Results 13,521-13,540 of 21,204 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald
- Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Given the stink of cronyism that hangs around this turn of events, will the Labour Party fall in behind Fine Gael once again and support Mr. McNulty's nomination? Does the Tánaiste support An Taoiseach in his actions and will her Labour Party colleagues support and vote for Mr. McNulty?
- Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: I did not raise the issue of gender.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: I raised something entirely different. I asked the Tánaiste if she approves of and supports the actions of An Taoiseach in using an appointment to a State board to create qualifications for his candidate for an election.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: I have asked the Tánaiste if she supports-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: I ask the Tánaiste if she supports the manner in which An Taoiseach has managed this affair, which has given rise to considerable public comment and concern. Should State boards be used as a springboard to qualify an individual for a Seanad panel? Is that appropriate? The Tánaiste says this is a matter for Fine Gael. Appointments of that nature are a matter for Government, as are...
- Housing Provision: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Certainly, there is no urgency in the approach of this Government. The funding of social housing has been addressed many times by Deputy Ellis. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, was being disingenuous last night when he used the usual lazy refrain of "fantasy economics". I suggest that for many families, his brand of economics is nightmare economics. We have made one proposal that involves the...
- Housing Provision: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: The crisis in housing, like the crisis in homelessness, is not new. Local communities have often had to cobble together responses to these crises. The members of a voluntary group that has come together in my constituency - Inner City Helping Homeless - speak to, care for and feed rough sleepers in the north inner city every night. That is an example of the non-statutory response that is...
- Housing Provision: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: I notice in the Government amendment to the motion that the Minister and Minister of State commend themselves for the high priority they have afforded the housing crisis. If it has been a matter of priority in their own heads that has not been evident to the rest of us. In the course of this debate people have set out, based on their constituencies and experiences, the grinding misery...
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Is it neutral to demand a water charge from families who have contaminated water in their taps?
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: The ironic thing is that as the Minister lauds the sacrifices of families across the State, the Government comes back to those same people and seeks more. I asked the Minister to identify how it is neutral for a family that is under financial pressure to burden them with an additional bill. Moreover, it is not any kind of bill but one that relates to something as basic and fundamental as...
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: These same families can tell the Minister, as they have told me, that they will not be in a position to meet this bill. They do not regard it as progressive or fair. They do not feel it as a sign of recovery but will experience it as yet another imposition on them, that is, on they very population which at this stage has endured years of austerity and cuts.
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: How on earth is this a neutral position to take? Could it simply be-----
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: ----- that the neutral budget rhetoric is simply camouflage for more pain on low and middle-income families-----
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: -----the same families the Government has targeted throughout its entire time in government?
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: By charging people for water.
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Yesterday the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan-----
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: -----was asked to justify the imposition of water charges on citizens and families at a time when the Government beats its collective chest about a recovery. Yesterday he failed to answer that question. Of course, he is not here today; perhaps he is off wooing some unsuspecting cailín to waltz with him.
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Today I will return to the issue.
- Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: How can the Government talk about a neutral budget as it prepares to land this unjust tax on citizens and families? How is it neutral to land an additional bill on the doormat? How is it neutral to ask families who are just keeping their heads above water to pay yet another bill? Is it neutral to ask families, who are in financial distress and struggling to keep a roof over their heads, to...
- Order of Business (18 Sep 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Could the Tánaiste shed some light on the issue of the interdepartmental report in respect of the mother and baby homes and the timeline around its completion if it is not yet complete? When can we expect its publication and when will we see the terms of reference for the commission of investigation into those matters? I raised the matter yesterday with the Taoiseach and appealed to...