Results 14,821-14,840 of 21,206 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yet they would have been confused in respect of their authority or jurisdiction to write off penalty points.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am not asking the Commissioner to be a mind reader. That would even be beyond his pay grade.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is another day’s work. I would have thought, having given consideration to these matters and in light of the Assistant Commissioner O’Mahoney’s work, that the Commissioner would have established why it was these officers at superintendent level thought that they could either choose knowingly to step outside the process or were just confused as regards it. I do not...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It was December.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes.

Charities (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I commend my colleague Deputy Mac Lochlainn on his introduction of this Bill, which adds our party's voice to the demand that Government regulate the charity sector. I agree with the Minister of State that, undoubtedly, the majority of charities act properly. Even in those cases in which board members or executives have been found wanting, the staff providing the services within those...

Appointments to the Standards in Public Office Commission: Motions (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----or when the controversy arose the Minister could have given a commitment that the issue would be dealt with on the first day back. Instead, the Government was cranky on the issue. The Minister seems to be a little cranky still. Whether this was intended or not, the message went out that politicians took a view that if SIPO's work was delayed or hindered, it was really no big deal....

Appointments to the Standards in Public Office Commission: Motions (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: If Deputy Fleming or the Minister have any information on that, they might share it with the House. I wish both Mr. Justice Daniel O'Keeffe and Mr. Jim O'Keeffe all the very best in their appointments.

Appointments to the Standards in Public Office Commission: Motions (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I welcome the proposed appointments to the board of the Standards in Public Office Commission. It is, however, unfortunate that the Minister did not ensure the appointments were made in a more timely manner. As people will recall, it emerged just days before Christmas that the commission would not be able to advance current investigations or initiate new ones without its full complement of...

Appointments to the Standards in Public Office Commission: Motions (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is astonishing that the Government failed to seek replacements in advance of the previous board members' departure in light of the type of work in which it engages. We all agree that SIPO is one of the vital checks and balances to this institution and as such it is important that the Government not only supports its work but is seen to do so. Appointments to the board of the commission...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 5. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if it is still his intention to further reduce public sector numbers by 10,000 whole time equivalents by 2015; and the percentage of this reduction that will come from health services. [2891/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: My question refers to the Minister's stated intention to reduce public sector staff numbers by 10,000 whole-time equivalents by 2015. Could the Minister set out how he intends to progress this commitment regarding these public sector worker reductions. Could he tell us how many of these he envisages coming from the health sector and whether he intends to initiate another incentivised...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I note that the public service reform plan, which is the most recently published document from the Minister, cites an OECD study from 2010 which reflects the fact that prior to all of these cuts in the public sector, this State was beginning from a very low base in comparative terms in respect of the numbers of public sector employees. It is a point I made to the Minister very many times - a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister has drawn that analogy with checking in with an airline many times but the simple fact is that the majority of public services are not comparable to checking in with Aer Lingus or any other airline operator. No offence to the Minister but I do not think that is a good comparison to draw. The fact is that front-line services are under huge pressure and that although the Minister...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister has repeated the fact that he has no role in bonus payments to people in roles below that of chief executive. I wonder out loud whether the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, are aware of that, because they had a good deal to say on the matter on the public airwaves. Perhaps the Minister said it and I missed it. Will he...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Minister for the background information on Bord Gáis Éireann. However, I am asking specifically about Irish Water. It is necessary to have clarity in the public domain on this matter, because a figure of €7,000, as an average, has been cited. Perhaps the Minister does not have the detail today and, if not, I am asking him to get it as soon as he can and to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I understand that. I am simply looking for information on the average payments of €7,000.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: What about the 2016 issue?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is that a "Yes"?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (22 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 2. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has lifted the ban he imposed in 2011 on performance bonuses for chief executives of commercial semi-State companies. [2890/14]