Results 13,481-13,500 of 21,204 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Other Questions: Equality Proofing of Budgets (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: What the Government is proposing for lone parents is not nearly as noble as that articulation suggests. It is proposing to force many parents with very young children into a position where they have no option but to work outside the home, irrespective of the type of job they might find. Did the Minister notice that the OECD ranked us second, just above the United States, in terms of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Minister and, as he says, I support review mechanisms for innovations. It is good practice. As regards the timing of this matter, it strikes me that the Government, including the Minister, only moved when they were caught out in respect of the McNulty affair. That is certainly my analysis of the Minister's position. It is tremendously disappointing. In 2011, Labour said it...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is different.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I do not query the eminence of any of the individuals I have named. I am querying the big dilemma for us as a society, which is the continued use and abuse of political patronage by the Government, by the Minister's party and by Fine Gael, his partners in government. That is the issue; it is not about individuals. It is about the fact that the Minister still believes, à la Fianna...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: They are explicitly political appointments.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: They are political.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 2. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans and timetable for appointments to State boards. [38319/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Whatever about the etymological analysis of various words, my question also relates to State boards. I ask the Minister to set out his plans and the timetable for reform. He has mentioned November and an 18-month review. I ask him also to explain why it took him so long to bring forward this initiative when his party's election manifesto for 2011 contained a specific and strongly-worded...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget 2015 (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 17. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on his Department’s consultations and meetings with the Department of Health in the preparation of budget 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38189/14]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts Social Clause (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 25. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress made to date by the Social Clauses Project Group he established in June 2014. [38186/14]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Consultancy Contracts (9 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 27. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his policy regarding public expenditure on, or his plans to further regulate Government-funded use of, private consultants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38185/14]

Order of Business (8 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Why not?

Order of Business (2 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I, too, want to raise the issue of the terms of reference for the commission of inquiry into the mother and baby homes. It is welcome that the Tánaiste has indicated that there are draft terms of reference; that is progress. What are the plans to circulate them, not just to Departments but also to survivor and advocacy groups, if that is part of the plan? When does the Tánaiste...

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am allowed a point of order.

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I wish the record of the House to reflect that the Tánaiste and leader of the Labour Party has deliberately evaded the question again.

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Either she does not-----

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Either she had not the wit to put the question to the Taoiseach or she is refusing to share the detail.

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: As each day passes, the detail of the McNulty debacle becomes less and less clear. The Taoiseach says that mistakes were made, that he apologises, that standards were not kept and that he takes full responsibility for what happened, but when he is pressed to provide details, all we hear from him is waffle. On Monday, the Tánaiste confirmed that she had detailed discussions with the...

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Taoiseach's response to this episode of stroke politics is one of incoherence - studied incoherence - while the Tánaiste's response is one of studied evasion. She had detailed conversations with the Taoiseach on this matter. I find it hard to believe that in the course of those detailed discussions she did not ask the Taoiseach directly what his involvement with the appointment of...

Direct Provision for Asylum Seekers: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (1 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: We in Sinn Féin believe the direct provision system is not acceptable for anybody and should be brought to an end without delay. This system is beneficial to nobody, least of all children. It institutionalises people, damages mental health, denies families privacy and forces a lack of work on them. People living under direct provision are forced by the State to live in inhumane...