Results 7,081-7,100 of 21,404 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Ceisteanna - Questions: Seanad Reform (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: The abolition of the Seanad is a well-trodden path which then turned into the reform of Seanad but none of the above has happened. I do not detect any great political appetite or urgency for dealing with the issue. My questions, much like the previous speaker, are around when all of this will be actioned and who will chair the implementation group. There have been 12 separate reports...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I do not believe an M50-type solution to the Border is a serious proposition at all and I do not believe it demonstrates any kind of political nous or understanding of the job that needs to be done. It is a very significant challenge to ensure that not only the economic life of the island but also the political life and the Good Friday Agreement infrastructure are not completely undermined....

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Although the Revenue Commissioners carried out the exercise, I do not believe the exercise was necessary to put what I describe up in lights. The Taoiseach gave the reasons the Cabinet sub-committee is not meeting as regularly as would be optimal. Given this, he needs to ask himself the purpose of the sub-committee and the effectiveness of its work. May I ask the Taoiseach about the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I do not think that is helpful or appropriate.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is the job of the Taoiseach to protect the interests of the country and the island as a whole and it is absolutely and resolutely squarely in the region of having no border. The Taoiseach might answer my question about the sub-committee and my proposition to him that he has a Brexit sub-committee that is in session and meeting all the time, not monthly.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: On the Cabinet sub-committees, does the Taoiseach believe it is wise or appropriate for Brexit to be put alongside European issues? I understood that international affairs also featured in that sub-committee. Will the Taoiseach clarify this point? Brexit issues require a singular focus and effort. When we last spoke on these on 3 October, the Taoiseach told us that the previous...

Order of Business (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I want to return to the national mitigation plan, which was published in July by the Minister, Deputy Naughten. The Taoiseach said that the consultation on the national adaptation framework will conclude on 27 October. Will the framework and the proposals be available by 10 December, which I understand is the target date? Is the Taoiseach on track for that? Thereafter, how long will it...

Order of Business (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is in our prebudget speech.

Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is a separate issue.

Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I fully accept that pensioner poverty is an issue that affects men as well as women, but it is also a fact that the changes made in 2012 disproportionately affect women. That is why it is an issue of such concern for organisations such as the Irish Countrywomen's Association. As complex as pensions are and the rules and regulations concerning them, it is not complicated to understand that a...

Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thought the Taoiseach read our pre-budget submission.

Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: It has now tabled a Dáil motion, which I welcome and which sets out to achieve the very thing it opposed last December.

Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Therefore, there is more brass on the necks of the Fianna Fáil leadership that one would expect in a marching band. Can we welcome Fianna Fáil to the corner of these women, no matter how late, cynical or self-serving its arrival might be? Here is the rub: the Taoiseach will lose the vote on the motion tomorrow night as I believe the Dáil will vote in support of the women....

Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I join with the Taoiseach and all of the House in our expressions of sympathy to and solidarity with the families and loved ones of Clare O'Neill, Michael Pyke and Fintan Goss. I also recognise the enormous efforts of our emergency services, our first responders, those organisations that deal with the homeless, ESB crews, public transport teams, people working in the health services and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: 178. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the construction of a permanent school building for a school (details supplied) will commence; when the temporary accommodation for two of the school's classes will be in place enabling the classes temporarily located in a school (details supplied) to move back to the Rathborne, Dublin 15, site; and if he will make a statement on the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Status (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: 275. To ask the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7 will receive an appointment for occupational therapy; and the reason for the delay [43382/17]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Rural Development Programme (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: 410. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will extend membership of the monitoring committee for Ireland’s rural development programme 2014 to 2020 to an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43450/17]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Free Travel Scheme Eligibility (17 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: 560. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated full year cost of providing all persons in receipt of a long-term illness payment with a free travel pass. [43446/17]

Leaders' Questions (12 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is the Government seriously asking women to wait until 2020 for this matter to be resolved? That is bonkers, unbelievable and unacceptable. Every Member accepts the changes introduced in 2012 disproportionately affect and impoverish women. I have told the Tánaiste that almost 25% of women in receipt of a State pension are discriminated against to the tune of €30 a week. That...

Leaders' Questions (12 Oct 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: The women affected campaigned on this issue before the budget. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were aware of this issue before they signed off on the budget. The women in question have been led to believe there is unanimous support in the Dáil for the reversal of the 2012 changes, and that the Dáil understands and will end this discrimination against women. That is what needs to...