Results 101-120 of 1,369 for at speaker:Joan Collins

Environmental Protection Agency Water Quality Report 2022: Statements (28 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: I wish to draw attention to two events in the news this week. First, I express my solidarity with the water services workers all over the country, in particular those of them belonging to Unite who will be going out on strike this Friday. We need to make sure these workers keep their pay, conditions and public service status. Guarantees around conditions such as allowances, regular and...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Job Losses (22 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: It was pointed out to me that when the Food and Safety Authority withdrew all imported frozen food from the shelves of Iceland, there were health and safety inspectors literally crawling all over the place the following day. When we raised the issue of wage theft, we did not get inspectors from the Labour Courts in those stores to see what was going on. This just shows what kind of response...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Job Losses (22 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: Since the retailer Iceland in February sold its 27 stores to Project Point Technologies, a company directed by Naeem Maniar and with an address at 5 Old Dublin Road, Stillorgan, County Dublin, the workers in Iceland have experienced wage theft and deplorable conditions. As Deputy Cian O'Callaghan stated, the temperature in some stores was very high. The matter was raised in the Chamber a...

Apprenticeship and Further Education and Training: Statements (22 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: ..., nursing, etc. I wish to discuss the underlying economic and social conditions. In a general sense, we have a cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis and we are facing an existential climate breakdown. Starting pay for workers who build the houses and infrastructure needed to fight these problems is €6.84. I do not know what world the Minister of State thinks we are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: The Davitt complex is one complex that we are very clear on because we have heard it directly from the horse's mouth, the tenants living there. We know it has happened elsewhere in the city. We are going in a very serious direction if we are going to have segregation. Those in block D are all council tenants. Tuath Housing is managing the 26 homes in block D that do not have access to the...

Education Costs: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (20 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this Private Members' motion to the floor. I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. Last week, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul released its minimum essential standard of living, MESL, 2023 report. Over the past 12 months, the cost of being able to live with dignity has gone up by 10%, climbing by 13% for those who live in a city. The cost of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: It was announced last week that Greyhound is increasing its bin charges again. Over the last 18 months, these charges have increased from €16.50 to €30 per month. One woman has said that in June of last year she was paying €22 a month to have her bins collected by Greyhound Recycling and now expects to be paying €30 from July. This is an increase of more than...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Jun 2023)

Joan Collins: I was asked to raise a particular issue that has escalated this week. I refer to the ongoing industrial dispute at the Irish franchise of the Iceland chain over poor conditions, unpaid wages, sick pay and leave. The owner, Naeem Maniar, appears to be using an opaque corporate structure to avoid paying his workers what they are due or engaging with their union, which is the Independent...

Respite Care Services: Motion [Private Members] (30 May 2023)

Joan Collins: Before I speak on the motion, I would like to express my deepest condolences and sympathy to Vera, Paul and the family on the loss of their daughter, Ava. We should put that on the record of the Dáil. Last June this House passed a Private Members' motion brought forward by Deputy Connolly. It called on the Government to: - immediately reinstate all respite beds closed as a result of...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (25 May 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for introducing this Bill. It is very timely, this being the fifth anniversary of the significant referendum on the right to access abortion. The important point is that abortion is a healthcare issue. The review was initiated to determine where we were and how the legislation allowed women access to healthcare. We have to say that, in some areas, it is...

Access to Autism and Disability Assessments and Supports: Motion [Private Members] (24 May 2023)

Joan Collins: I welcome the debate on the issue of services in autism disabilities. I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion today, giving us the opportunity to discuss it. I wish to read into the Official Report part of the contribution by Mr. Adam Harris from AsIAm to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism on 16 May 2023. He encompasses a lot of the issues we have discussed: Many...

Accommodation Needs for New Arrivals: Statements (23 May 2023)

Joan Collins: Five hundred asylum seekers were living on the streets a couple of weeks ago. The Taoiseach said today that was down to 250. Ours is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and it is totally unacceptable to have any asylum seeker living in the street, just as it is unacceptable to have any Irish citizen living in the street. I understand it was going to be a struggle to provide for...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Joan Collins: It was A Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023. It is now 2023 and we are going into the next budget, for 2024. The policy states the State pension should be indexed at 34% of average earnings and be tied to the consumer price index and average earnings. As I said, the commitment would put our State pension at €310 per week. The increase of €12 per week that was given in the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Joan Collins: ...launched their pension promise campaign. The campaign is to hold the Government to account on the promises made in the pension reform policy, A Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023. The policy states the State pension should be indexed at 34% of average earnings and tied to the consumer price index on average earnings. That commitment would put our State pension at €310 per...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Work Permits (23 May 2023)

Joan Collins: I was not expecting that answer. I thought there would be some sort of clarity about how the HSE will resolve the issues these workers are facing. The point that Deputy Barry made is quite correct. When these nurses finish at 8 o'clock in the evening, they cannot ring their children up because it is 1.30 a.m. in India, and when they finish an early morning shift at 8 o'clock, their...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Work Permits (23 May 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter. I am raising this issue on behalf of Migrant Nurses Ireland, which explained its members' plight at a presentation in the audiovisual room two weeks ago. The meeting was organised by Deputy Barry. The issue of recruitment and retention remains a huge problem for the HSE. The Joint Committee on Autism discussed it as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (23 May 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank the Minister of State for her support. I agree 100% with what Senator Flynn said. Many people believe that autistic children in particular have not been able to access CAMHS or that there has been some discrimination in relation to them. I do not know but I am trying to tease things out. A child may be diagnosed with autism, get their assessment of needs, etc. but the parents...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (18 May 2023)

Joan Collins: I thank the Minister. There was a certain amount of clarity in his reply. I am seeking a commitment from him that the waiver will be for one year only and will not be extended. That is a matter of trust and I do not know how much trust we have in the context of many of these deals. At the committee, the Minister stated that just under €20,000 per unit is expected to be passed on...

Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 May 2023)

Joan Collins: .... This year marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Nakba. There have been 75 years of injustice, brutality and murder and of a programme of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Israeli state against the Palestinian people. The Nakba is not an historic event; it is an ongoing atrocity that has seen over 9 million refugees, Palestinians in the occupied territories facing bombs and...