Results 721-740 of 5,732 for speaker:Fidelma Healy Eames

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Not that it went anywhere.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Corrected? Speak factually.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Sorry about that.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I support the previous speakers who have argued in favour of this amendment. We had a substantial debate in the House in October on this issue which really opened my eyes. When I looked into some of the research on this issue and the substantial body of knowledge that exists, I realised that we need to wake up. If only 2% of Europe is using flouride and the majority of that 2% is in...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I thank the Minister for being here. I have some questions on the forum. My concern is that forums seem great in principle, but in practice they are often not worth a whit and have few teeth. I was a member of the HSE forum for a while at which phenomenal issues were discussed and great questions were asked, but I am quite sure that not one bit of that was fed up the line. I never saw any...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Will technical advice be available to members of the forum? If the forum is to have teeth and is not to be just a talking shop, they should have such technical advice. In that way it will be substantive and verifiable, and the members will not be knocked back every time and told that something is not legally permissible. I look forward to hearing the Minister's answers to those questions.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It is entirely dishonest.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Exactly.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Yes, they were meant to be taken together.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It is relevant to the water conservation package.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: All of the playing is over on the other side.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I move amendment No. 19: In page 7, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:“(2) Within 6 months the Minister shall prepare and publish a Report to both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining how the conservation grant scheme is being implemented and detailing how the scheme is contributing towards bringing the network up to the standard to meet metric tests established by the...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: To be helpful, I welcome what the Minister said about supports for people who cannot pay. The Minister has put on the record that there will be supports available through the community welfare officer. It is critical that the Bill will be poverty-proofed. Has the Minister tied that in with social protection and has the Minister for Social Protection agreed with that, or is the Minister at...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I am not concerned about those who will not pay but those who cannot pay. Is there a provision for a means-test so they can prove they cannot pay? Will there be a facility for community welfare officers to assist those who cannot pay? Simply, one cannot get blood from a stone. There are many people in tough situations with debt. We have moved on from that debate about the numbers with...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Yes, but each of us should pay according to our means.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: These measures disregard people's ability to pay. I received an e-mail from the parents of an autistic boy who needs four baths each day because he has chronic eczema. The family in question has a much greater need for water than most other people. How will they be able to afford their water bill?

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: The cap will not remain in place forever. I was contacted today by a woman who cannot access free legal aid to enable her to take a case involving domestic violence to court because there is a ten-month waiting list. She is trying to obtain maintenance payments and it costs her €400 to pay her solicitor's costs every time she goes before the court. She is now broke because she has...

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: That is the outcome politically.

Seanad: Water Services Bill 2014: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2014)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I have made my point. The rest of us must realise what we are doing because that would not be the right outcome. I reiterate my position that I will oppose the section because it is unfair and fundamentally disregards the concept of ability or inability to pay.