Results 41-60 of 3,895 for at speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I asked the Minister to share whether he accepts that there is an emergency at University Hospital Limerick. I can only judge by his response that he shares the Taoiseach's view that, in fact, the Government has done enough. I want to reiterate again today that this is not the case. The Minister is frankly delusional on this matter. I described to him, and he echoed, the facts on the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I raised the issue of the overcrowding crisis at University Hospital Limerick with the Taoiseach yesterday. He sought to downplay the severity of the situation. Indeed, listening to Leo Varadkar, you would be forgiven for thinking that the dire problems at the hospital were a figment of people's imaginations. This morning, however, we wake up to the news that the crisis continues. Nearly...

International Women's Day: Statements (5 Mar 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is fitting that International Women's Day takes place in springtime, which is the season that represents the spirit of renewal, hope and change, a time when darkness gives way to light and we can all see that bit better how far women have come and how far we have yet to travel. Generations of Irish women - courageous changemakers - struggled to transform the future for all of us to ensure...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Taoiseach's position seems to be that there is actually no problem at University Hospital Limerick. He has just recounted for me, in his view, a huge record of success and adequate investment. That seems to be his position. The reality on the ground, of course, is very different. I recounted for him the story of 71-year-old stroke patient who was on a trolley for eight days. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Our hospitals are under massive pressure. Record waiting lists, a year-round trolley crisis and embedded problems in recruitment and retention mean the health service is creaking at the seams. Nowhere is this pressure more acutely felt than at University Hospital Limerick. Yesterday, there were 143 patients on trolleys at the hospital. Today, people are being urged to avoid the emergency...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Post Office Network (29 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: 154. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the proposed conversion of Phibsborough Post Office was discussed at the meeting with Minister of State at the Department of Transport and at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and An Post on 14 February 2024; if this post office is included in An Post's undertaking to review its decision to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: With respect, that is all just rhetoric. The problem is the Government is not responding to Maggie. She is ten years old. She is receiving no services. She is in a full-blown crisis and her mother is desperate. That is Maggie's story. The Minister's assertions do not change that fact at all. What is the response for Maggie? Is it a Minister taking to his feet and rattling off figures...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The crisis in child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, has escalated to a full-blown emergency. On the watch of this Government, waiting lists for first-time appointments have increased dramatically, while the number of young people waiting more than one year has nearly trebled. It is virtually impossible to access services. The reviews into CAMHS by the Mental Health Commission...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (21 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Earlier, I cited the number of 327 children on waiting lists for scoliosis-related surgery. The Taoiseach challenged me on that matter. I wish to put the correct figure on the record of the Dáil, which is, in fact, 333. I had underestimated. This is published data from Children's Health Ireland from 19 February. The Taoiseach lost no time in summoning the Russian ambassador to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am looking across at members of Government too, and the picture is not pretty.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...saluting the memory of Michael O'Regan, who was a gentleman and a truly fine and fair professional. Our thoughts are with him and his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. The scandal relating to RTÉ has gone on for months. It has gone on since last summer, and the Taoiseach still talks about it as if he was some detached, inconsequential observer. He still cannot...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The ongoing controversy at RTÉ serves no one well, least of all the members of the public who rely on it as a source of factual and accurate news and current affairs. It is damaging to people's trust in public broadcasting that the fallout from what the Taoiseach has described as a culture of arrogance and entitlement at RTÉ continues to play out. This issue is not going away...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (14 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: 6. To ask the Taoiseach to report on his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. [5100/24]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (14 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: A long-term strategy for climate, nature and energy was one of the key themes of the World Economic Forum. This brought the gap between rhetoric and action into public view again. Every single report published in the last year from the EPA, the SEAI or Wind Energy Ireland follows a worrying trend. They predict that Ireland is to blow right through our 2030 targets and miss the momentous...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Family carers do incredible and compassionate work looking after loved ones. As the Taoiseach is aware, they save the State billions of euro, yet they always feel that they are forgotten, left behind and ignored by the system and the Government. On Monday last, my colleagues, Deputies Carthy, Tully and Cullinane, met with families affected by the lack of disability services in County...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...to scrap the television licence. The Government needs to face up to this reality. People's trust and support for RTÉ and the licence have crumbled. People see the fiasco of excess and waste at RTÉ and they feel taken for fools. They also see the lack of accountability and, frankly, they have had enough. This collapse in public confidence is not helped by the revelation that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The long-running debacle surrounding the construction and, more importantly, the completion of the national children's hospital rumbles on. This afternoon we learned that the staggering cost of the hospital has increased again by almost €500 million. This pushes the current cost up to €2.2 billion, a cost that is frankly unbelievable. What is even more outrageous is that we...

Death of Former Taoiseach: Expressions of Sympathy (7 Feb 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I was very sorry to hear of the passing of former Taoiseach John Bruton yesterday. Through his long career, he had a significant impact on politics and life in this State, and 'though we held very clear and very important political differences, I want to express my respect for John Bruton's commitment to public service and to representing people. It speaks to his dedication and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (31 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: ..., is €160 and people are voting with their feet in huge numbers. Is it any wonder? People are understandably angry. They feel they are being taken for a ride. The recent financial scandals at RTÉ, the latest chapter of which is the debacle of Toy Show The Musical, have rocked people's trust and confidence in the national broadcaster. The number of people refusing to pay...

International Court of Justice and Genocide in Gaza: Motion [Private Members] (30 Jan 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...every Palestinian killed in Israel's genocidal war, with every innocent Gaza child whose beautiful life is horrifically extinguished, with every family wiped out, home destroyed and hospital decimated, and with every refugee camp bombed, the humanity of the world slips further into the darkness. Ireland must now confront that darkness. Ireland must confront this genocide and seek justice...