with the Taoiseach the crisis impacting on those in the private rental sector and he brushed the concerns I raised aside. I note he is doing the same this morning. As he acknowledged, Threshold has published its annual report, the findings of which illustrate the extent of the plight facing renters across the State. It states:It became evident in 2017 that some...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: It proposes a very necessary change in the law. I remind Deputy Martin and his party that Fianna Fáíl voted against that amendment, along with its Fine Gael colleagues in Government. Shame on Fianna Fáil. It is a disgrace for it to have done that-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----and contributed to the haemorrhaging of families, in particular, into homelessness. It did so with its eyes wide open.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yesterday, I asked the Taoiseach to address these issues. I will try again today. When will the Government bring in a rent freeze, a tax break for renters rather than the landlord friends of the Government and the amendment that is necessary to protect people and keep them in their homes when landlords choose to sell?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: The figures I quoted are not my figures; they were produced by Threshold, the RTB and daft.ie, which all Members will accept are reputable sources. Of course, this is not about figures and statistics. It is about people. Anybody with eyes, ears and a brain can process what is clearly evident all around us and understand the depths of the crisis we face. The Taoiseach's reply to me this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: However, the Taoiseach has steadfastly refused to give the same focus to renters. The Government can make one of two choices. It can continue with this claptrap, this trend it is on, and Nero can fiddle while Rome burns, or it can accept the objective facts.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: While the Taoiseach talks about striking what he regards as an appropriate balance of rights, an article was published in the media today-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----which states that many people who are in homelessness and relying on hotel accommodation may be turfed out from that accommodation as Christmas approaches. We raise these matters with the Taoiseach and we get nonsense and cop-outs and claptrap about Christmas trees. What is the Taoiseach going to do for renters? What contingency plans are in place for people who may face being thrown...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: 7. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the role of his Department in preparing for Brexit. [48234/18]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: In some respects, this issue of preparedness is a difficult one. I do not believe this State should concede that we will countenance for a second a scenario in which there is any hardening of the Border on our island. I do not think we should concede our ambitions in respect of North-South trade, the maintenance of the status quoand the protection of our agreements. We have agreed that all...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: 3. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent engagements with the President of Finland, Mr. Sauli Niinistö, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Mr. Juri Sipilä. [48235/18]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: The centenary commemorative events provided a moment and opportunity for many families the length and breadth of this land and beyond to remember in a very specific way the members of their family who fell in what was termed the Great War. In the midst of that very necessary remembrance of young lives lost - an entire generation - in the killing fields of Flanders, it is very important that...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Seanad Reform (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Taoiseach for his answer. I understand that the work of the Seanad reform implementation group is due to conclude next week, that it was to sign off on a proposed Bill to give effect to the recommendations of the Manning report and that the legislation was then to be sent to the Taoiseach. What happens next in the process? Will the Taoiseach accept the group's Bill? I am aware...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Seanad Reform (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: 1. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the Seanad reform implementation group. [48019/18]

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yesterday was the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It is timely to remind ourselves that although 2018 has been an important year for citizens with a disability, much remains to be done. In March, the State finally ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was very welcome. However, that ratification was only a first step and the real...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Taoiseach's party has been in government for more than seven years. For the purposes of clarity, the theme I raised was not Christmas so much as the theme of a housing crisis and a homelessness crisis over which the Taoiseach and his colleagues have presided. People took to the streets in vast numbers on Saturday. I am sure all of us are aware that it is not easy to mobilise people....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: I would like the Taoiseach to address the question I asked about the possibility of a rent freeze. I put it to him again that there is a need to adopt the proposal known as the Focus amendment to deal with the issue of landlords seeking vacant possession to sell houses and homes over the heads of tenants.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: This is one of the main contributing factors, if not the main one, to homelessness and family homelessness in particular. I have mentioned two concrete, innovative, brave and decisive things that the Taoiseach could do if he were minded to get a grip on this situation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: Can we have a straight answer on the rent freeze as well as on the amendment to the law that has been proposed and with which the Taoiseach is familiar?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Dec 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: It has been known as the Focus amendment since it was advanced by Focus Ireland in the first instance.