Results 12,821-12,840 of 21,203 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: In 2015?

Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The housing crisis continues to spiral out of control. As the Tánaiste knows, families still present as homeless every single day. Almost 100,000 people are on housing lists across the State, some of them for lengthy periods. Last December, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, launched a glossy, 90-page social housing strategy. He...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I would like to clarify that because I do not think it is entirely clear in the legislation. It reads to me as far more all-embracing than that. It states: "communications by or on behalf of a body corporate made to a Minister of the Government who holds shares in, or has statutory functions in relation to, the body corporate, or to designated public officials serving in the...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is he satisfied that it is sufficiently-----

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: If, for instance, a commercial semi-state was lobbying to extend its remit, for some commercial contract or something out of the ordinary, can the Minister assure us that would qualify as a lobbying activity under this legislation?

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Based on that assurance from the Minister, and in the knowledge that we will have a review of this legislation in 12 months' time, I will withdraw the amendment.

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 31:In page 8, to delete lines 35 to 39.

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 32:In page 9, to delete lines 4 and 5.Of all the amendments I have tabled, this is the one that is most important. I propose to delete the following words: "apart from any matter relating only to the implementation of any such policy, programme, enactment or award or of a technical nature." Any communication up to implementation point can be regarded as lobbying, but...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I accept the Minister's point in respect of a broad-based definition and moving away from the Canadian definition, which it has stepped back from. However, the Minister has exempted quite a number of different categories of communications, bodies and individuals, so he has very substantially pruned the scope of this. By the way, I accept the Minister's bona fides in so doing and I am not...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 27:In page 8, to delete lines 8 to 11.This again relates to an exemption afforded to communications by or on behalf of a body corporate made to a Minister of the Government who holds shares in or has statutory functions in relation to the body corporate, or to designated public officials serving in the Minister's Department in the ordinary course of the business of the...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am in agreement with Deputy Fleming on this matter. I am sure the Minister understands that we appreciate the legislation has to be operable. This has to be a scheme that works.

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: It has to be practical and cannot snarl up the work of public administration. The Minister has made that point and it is legitimate. However, these exemptions are cast, as Deputy Fleming said, very broadly. Given that the Minister has the power to accept communications in the public interest and has brought forward a provision in respect of simple communications to establish matters of...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 22:In page 7, to delete lines 26 and 27.This relates to a discussion we had on Committee Stage. Despite our discussion, I remain to be convinced that lobbying communications as defined in the proposed statute could pose a threat to personal safety or the security of the State and, if they did, that the public interest would be best served by keeping them secret. I do...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (14 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 16:In page 6, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following:“(2) Such a person under section 5(1)(b), where the employer has been issued a CHY number by the Revenue Commissioners, provided that the relevant communications relate to relevant matters that concern the advocacy or other advancement of the employer’s main charitable purpose, such activity...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (14 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: This set of amendments was submitted with the intention of permitting charitable organisations to participate and open their advocacy activities to scrutiny without unnecessary and unfair penalty. The Minister is aware that charitable organisations have been most anxious to be captured within this Bill. They see it not least as part of rebuilding public confidence in charitable...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (14 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 17:In page 7, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following:(a) the person has one or more full-time employees and the relevant communications are made primarily to represent the interests of the employer,”.

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (14 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 19:In page 7, lines 15 and 16, to delete “apart from the individual’s principal private residence”.This is an issue I have raised with the Minister. It proposes to exclude an individual's principal private residence in respect of lobbying activities. We have had a discussion on this, but I am a bit like a dog with a bone on this particular issue,...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (14 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I do not disagree with the Minister's concern to ensure he does not cause a logjam or a completely unreasonable set of burdens, particularly for voluntary organisations. I take his point about, for example, the IFA and the farmer who is a member of that organisation making a representation. I think that is fair enough. However, I hope the Minister recognises the counterpoint to that which...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (14 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am advised that it is a scenario in which fake-----

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Report Stage (14 Jan 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: It has nothing whatsoever to do with football, hurling or any other sporting endeavour. It is a scenario where fake grassroots entities emerge to lobby in a voluntary capacity on behalf of corporate or other interests. In fact, there have been some headline cases-----