Results 15,781-15,800 of 21,255 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 42 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 12 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 13 - Procurement without a Competitive Process (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Given Mr. Watt's fondness for babies, I am tempted to ask him to contact the relevant Ministers and ask them to reverse the decision to tax maternity benefit and to leave child benefit alone-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 42 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 12 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 13 - Procurement without a Competitive Process (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes, those are policy matters and would therefore be deeply inappropriate for me to raise. I welcome the witnesses. I want to return briefly to the Haddington Road agreement, so that the committee has clarity on the figures. Mr. Watt cited a saving of €1 billion a year on pay. What are the cumulative savings over the lifetime of the agreement?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 42 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 12 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 13 - Procurement without a Competitive Process (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I raise the issue because there are two different ways of expressing the saving in real terms. One could say that once the saving of €1 billion is made it recurs naturally because those moneys will not be restored and count it year on year, or one could also say the total savings from the agreement amount to €1 billion.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 42 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 12 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 13 - Procurement without a Competitive Process (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. Watt clarify for the committee whether the savings are net or gross? He has alluded to some of the uncertainties in the scenario.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 42 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 12 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 13 - Procurement without a Competitive Process (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: We will have regular reviews to see how we are getting on and we can drill into the figures at that stage. I want to raise again the national lottery issue with Mr. Watt and in doing so I take account of the sensitivity around the fact an announcement is imminent. Mr. Watt will be aware that a number of staff were An Post employees on permanent secondment. As I am sure Mr. Watt is aware,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 42 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 12 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 13 - Procurement without a Competitive Process (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: The difficulty is that the situation is not at all hypothetical.

Order of Business (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is almost eight months since the Taoiseach's apology to the survivors of the Magdalen laundries and several months since the establishment of a very limited form of redress for the women concerned. To date, however, not a single cent has been paid out. I have raised this issue with the Minister for Justice and Equality with a view to establishing not just when the moneys will be paid but...

Order of Business (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: There is no legislative proposal on this matter. We could debate whether there should have been such a proposal, but I am raising the issue now because I am not getting answers anywhere else.

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I want to know from the Tánaiste specifically what he will do in this budget for people experiencing fuel poverty - those families who cannot pay their bills. What will he do about the fuel allowance and the smokeless fuel support payment? People hear the rhetoric about the "bigger picture" that the Tánaiste delivers that we are on the receiving end of global forces, but that is...

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: They are two distinct things.

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: For those who cannot meet their bills, the fuel allowance-----

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: What about the fuel allowance?

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: What about the fuel allowance?

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: This morning we heard first-hand stories of families struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills. According to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the average cost of energy bills has increased by €500 per year. Working families and those out of work are simply unable to meet the spiralling costs of gas and electricity. When one hears their stories, they are heartbreaking. In...

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: When one looks at the figures and the achievement articulated by the Tánaiste with regard to retrofitting, I will be kind and call them modest, but the scale to which the scheme has been rolled out is certainly underwhelming. The Tánaiste must remember that his party promised a €40 million allocation specifically aimed at those suffering fuel poverty. I accept that high...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Resolution Processes (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: 15. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason banks relied 62% on legal letters to meet the Central Bank’s MARTs; and if he will review the targets and the definition of a sustainable arrangement. [41506/13]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Correspondence (3 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: 37. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will release the letter of 19 November 2010 from Jean-Claude Trichet; and if this letter will be made available to any banking inquiry. [41520/13]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Issues (2 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: 42. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, a prominent activist for sustainable people-centred and just economic and social development, in Laos; evidence that indicates the Laoiation security forces may have had a hand in his disapperance; and if he will raise the issue with the Laoiation...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Trade Missions Participation (2 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: 69. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide details of his recent four day political and trade mission to China; the discussions he had with Chinese officials; and what is expected to be achieved by the visit. [41167/13]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sporting Organisations (1 Oct 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: 70. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has had any discussions with the Department of Justice and Equality regarding the ability of sporting bodies to register as charitable bodies and the potential for this to enhance philanthropy towards sporting bodies. [40897/13]