Results 14,301-14,320 of 21,498 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Report Stage (12 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I welcome the Minister's positive decision to make additions in respect of the code for the public service and Civil Service, but what I am referring to are legal instruments to which the State may have signed up but that remain unincorporated in statute. This is my concern. The Minister may say it is a bit of a reach to say that some of these instruments might be called upon or referred to...

Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Report Stage (12 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: As the Minister indicated, my amendment No. 5 was grouped with the Minister's amendments. I am pleased to withdraw my amendment in favour of the Minister's amendment No. 4, which addresses the concerns raised and debated on Committee Stage. I thank the Minister for clarifying the matter and putting it to rest within the legislation.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I respectfully disagree with Deputy Eoghan Murphy in respect of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges because I think there is an attempt to nobble our work. I do not think it is the first attempt by Government, whoever the personality or whatever level, to do so. There has been clear discomfort in the fact that, as a committee, we have managed to call to account, in respect of...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: From the very beginning there has been a very narrow read of our terms of reference. I recall that when we had a discussion with the legal services here it was conceded that it was a narrow and conservative view of what we are ordered to do. There is a broader public interest issue here because there is a clear line of connection between section 39 bodies and funding authorities that are...

Death and Burial of Children in Mother and Baby Homes: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (11 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is appropriate to begin my remarks by applauding the women and men who have campaigned for many long years to achieve recognition of what happened in institutions across this country - recognition of the abusive and degrading treatment suffered by women and their children in mother and baby homes, county homes, children's homes, orphanages, Magdalen laundries and beyond. The idea of...

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Architectural Heritage (11 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 16. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason the preservation and restoration of the historical site of the last headquarters of the 1916 leaders at 14-17 Moore Street was not included in the six flagship commemoration projects to be funded under the phase 4 infrastructure stimulus projects he announced on 13 May 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Mother and Baby Homes: Statements (10 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: A number of weeks ago during April, we gathered in Mount Jerome Cemetery to unveil a memorial stone to the 219 children who had died in the Bethany Home in Rathgar. The level of distress experienced by survivors and their families at that gathering was something to behold. At that stage, the Government and the State had adopted the position that there would be no dealing with mother and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Haddington Road Agreement Negotiations (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Paragraph 1.15 of the public service agreement 2012-2014, the prior agreement, reaffirmed that priority would be given to public servants with pay rates at €35,000 or less when reviewing the re-instatement of pay levels. The Minister referred to the fiscal ruination of the State; many low-paid public and civil servants are facing fiscal ruination in their own homes. A woman from...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Haddington Road Agreement Negotiations (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I presume, then, that in accordance with paragraph 2.3 of the Haddington Road agreement, that those moneys will be re-instated to those workers. The Minister should bear in mind that whatever about workers having been seized of the necessity to balance the books, to save the day and to save the State, as he asserts, if I recall correctly they were certainly seized by the prospect of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Haddington Road Agreement Negotiations (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 5. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is considering or has had discussions to date on the proposal to restore all rights, entitlements and conditions that pertained prior to the Haddington Road agreement upon its expiry in July 2016. [23709/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Haddington Road Agreement Negotiations (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I do not believe that any of the hard-pressed families or workers or those out of work across the State are living with anything other than the absolute realities of the decisions taken by the Government and its predecessor. One such group of workers are low paid public and civil servants who have endured cuts to their take home pay of anything between 18% and 20% since 2009. A commitment...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Minister for his answer. It seems almost impossible to get at the information required. I think the Minister will agree that €6.2 billion of investment in the wastewater sector is very significant. I think he will also agree that given the fact the public is now bracing itself for the imposition of water charges, concerns are now heightened as to that scale of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 2. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the role of PPP financing in the phase 4 infrastructure stimulus projects he announced on 13 May 2014; if such PPP contracts will be subject to value for money auditing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23674/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: My question has two parts. The first refers to the financing arrangements for the phase 4 infrastructure stimulus projects the Minister announced on 13 May. The second part relates to public private partnership, PPP, contracts and the use or otherwise of value for money auditing in making decisions to go that route as against the traditional route.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Of the €200 million investment to which the Minister referred, all of which will be directly funded by the Exchequer, how much will come from the sale of State assets? The Minister indicated that the value for money audit is a standard part of the project appraisal process. According to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, €6.2 billion was...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Sick Leave (4 Jun 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 72. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on developments to date in respect of the Public Service Management (Sick Leave) Regulations S.I. 124 of 2014 since their publication to date. [23708/14]

Order of Business (28 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It was not necessary to cut respite care grants.

Order of Business (28 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I heard that. Did the Taoiseach hear me?

Order of Business (28 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I take it the Taoiseach is not seeking just to tweak the process and that discretionary medical cards will be reinstated for those who possessed them previously.

Order of Business (28 May 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is an important issue and the Taoiseach raised it. On previous occasions I have raised the matter of the Cooke report and inquired as to when it will be delivered to the Taoiseach. We have received different responses from various members of Government in respect of this report. We were originally informed that it was imminent and then that this was not the case. Is the Taoiseach in a...