Results 7,361-7,380 of 7,404 for speaker:Mick Wallace

Electoral (Amendment) (Political Donations) Bill 2011: Second Stage (resumed) (11 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: Deputy Martin stated in his speech last night that political donations had created a perception that big business can buy influence by financially supporting the election funds of parties or candidates and that it was having a damaging impression, which is putting it mildly. He might perhaps have said that private capital tends to be concentrated in few hands, the enormous power of which...

Electoral (Amendment) (Political Donations) Bill 2011: Second Stage (resumed) (11 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: I am probably naive. Time will tell. There is no doubt but that something must change if the people are to garner a better opinion of what happens in this House. The legislation recommends that donations over €1,000 be declared. I believe that all donations over €100 should be declared. The public is entitled to know the identity of anyone who wishes to give €100 or more to a...

Jobs Initiative 2011: Statements (Resumed) (11 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: I wish to share time with Deputies Maureen O'Sullivan, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan and Thomas Pringle.

Jobs Initiative 2011: Statements (Resumed) (11 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: I welcome Deputy Peter Mathews' sentiments on the European Union. I hope matters turn out as he described, as it would be wonderful if the European Union saw sense and started to treat us fairly. Too often Members on this side of the House are accused of being negative about everything. I like to believe we honestly say what we feel. If what we tell the coalition is sometimes negative,...

NAMA Portfolio (11 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: I agree with much of what the Minister has said about NAMA. Being involved in the industry myself, I am convinced most of the stuff with which NAMA is liable to flood the market will be sold at a good deal less than its real value. In the case of as much of the property as possible, whether for sports, cultural or residential purposes, the more that remains in State hands, the better for...

NAMA Portfolio (11 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: I appreciate the Minister's stand and I believe we are on the same wavelength.

Adjournment Debate Matters (10 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: He is spinning well now.

Research and Development (5 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: That was a Priority Question.

Employment Rights (5 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 15: To ask the Minister for Enterprise; Trade and Innovation if he will vote for the adoption of an International Labour Organisation convention on domestic workers' rights in Geneva in June 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10001/11]

Employment Rights (5 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: I am sure the Minister is probably aware that one third of domestic workers in Ireland earn less than the minimum wage at present. It is reckoned that 40% of them have no contracts. Unfortunately, many of the domestic workers in Ireland are migrant workers and their immigration status is very often used against them. Domestic workers do not have the rights of ordinary workers at present....

Employment Rights (5 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: That domestic workers have so few rights makes it much more difficult for them to fight for a fair deal. If they are not getting a fair deal, they are more often than not under pressure to stay quiet. Until we afford to them the same rights as are afforded to other workers, they will not be in a great position to fight for their entitlements.

EU-IMF Programme: Statements (4 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: Deputy Joe O'Reilly made a few points that were very fair. He spoke about the lack of credit and stated the Government would ensure credit would be available soon. From my experience in business, I note it is now nearly three years since credit was freely available. I have been listening for a long time to Governments stating credit will become available every time the banks are given...

Special Educational Needs (4 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 6: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide the number and location of resource teachers for travellers posts nationwide for the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 school years; the number of these positions that will be retained through the alleviation measures in September 2011; for schools with less than 33 traveller pupils, will any reduction in resource teachers...

Special Educational Needs (4 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: The Minister referred to schools that have 33 or more pupils supported by RTT posts. A school with 200 kids of whom 33 are from the Traveller community is entitled to a learning support teacher. However, RTTs are being done away with for schools with fewer than 33 RTT supported pupils. Are they supposed to fall under the remit of the learning support system? I was approached by Clonroche...

Special Educational Needs (4 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: Thank you, Minister. I wrote to the 99 national schools in County Wexford and I discovered that many of them are not badly affected. I met representatives of Pavee Point earlier this week and they explained that money was being spent on Travellers under a number of headings that should not have been spent and value for money assessments needed to be carried out in these areas. There is a...

Residential Mortgage Debt: Motion (3 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: Going around from house to house during the general election, I was struck by the level of difficulties being experienced by people, whether in social or private housing. Most of those in social housing had no work. Those in private housing had jobs but were experiencing terrible difficulty paying their mortgages. It was difficult to credit, as I had not been around the entire county of...

Order of Business (3 May 2011)

Mick Wallace: Given that legislation on the future of the Seanad has been promised and given that we all acknowledge the Seanad is not representative of the people, will the Taoiseach considering appointing a representative of the Traveller community?

Order of Business (19 Apr 2011)

Mick Wallace: Might the Taoiseach consider introducing legislation to deal with some of the exorbitant wages paid in the State sector? The previous Minister for Finance proposed a cap of €250,000 for new State jobs. The Government seems to be able to reduce the wages of the less well-off; surely it can deal with the wages of those receiving more than €250,000 in the State sector.

Passenger Name Record Data: Motion (19 Apr 2011)

Mick Wallace: The major concern is the protection of citizens' rights and this appears to be heavy handed. The fact that the European Parliament has questioned the need for passenger name record data is interesting. There was obviously pressure from the United States to change that position and the European Parliament obviously has caved in. Statewatch, the European monitoring group, has observed that...

Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Apr 2011)

Mick Wallace: This legislation is good because the use of community service orders as an alternative to prison can only be positive. The Bill is, therefore, a step in the right direction. Of the people I know who have gone to prison, few emerged as better people. Unfortunately, the use of imprisonment has not had the desired effect on many of those sent to prison. While some are sent to prison to keep...