Results 8,521-8,540 of 21,426 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Order of Business (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is very noble of Deputy Martin.

Order of Business (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: The reality is that we have reached decision time on the issue and the kicking of cans down the road has to stop. To repeat, what we need is a motion, a debate and a decision on the report. Statements serve absolutely no useful purpose bar for those who perhaps wish to prevaricate and to shove the issue further down the road again. Deputy Ó Snodaigh read out the proposed business on...

Order of Business (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Precisely.

Order of Business (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is not agreed. I object to the proposal of statements on water, for which 80 minutes has been allocated. I remind Members that last week, when publication of the draft report was postponed, it was understood that time for debate would be allocated for tomorrow morning and on Thursday morning. There was also an understanding that a motion would be brought forward in respect of the...

Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Let me repeat for the Taoiseach what I asked originally. What the people on the streets at the weekend want to know is whether their Taoiseach is capable of listening, hearing, understanding and respecting their wishes. Today is the day he needs to make that clear. Will he respect the wishes of the people for the abolition of water charges, for the ending of the water metering programme...

Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: We would expect and hope in that scenario that Fianna Fáil Members will stand firm on their democratic mandate. The people will not back down on this issue. Sinn Féin will not back down. Water charges are dead and over and it is time for the Taoiseach to accept that.

Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Not nearly as righteous as the Taoiseach.

Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I respectfully suggest it is in fact the Taoiseach and the Government that needs to allow the committee to get on with its work. The Taoiseach is fully aware that his Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, has intervened in a most inappropriate and very direct way with the findings and the draft report. Today, we have round two of the plan to sabotage the committee report, spearheaded by the...

Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: As the Taoiseach knows, the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services is meeting to discuss what was supposed to be its final draft report on the future of water services. The recommendations of that report represented a very significant victory for all those who have opposed domestic water charges and the privatisation agenda at the heart of the Government's water...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: In recent days, we had statements on Brexit. The rather limp reference in the draft guidelines published by the European Council were described as a triumph by the Government. They are anything but. Today is 6 April and the clock is ticking, with the guidelines to be decided on 29 April. When will the Government publish the promised White Paper or negotiating strategy paper? When will...

Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is disgraceful.

Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: If the Ministers, Deputies Varadkar and Coveney continue to insist on turning their faces again against the express will of the people, be very clear that thousands of people will be on the street on Saturday to remind them that it is their job to fulfil their democratic mandate.

Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: On one level, it is touching to see such solidarity between the two Ministers, all things considered. It is tragic that this solidarity and joint sense of purpose only emerges when they are intent on frustrating the repeated and democratically mandated demands of the people of this State. Water charges are over. We have known this since we met here first as a Dáil. The individual...

Leaders' Questions (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Cuirim fáilte mór rompu go léir. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water will meet later this afternoon to vote on its report on the future of water services. The report recommends the abolition of water charges, the scrapping of domestic metering, including for new builds, and provision for a referendum to retain our water infrastructure in...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I concur with my colleague, Deputy Cullinane. We should have him back before the committee. This matter would be much simpler if people simply co-operated with the committee, but there are a number of outstanding issues on which we need clarity from him. We need him to put those on the record. It should not be a long meeting if he comes before the committee in the right frame of mind....

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: We will not deal with them in one session.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I take Deputy Connolly's point about all of that. It is a matter of a week or two. While I am very anxious that we get to the direct provision piece, I am not going to die in the ditch for the sake of a week. This has been going on for so long. The main thing is that we do it justice and get to the bottom of it when we deal with it. There is a point of urgency, as Deputy Kelly has said,...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is that because of the situation in Harold's Cross? Is the urgency around the controversy about that matter?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am conscious of that. Maybe it explains why it is in there on that date.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Waterford Institute of Technology: Financial Statements 2013-2014 (6 Apr 2017)

Mary Lou McDonald: First, I wish to endorse the comments of the Cathaoirleach and those of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the issue of timeliness in financial reporting. It is entirely unacceptable that institutes of higher education, whoever they are, can float in here with archaic, out of date records. I want, therefore, an assurance from everybody concerned that they understand that...