Results 641-660 of 21,383 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Taoiseach. He will remember during Covid there was a huge discussion around student midwives and nurses and the work that was being done. It was said at that point that the work was not being adequately recognised and compensated. I just think it is really problematic that we are back in a space where young students of nursing and midwifery feel again that they are not being...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Young people and students working within the healthcare system are going to watch very carefully to see what we have to say and whether we are prepared to put our money where our mouths are. On this side of the House we certainly are. I will send on details of the individual case to the Minister. I hope the Taoiseach takes the point, which is made in good faith, that it is in all of our...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I would first like to address information which I placed on the Dáil record last week relating to an incident where a Sinn Féin representative sent inappropriate text messages to a young person. It was then my understanding that the young person was 17 years of age because of the information provided on his application form when he applied to join Ógra Shinn Féin. That...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Our student nurses and midwives are incredible. They do invaluable nursing work while on placement on wards and, in fact, they keep our hospitals going. They do a minimum of 28 hours a week and they work far beyond their training duties. The McHugh review of 2022 addressed pay for intern nurses. However, the new subsistence allowance for first-to-third-year student nurses does not go...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: It was not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Scoil Mochua in Clondalkin provides education and disability supports to approximately 76 children from Dublin and the wider Leinster region. The children who attend the school have profound physical and intellectual disabilities. For 30 years, the school, its staff and its parents have worked together to transform the lives of hundreds of children. The school's patron is the Central...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: For all that, schools are generally underfunded. This specific school is underfunded to the tune of €125,000, which is needed for heating, cleaning and insurance costs. The CRC has provided a backstop for the shortfall in money coming from the Department of Education. The Minister can tell the House if this has changed but the information I have been given is that Department is...

Child Protection: Statements (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The political cut and thrust-----

Child Protection: Statements (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The political cut and thrust can be bruising, and I accept that this comes with the territory, but as we now get ready to go to the people and as we ask people for their votes and their trust, we should remember there is a fundamental responsibility to the children and young people at the centre of these matters and that responsibility, and that responsibility alone, should be the priority...

Child Protection: Statements (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I take the issue of child protection very seriously. There is nothing more important than protecting the safety and well-being of children and responding effectively when they are harmed. Ensuring that children are safe and cared for is a responsibility we all share, no matter who we are or our walk of life. It is something in which I passionately believe as a public representative, as the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: The only problem with that perspective is that the legal obligation for an assessment of needs within six months is set out in law. As we speak now, the State continues to break the law. The Taoiseach will concede and accept that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I hope he also accepts that this is not a tolerable situation. That has to change and for it to change, he needs to name a date, in my opinion. That is also the opinion, as the Taoiseach knows, of Cara Darmody, of her father Mark, and everybody who has campaigned very hard on this issue. I mentioned Jaden and Ciara to the Taoiseach. Like many parents, Ciara is not on her own. There...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----although he is not an exception. There are many others in that situation. Rather than questioning the commitment for the six-month rule, can the Taoiseach make a commitment that the law will be respected and that the six-month rule will be upheld? The Taoiseach knows that is the campaign of Cara Darmody in the end - yes, private provision in the meantime and the finance for it but she...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is for sure.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: There are more than 11,000 children with disabilities waiting for an assessment of needs to be completed. As the Taoiseach knows, they are legally entitled to that assessment within six months, yet over the past decade we have seen a frightening lack of progress from Government in getting children access to their assessment on time. A parliamentary question response to my colleague, Deputy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is that a "Yes"?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: So that is a "Yes".

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: Last Friday I was in Monaghan. While I was there, I met with a group of parents of children with profound special needs. Their stories were very familiar to me - all too familiar, in fact, because I hear similar in every community visit that I make. They battle the system every single day to try to secure for their children the services they need, such as assessments of need, occupational...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I wish the school in Clontibret and educators beyond that all the very best in Monaghan, but Deputy Carthy brought me to meet these families. They are who we met and they could recite the stats just as well as the Minister, maybe even better than her. They are still left with the reality that there is no special school in Monaghan. The special classrooms have their place and are extremely...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Oct 2024)

Mary Lou McDonald: I will be interested to hear what action you took. I am sure the parties will avail of that opportunity.