Results 13,761-13,780 of 21,498 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald
- Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Let me give an example of an individual who came to my office: he is out of work, his rent allowance has been cut, he is barely struggling by just now.
- Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: He produced the envelope and said "This is the end of me". Why is the Government threatening people like this man and so many others that if they do not meet this bill, it will cut off their water supply?
- Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: How does the Tánaiste stand over that position as leader of the Labour Party? People cannot pay. What happens to those people? The Government cuts off their water supply, a basic necessity.
- Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Tánaiste threatens and harangues them and will not answer the straight question here in the Dáil Chamber. Shame on the Tánaiste. She ought to be ashamed of taking that position in government, as should her colleagues on the Labour Party benches.
- Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: He cannot pay this bill.
- Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: He cannot pay his bill.
- Leaders' Questions (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Like other Deputies, every day I get phone calls from families at their wits' end. As they calculate their water charge bill, they are trying to come to terms with the scale of pain the Tánaiste's Government is inflicting on them. Some people will pay this charge but they will do so resentfully. Others will refuse to pay, but a huge number of families simply cannot pay. They do not...
- Other Questions: Public Sector Staff (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: That is ridiculous.
- Other Questions: Equality Proofing of Budgets (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Did the Minister read the OECD report?
- Other Questions: Equality Proofing of Budgets (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Low pay and slave labour in the case of JobBridge.
- Other Questions: Equality Proofing of Budgets (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: Thankfully, we have lots of poorly paid people - people on yellow pack schemes.
- Other Questions: Equality Proofing of Budgets (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: 8. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if budget 2015 will be equality-proofed with respect to proposed increases and decreases in expenditure allocations; and, if so, if he will provide the process involved. [38187/14]
- Other Questions: Equality Proofing of Budgets (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: This question relates to equality budgeting. The Minister is aware I have raised the matter with him and some of his colleagues consistently over the past number of years. Through the budgetary process, the Government has the power either to address inequality or foster deeper income divisions in society. I know the Minister is familiar with the concept of equality budgeting. In three...
- Other Questions: Equality Proofing of Budgets (9 Oct 2014)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister's use of terms like "fair" and "equitable" and the claim to have protected the most vulnerable simply marks how out of touch he is. Outside these walls, when one meets people in vulnerable positions, one can see the Minister's budgets have had exactly the opposite effect. For example, families headed by a single parent have been hammered over the past number of budgets. All of...
- 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.