Results 6,801-6,820 of 21,647 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (7 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----or rotate later this year? Will the Taoiseach enlighten us with respect to the coalition arrangement with the very independent-minded Fianna Fáil? We are told this has a lifespan ending some time after the next budget. The Fianna Fáil leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, said last month that any review of this deal would only happen after the budget but I recall that before...

Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: As we speak, there are approximately 20,000 households without water, 50,000 with a reduced flow of water and more than 1 million in Dublin with a restricted supply. The programme for Government contains a commitment to protect plans set out by Irish water to upgrade our water infrastructure. The events of recent days highlight the fact that the capital investment plan, published by the...

Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: I agree.

Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: People do pay, just as they pay the Minister's wages.

Leaders' Questions (7 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: Like every Member of the Dáil, I am sure, I share the Taoiseach's wish that the debate be measured, informed, respectful and enlightening. That is our wish. For our part, we will do everything to set that tone. I appreciate the Taoiseach's comments in that regard. I appreciate that the Taoiseach does not want to make unforced errors or to rush but I have to put it to him that this...

Leaders' Questions (7 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Supreme Court has spoken and its decision is unanimous. Its judgment clears the way to advance the referendum on the repeal of the eighth amendment to the Constitution. I understand the Taoiseach had a correct concern for legal clarity before advancing the legislation and that, correctly, he did not wish to pre-empt or even create an impression of interfering or seeking to interfere...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: I too would like to hear something about the due diligence and metrics applied in terms of the compilation of Project Ireland 2040. It seems upon reading it that much of it was a restatement or rehash of announcements that had long been made and that people have been long awaiting. The Taoiseach spoke earlier about the weather event and the status red the country has been through. He...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: 11. To ask the Taoiseach when Cabinet committee D (infrastructure) last met; and when it is scheduled to meet again. [11220/18]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government Implementation (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: 8. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the status of commitments in A Programme for a Partnership Government in respect of political reform. [11221/18]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government Implementation (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: On that note, the programme for Government contains an important commitment on local government. The programme states:As part of the next wave of local government reform the relevant Minister, having consulted widely with all relevant stakeholders, will prepare a report for Government, and for the Oireachtas, by mid-2017 on potential measures to boost local government leadership and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: EU Meetings (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: On the additional seats in the European Parliament, is the Taoiseach open to the idea of people from the North of Ireland being afforded a seat and an opportunity for representation in the parliament given that everyone born on the island is entitled to Irish citizenship and, by extension, European citizenship? I commend that idea to him. I met Michel Barnier yesterday to discuss the...

Order of Business (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is good news from the Taoiseach. He has thought to hold a sitting on Friday and I am sure people will co-operate with that. I share the concern that we are on a very tight timeline in any event. We cannot afford any slippage. That is probably a concern across the House. If I understand the Order Paper correctly, however, the Taoiseach is asking us to vote for an order on Thursday...

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: I was very clear in my use of figures. I said it was a third of the additional moneys allocated for mental health.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: So five by three is 15. Those were the additional moneys. That is a very clear demonstration of the Taoiseach's political priorities. This unit, by his choice and by design, resides within his Department. It is simply not an explanation for him to say that agencies at an arm's length are the accountable ones in terms of the use or misuse of public moneys. It does not work that way. The...

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: In the midst of all of this has been a very clear tactic on the Taoiseach's part, or officials or agencies on his behalf, to exploit the financial situation of regional media. That is not lost on people either.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: The approach has been cynical. It has been underhand. The Taoiseach needs to stand this unit down and answer also the issue I raised with him on the Secretary General of his party - or of his Department, a Freudian slip perhaps - actually carrying out this independent review.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is certainly not independent in that regard.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: Martin Fraser, as I said earlier, is a person I know well and for whom I have great respect. Let me say this.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is not me who has acted to compromise the position of a senior civil servant. That has been the action of the Government and the Taoiseach himself.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----but about promoting the Taoiseach's party. It was not about news, but about propaganda. It was not done to benefit the people, but to benefit Fine Gael. The Taoiseach now says he has ordered a review of the unit-----