Results 7,301-7,320 of 7,404 for speaker:Mick Wallace

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: The point made by Deputy Ó Snodaigh is very good. It would be a good idea to apply it to new jobs only. It is not easy to reduce an employee's rate per hour but employers can reduce hours to get the employee's earnings under €356. I am not sure how this will work. If someone is earning €1 above the minimum wage but is only given 33 or 34 hours, the person will earn under €356....

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: In fairness to Deputy Cowen, he was not here.

Order of Business (16 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: We were promised legislation to establish a strategic investment bank. The Tánaiste will agree small and medium-sized businesses are screaming for a bank open to lending. When will the legislation establishing such a bank be introduced?

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I agree with most of what Deputy Clare Daly said. I agree 100% with the Minister that we should not tolerate fraud. If there is fraud, the problem should be addressed. I reiterate a point I made in the House last week. Interesting research was carried out in Britain in 2009 where it was discovered that between £1.5 billion and £2 billion was lost in welfare fraud. It was also found...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: The notion of internship is a good one but I am wary of it as there is a need for some form of control. A builder may take on an intern to teach him or her how to lay paving brick. One may think it is easy to lay paving brick but most people still cannot do it right after several years. If an employer is honest and teaches that person to lay paving brick, that will be beneficial, but a...

Departmental Programmes (15 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 29: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the way she will ensure participants in the community work placement initiative TÚS have relevant training or previous experience before engaging in work such as the social care of all age groups and persons with a disability or with limited mobility. [15461/11]

Departmental Programmes (15 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: As I implied in my question, I am a little concerned that people working in care provision experience many problems at present. Given the many unsavoury reports issued over recent years by various institutions, perhaps there is a lack of training and regulation in the area. It seems that people unemployed for more than a year may be forced off the welfare scheme if they do not agree to what...

Departmental Programmes (15 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: If there are more than 440,000 people unemployed, 300,000 of them would love to have a job. They are not avoiding work. I suspect that in terms of this scheme the view might be that there are some people who do not want to work and that if they refuse work they should be taken off the social welfare scheme. Will the Minister agree that the resources of the country are meant to be shared by...

Fair Deal Scheme: Statements (9 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I am not madly familiar with all of this area. Given that he has not been in the job for very long, it would be a bit premature to shoot the Minister.

Fair Deal Scheme: Statements (9 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: He should be given the benefit of the doubt until he proves to be unworthy of it. I consulted a voluntary group that has done some research in this area and was very interested in what it had to say. I am aware that the programme for Government promised a review of the fair deal system. According to the group I consulted, there is a need to establish absolute legal clarity on the right to...

Fair Deal Scheme: Statements (9 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: It is about time someone did so.

Spent Convictions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: The Bill is definitely welcome and will certainly improve how we run the country. The idea that the Irish will embrace the notion of forgiveness is to be welcomed also because, at the moment, it does appear that we are a pretty unforgiving lot. If a person commits a crime we punish him, but the principle behind such a punishment was, first, to deter reoffending and, second, to rehabilitate...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: It is easier to lift blocks at six than at 60.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I hope the Deputy will defend him again at that stage.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: No.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (8 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I agree very much with some of the points made by Deputy Ross with regard to abuses of the system in place, and there is little doubt there has been a culture of abuses in this country for a long time. However, some interesting research carried out in Britain last year showed for 2009 that social welfare fraud amounted to between £1.5 billion and £2 billion, which is a lot of money, but it...

Commemorative Events (7 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: With regard to history, there is a good chance that the planning permission for the Carlton project will run out before the project is financially viable again. In the case of this happening, would the Government consider putting a preservation order on the area and thereby force a scaling back of the Carlton project, which was a little on the grotesque side in the first place?

Foreign Conflicts (2 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: Does the Tánaiste agree that the attack on Libya has gone on much longer than anticipated? President Obama said it would be a matter of days but it is now into months. Imposing sanctions on Syria is surely a better approach than bombing, as they are doing with Libya. We would all like to see the end of the Gadaffi regime, as we would with many leaders in that region. I am not convinced...

Foreign Conflicts (2 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: Can I go too?

Dáil Reform: Statements (2 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I wish to comment on what Deputies Tuffy and Anne Ferris said. The HSE and the National Roads Authority have grown into monsters and are out of control. The Government cannot tell them what to do anymore; they are not answerable. It would be great if this Government brought power back to the House. I agree with what Deputy Stagg said about quangos, as I did last night. This notion of...