Results 12,021-12,040 of 21,179 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald
- Aer Lingus Share Disposal: Motion (Resumed) (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: Wow.
- Aer Lingus Share Disposal: Motion (Resumed) (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: Where is the Minister's veto?
- Aer Lingus Share Disposal: Motion (Resumed) (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: What about the Minister's veto?
- Aer Lingus Share Disposal: Motion (Resumed) (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: What about the Minister's veto?
- Aer Lingus Share Disposal: Motion (Resumed) (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: That did not materialise. Not to put too fine a point on it, what has happened is that the deferred pensioners in particular have been thrown under the bus by the Government. The Minister met them, as did the Tánaiste, and undertakings were given that they would be given a fair hearing and that something would be done to rectify the situation. However, the Government did not want to...
- Aer Lingus Share Disposal: Motion (Resumed) (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: To clarify for the Minister, Deputy Coveney, there is nobody on any side of this argument who does not understand that what we are debating is the issue of the 25% stake. We know that the initial vandalism to Aer Lingus in 2006 was carried out on Fianna Fáil's watch. The die was cast for the 25% stake back in 2012 when the Government compiled a list of what it regarded as...
- Order of Business (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: On a point of order, I suggest there is too much testosterone in this Chamber.
- Order of Business (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: I have never heard anything as ludicrous as the last exchange.
- Order of Business (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: On all bloody sides. I object to the motion and the manner in which it is being handled. We have been asked to deal with a very serious decision with long-term consequences for workers, pensioners and the State in a manner that is wholly unsatisfactory and without sight of relevant and necessary documentation. Whereas the Government might be happy to rely on the shifting and qualified...
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: I do not accept the manner in which the Tánaiste has characterised the "B" share. To say the least, I believe she is over-egging matters. If she was a union official representing or negotiating on behalf of those workers whom she says will have greater protection in this new scenario, she would be fired, and justifiably so.
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Tánaiste is relying entirely on the say-so of the CEO. It seems she is relying entirely on the good wishes, good will and rhetoric in the midst of this political manoeuvre, on the word of others. That is what she is doing. That is not good enough for the Aer Lingus workers, because promises and letters of comfort, as she is probably aware, have a very poor track record in respect...
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: In many instances, those deferred pensioners have seen their pension entitlement slashed by 50%, and more in some cases.
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: That is how well the Government honoured that set of pensioners. Now, under this scheme, these pensioners get nothing. They get nothing, bar, perhaps, the two fingers from the Government.
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Tánaiste cannot explain away the central contradiction of her position, and I would have thought this issue would have been of more concern to the Labour Party than to its Fine Gael colleagues. She cannot explain away the fact that by selling off the 25% stake, a strategic stake in this asset, the Government weakens the position of government, the State and the people. Given we...
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: Of all of the Labour Party, it seems he is the only one who has remained consistent and true to a view that I also share, that the State must have a holding in Aer Lingus.
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The privatisation by this crew was wrong and the Government is simply completing its work. Having ranted and raved, they now complete the work of Fianna Fáil and leave workers, pensioners and the State very vulnerable.
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: By whom in the trade union movement?
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Tánaiste criticised Deputy Timmy Dooley for having sight of two pages of the Nyras report. At least he had sight of two pages of the report-----
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: -----or, perhaps, more, which is more than can be said for the Tánaiste, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Taoiseach. Later today the Government intends to railroad through the House the sale of a strategic State asset, the State's 25% shareholding in Aer Lingus. It wants us to agree to the sale of our interest in what is a profitable company which has cash reserves...
- Leaders' Questions (28 May 2015)
Mary Lou McDonald: Labour Party back bench Deputies were once among the staunchest defenders of the State's interest in the airline, but like so many long-standing Labour Party policies, it was quickly dropped once it got into bed with Fine Gael. I have no doubt that the Labour Party would have signed up to the earlier deal forwarded by Mr. Willie Walsh were it not for the opposition of some of its...