Results 11,681-11,700 of 21,157 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald
- Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: This is such an intelligent speech. Gosh, I hope it is all captured and faithfully recorded for posterity.
- Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: Good luck with that.
- Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: In fairness, I would say the Deputy does not listen too much.
- Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: I will finish on this. The Government is probably weary of this refrain and finds it tedious and trying, but I am repeating it because the Government has not heard and understood the message. It is targeting people. They see through it and this Bill. This is all about the water charges and strong-arming people. It is the Labour and Fine Gael way, but it is not the way of anything that...
- Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: This week has been about smoke and mirrors and sleight of hand by the Government. For the second time this week, the Government is engaging in a desperate attempt to ram through a piece of legislation, crudely trying to ensure all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted on all the outstanding issues relating to the water charge debacle. This rush to legislate before the summer recess is no...
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: It is not agreed.
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Government proposes to continue its parliamentary sham tomorrow. One of the pieces of legislation allows the Government to raid people's social welfare payments, to stick its hand in people's pockets and to deduct unpaid water charges with absolute disregard for the circumstances of those people.
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: One of the Bills, the Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015, was only published on Monday. There were no heads of a Bill and there was no pre-legislative stage. The convention of having a two-week gap between each Stage has gone out of the window because that does not suit the Government. What suits it is to bring this legislation forward, shut down or minimise debate and get it done and...
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: This is important.
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: In circumstances where the Government, with the full support of its backbenchers, is behaving in this way and misusing proper parliamentary procedures, it is only to be expected that they will be challenged in the most vigorous terms.
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The legislation on which the Government is intent, a bullies' charter and a pickpockets' charter, at least deserves full consideration and, given its seriousness, should be scrupulously examined on each Stage. The Government should respect the conventions such as the two-week gap. Why does the Government not do that? It is because it is politically inconvenient and it wants it done and...
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Tánaiste is not even affording the basic right to a proper scrutiny of the amendments because she is cynically guillotining the Bill. I would like to comfort Deputy Rabbitte who is extremely anxious at this stage.
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: I said there were not to be any sit-ins.
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: I imagine that when Deputy Rabbitte and his colleagues go knocking on people's doors, they will not be invited to sit in the kitchens or homesteads of the many people who have had to pay the water charges.
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: In its original incarnation the Environmental (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014 dealt with matters including dog breeding, dog licences and Killarney National Park. The Government will need a flexible interpretation of the law if it wants to explain why this Bill can be used as a vehicle to force landlords to inform Irish Water who is renting their properties, make it compulsory that...
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: She avoided that question like the plague. These issues have been stored until now, so that they could be included in legislation dealing with dog breeding, dog licences and Killarney National Park. 1 o’clock This is all in an effort to railroad this legislation through just before the summer in the vain hope that they will get away with it because people will be distracted, will...
- Order of Business (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: It is not agreed. We have often agreed to late sittings where there are matters of importance or emerging legislation that merit that, but we will not agree to a late sitting this evening which has the express purpose of continuing the sham with the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. The choreography and cynicism that have been demonstrated by the Government is apparent to...
- Leaders' Questions (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Tánaiste promised the very thing she is doing would not proceed until we had adequate, accessible, affordable child care. She went so far as to pin her ambition to the Scandinavian model. We have nothing of the sort, yet she proceeds with this, despite all her supposed concern for poverty and lone parents. We all know that child care is one of the major factors in regard to...
- Leaders' Questions (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: -----or if he or she is not in a position to work 19 hours, they are in serious difficulty. Instead of being condescending or dismissive on the issue, the Tánaiste should be aware that people who are watching this broadcast are about to lose €87 a week. Some of them will be forced, not to get more employment but to leave employment. What do they see here? They see a...
- Leaders' Questions (2 Jul 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: Do we have a Scandinavian model?