Results 1,541-1,560 of 2,920 for speaker:Séamus Healy

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: I said everybody in the House should have common decency. That is why I am asking the question.

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: Will the Taoiseach restore the cuts made to the housing adaptation grant? He will not.

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: Are ill and elderly people going to have to-----

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: Ill and elderly people cannot get a stairlift.

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: It is shameful.

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: This year the Government has cut the capital allocation for local authority and voluntary housing by over €106 million. This is in the context of huge reductions already, from €1.5 billion in 2008 to €585 million in 2013. Recent figures for waiting lists for local authority housing have reached the shocking number of approximately 100,000 or, to be precise, 98,318. The...

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: It is obvious to everybody that the Government is refusing to fund a significant local authority and voluntary house building programme. However, will it at least spare the disabled, the ill and the elderly from cuts and give them some quality of life in their remaining years? This year the Government has cut the funding for housing adaption grants for persons with disabilities and ill and...

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2013)

Séamus Healy: We now have a situation where we have ill and disabled persons who must crawl up the stairs and cannot have a shower or a bath, not because they have been refused a housing adaption grant, but because they cannot even be considered because the funding has been cut by the Government and the money has run out. Does the Government have any compassion for the people concerned? Will the...

Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: I welcome the provision to allow for payments of fines by instalment. I would prefer a longer period to do so - 24 months rather than 12 months. It should also allow for the payment of fines of up to €100 by instalment because for many people €100 is a significant amount of money. Credit union surveys have shown that people have very little, if any, excess income. I believe...

Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: I will finish with this. The banks should be forced to make reasonable agreements with the vast majority of people who having made their best effort find themselves unable to repay their mortgages.

Fines (Payment and Recovery) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: I welcome this debate. Every year, a significant number of people end up in prison as a result of fines default. I understand that in 2012 more than 8,000 people, including almost 1,700 females, were committed to prison for fines default. This practice creates significant costs for the taxpayer and places considerable strain on the prison system. It also creates difficulties for families,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentations. I may get more than two minutes but I am aware that time is limited and I will not be able to cover all the areas they discussed. I particularly empathise with the presentation by the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society because I have personal and family experience in both of these areas of health. I draw...

Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: In case the Taoiseach did not understand the question, I will ask it again. Will the Government reverse the cuts to the energy units and the free-fuel scheme that have been made by the Government since 2011? What I have heard suggests the Government has lost touch with reality completely. I am sure the Taoiseach is aware of very important research directed by Professor Goodman of the...

Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: I am asking the question.

Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: There are 1,281 excess winter deaths and the majority of those deaths arise from cold-related conditions, such as respiratory illnesses. Crucially that research found that this death rate is among the highest in Europe and even higher than in Scandinavian countries which are much colder in winter than is Ireland. These are absolutely shocking findings that were researched and peer reviewed,...

Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: In view of those findings, will the Government now reverse the cuts to the fuel allowance, particularly its duration which was cut by six weeks? Will it reverse the cuts to the energy units of the household benefits package implemented by this Government?

Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: The austerity policies introduced by the Fianna Fáil Party and continued by the current Government, despite a commitment given during the general election campaign not to do so, are hitting individuals and families on low and fixed incomes very hard. A survey on income and living conditions carried out by the Central Statistics Office in February 2013 found that one quarter of the...

Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: The Government cut free electricity units in the 2013 budget and increased carbon tax on solid fuel, which will also double next year. Elderly people and those on low incomes are caught in a pincer movement as they seek to deal with increased prices and taxes and Government cuts in benefits and allowances. As a result, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is spending €6 million per...

Leaders' Questions (24 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: This is unacceptable. Government policies are damaging the fabric of society. Surely the Government must abandon its approach to the elderly and those on fixed incomes by reversing the cuts to fuel and energy allowances introduced since it took office in 2011.

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Séamus Healy: The Tánaiste should deal with the specific cases.