Results 121-140 of 204 for speaker:Lisa McDonald

Seanad: Fines Bill 2009: Second Stage. (22 Apr 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the Minister. The legislation is reforming and has many welcome aspects. It provides for an overhaul that has been needed for years. It is an effort by the State to set up an equitable system of fine recovery. The updating and indexing of fines imposed by the District Court and, to a limited extent, some of the higher courts, is welcome. Many of the fines have not been updated...

Seanad: Fines Bill 2009: Second Stage. (22 Apr 2010)

Lisa McDonald: That has to be done if we are to ensure our District Courts run properly. Generally, the county council lists are the last to be done and this is an area in which a good deal of revenue might be collected. I appreciate the spirit of the legislation, which is excellent, but fundamentally we are going to have to consider setting up separate family law courts because they are taking up far too...

Seanad: Women's Participation in Politics: Statements. (27 Apr 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is the second time in a few weeks we have debated equality issues here, but before then this Seanad did not have such debates. This is the first time that the participation of women in politics has been debated by either House of the Oireachtas. In that regard, I pay tribute to Senator Bacik who has pushed tirelessly for this debate with the...

Seanad: Women's Participation in Politics: Statements. (27 Apr 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I appreciate that. Some men are better at it than others, as are some women. My political opponents might say I am not great at it, but I think I am all right. However, women seem to have a lower threshold and do not listen to as much of this kind of talk as their male counterparts. This raises again the issue of child care in the broader sense. Child care will remain a cultural...

Seanad: Women's Participation in Politics: Statements. (27 Apr 2010)

Lisa McDonald: Like everyone else, I have much more to say. Ultimately, society in Ireland supports male role models, with the female of the species not being supported to the same extent. My party, Fianna Fáil, had a figure of 13% for women candidates in the general election in 2007. That is a far cry from the figure of 30% in the gender quota system proposed in the report, which would mean we would...

Seanad: Women's Participation in Politics: Statements. (27 Apr 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I would not welcome that either. There is a message that participation in politics is not for women and that women are not capable of doing the job. We are very capable of doing it. Let us remember that no women are before the tribunals. There were no women involved in the economic mess we face. The Irish political world would be a better place if there were more women involved. Like...

Seanad: Accident and Emergency Services (11 May 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I thank Senator Twomey for sharing time with me. I support a great deal of the comments he made. There is something underhand happening. Oireachtas Members have been brought to meetings by the HSE for nearly a year and have been drip-fed information. It is almost as though they have been brought down a particular road in an attempt to have them agree the accident and emergency services...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 May 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I want to reiterate what my Wexford colleague has just stated as regards whistleblower legislation, which is long overdue. What the DPP stated last week as regards whistleblower legislation and the need for the position to be reviewed as regards juries in cases of white collar crime, shows that there is certain frustration within State prosecution agencies in dealing with that type of crime,...

Seanad: Property Services (Regulation) Bill 2009: Report Stage (3 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the passing of the Bill and thank the Minister for the time he spent considering it, as drafted, accepting amendments and teasing out various options to make it a better and well considered Bill. I also thank the staff in the Minister's office. The legislation is long overdue and very welcome. Practically every citizen has had dealings with those involved in property services, be...

Seanad: Property Services (Regulation) Bill 2009: Report Stage (3 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: At 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 15 June.

Seanad: Confidence in the Taoiseach: Motion (16 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I thank Senator Corrigan for sharing time. She clearly had much more to say and it is very generous of her. This is an ill-timed motion and the debate has been disjointed. People are talking about historical issues but what we are debating is confidence in the Taoiseach and whether he is the right man to do the job now. I have friends like those about whom Senator Phelan spoke and people...

Seanad: Confidence in the Taoiseach: Motion (16 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: ——but it is a bit cheeky of Fine Gael to come in here and talk about appointments to boards etc. when every VEC board in the country has been filled with its members since it took control of the local councils, and education has suffered as a result.

Seanad: Confidence in the Taoiseach: Motion (16 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I am here to express my confidence in the Taoiseach, a very patriotic man who deserves our support.

Seanad: Order of Business. (22 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I rise to ask about progress on the Civil Partnership Bill 2010 which it is expected will come before this House prior to the summer recess. The delay in bringing the Bill before the Oireachtas is not welcome. It must be introduced as soon as possible. Things are happening outside the Houses which are not helpful to the passing of legislation. Last week, the bishops called for a free vote...

Seanad: Order of Business. (22 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: It is irrelevant which party proposes this policy. Young people are suffering because Irish is compulsory. I know there are many gaeilgeoirí in the Houses but we are doing Irish no favours. I did well in Irish in school but I believe more people would do well if it was not compulsory. We also need to look at how we teach civics in schools. Conversational Irish might be brought into a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Bill 2010: Second Stage (23 Jun 2010)

Lisa McDonald: The Minister described the legislation as robust, innovative and urgent, and he is right. That the British Home Secretary, Ms Theresa May, has expressed an interest in looking at our model of dealing with the problem is a compliment to the Minister and to his staff. They have dealt in an imaginative way with the problems we have encountered in the past year in trying to come to terms with...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, to the House and am glad of the opportunity to speak on this Bill, reforming legislation that emphasises the importance of learning, upskilling and retraining in our social welfare code. When I heard of the formation of the Department of Social Protection, I admit I was a little sceptical, believing it merely gave another name to the...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Lisa McDonald: Most young girls who get pregnant do not want to be pregnant but some of do and if we ignore that, we will not be realistic about the need to tackle such dependency. We also need to examine the lack of accountability of fathers. Various Senators, including myself, have called for debates on the rights of unmarried fathers. We need to consider giving fathers real guardianship rights and...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Lisa McDonald: -----she will note that they have done more than any of their predecessors to introduce measures to deal with it.

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010: Second Stage (6 Jul 2010)

Lisa McDonald: I thought the Leas-Chathaoirleach had said I had only one minute remaining.