Results 18,481-18,500 of 21,260 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald
- Public Accounts Committee: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion (11 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister has said the Government's reform programme is ambitious and revolutionary almost, but it is nothing of the sort. He has dressed up things that are housekeeping and streamlining measures and tried to pass them off as some great change. The Government has consistently protected a segment within the public and Civil Service at the very top and defended them at every turn. They...
- Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Exploration Licences (11 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the level of public inquiry that was made before the granting of an exploration licence to Providence Resources at Dalkey, County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43732/12]
- Other Questions: Freedom of Information Legislation (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: I share the Minister's views as to the great importance of this legislation. My question follows remarks he made today around transformation, renewal and all the rest of it, in the public service. I suggest he reads an article in The Irish Times today by Simon Carswell who tells a very interesting story of a particular freedom of information request submitted by him to both the Department...
- Other Questions: Office of the Ombudsman Status (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: That answer is a fudge. Let me quote from the Ombudsman's annual report for 2011.
- Other Questions: Office of the Ombudsman Status (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: Let me paraphrase it then. I thought it would be more effective to quote directly from the report. The Ombudsman has consistently said the remit must be extended to include prisons and all matters pertaining to asylum and related justice issues. Given that the Minister is a member of the Labour Party with what I understood to be a particular view of these matters, I would have thought he...
- Other Questions: Office of the Ombudsman Status (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister does.
- Other Questions: Office of the Ombudsman Status (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister is telling me he has an open mind on the issue. I am trying to read the tea leaves. I take from what he said that he sees the good sense in proposing that the prisons, asylum seekers, refugees and those seeking naturalisation be included within the ambit of the Ombudsman. I am still at a loss as to why, having extended the scope of the office so broadly, the Minister would...
- Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: I absolutely agree the Minister should not even consider using a blunt axe in respect of increments for the very reason he states. The lower ranks, for example, clerical officers, have 13 pay points whereas Secretaries General of Departments have a single pay point - these are the extremes within the system. This question brings us to the heart of the equity issue I raised earlier with the...
- Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: In a time of crisis, yes.
- Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: How does the NHS manage it?
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister knows full well that I am asking him to ensure he does not take another red cent from the pockets of the average garda on the beat, firefighter or clerical officer. We have had this discussion.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: I want the Minister to deal with the issue of high pay rates in the public service and impose a cap. We have had this discussion time and again. The Minister has claimed he is the defender of public servants on low and middle incomes.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The evidence is that the Minister has deliberately targeted new entrants to these jobs, running through their pension entitlements and allowances. That is what he has done rather than target his efforts. He must recognise the pay inequity in the system and target his efforts at those areas in which there is scope for savings. Undoubtedly, there is scope at the top. The Minister mentioned...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: It is almost 7,000.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The figure is 6,791.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The business cases to which the Minister referred were flimsy to say the least. In many instances they were simply reiterations of a status quo which was not to be disturbed and there was little substantive analysis. He has made a dog's ear of the matter. He backed away from his own estimate of €75 million but, worse, he deliberately targeted new entrants, just as he did in respect...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: It is completely unfair.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: I ask the Minister to hold his horses. A number of issues have to be factored in if we are to get to the bottom of the question of allowances. One of the core considerations has to be pay equity in the system. A small group of individuals enjoy very high incomes, whereas the mass of public and civil servants are on modest wages. When one makes a calculation on premium payments and...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister knows full well I am not.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)
Mary Lou McDonald: He took that route with new entrants.