Results 141-160 of 204 for speaker:Lisa McDonald

Seanad: Criminal Assets Bureau Annual Report 2007: Statements (12 Nov 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the Minister. I am pleased to have an opportunity to make some observations on the success of the Criminal Assets Bureau. It is vital there is forceful and persistent action to deprive criminals of the benefits of their criminal behaviour. Prosecution and imprisonment are part of the risk criminals take. The prospect of being able to enjoy the fruits of their criminal activity...

Seanad: Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Statements (9 Oct 2008)

Lisa McDonald: At 12 noon on Tuesday, 14 October 2008.

Seanad: Money Advice and Budgeting Service: Statements (9 Oct 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Hanafin. I have always been a great supporter of MABS and have recommended the service to constituents from whom I received excellent feedback on the help offered on all occasions. Unfortunately, the demand has risen lately. The service should be commended, as it has been today. MABS provides advice on practical budgets and how to manage budgets. It helps...

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (8 Oct 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the broad thrust of this Bill. The ten port authorities it covers are currently covered by the Harbours Acts. The years to come will represent an important era for the harbours in question. They will get investment. They will be able to go outside their functioning area to acquire assets, etc. That is all to be welcomed. I am wary of the proposal to give further powers to An...

Seanad: Human Body Organs and Human Tissue Bill 2008: Second Stage (1 Oct 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the broad thrust of the Bill and fully acknowledge and support the enthusiasm and concern of Senator Quinn in bringing the legislation before the House. As he said, it is about saving lives. That tenet needs to be fully appreciated and respected. Consent for the donation of organs for transplantation is a central issue. The opt-in or opt-out, or presumed consent versus the...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Second Stage (1 Oct 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the broad thrust of the Bill. In terms of the structures which many local authorities have been working through, it is important to have them in legislation because much work has been done through strategic policies etc. in the better local government action plan in the past five or six years. There are some issues which must be mentioned, the...

Seanad: Prison Development (Confirmation of Resolutions) Bill 2008: Second and Subsequent Stages (26 Jun 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the opportunity to discuss this Bill. When discussing the motion on the prison, I said a modern stand-alone prison is badly needed in the State. It should be provided on a secure site where prisoners can feel safe. This may sound like an oxymoron but it should be considered given the Dickensian conditions in Mountjoy Prison, from which prisoners sometimes emerge worse than they...

Seanad: Prison Building Programme: Motion. (29 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I am happy to support the Government's proposal in respect of this project. We must face reality. Mountjoy Prison, which was built in 1850, is a Victorian institution which lacks adequate basic facilities such as in-cell sanitation. While the Irish Prison Service has made improvements at Mountjoy Prison, the reality is that conditions there still fall far short of what one would expect of...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: Next Wednesday. Report Stage ordered for Wednesday, 4 June 2008.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (27 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Seanad: Rural Development: Statements (14 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter. I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on his re-appointment as Minister. A perception exists in certain circles that rural Ireland is akin to a pristine wilderness that is to be used at weekends and for holidays. However, Members must acknowledge — as does the Minister — that rural Ireland is a place in which people...

Seanad: Rural Development: Statements (14 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: Perhaps this subject should be addressed again as several other speakers wish to contribute and there is enormous interest in this issue. However, as a young mother, it is highly difficult to take a pram on to the road as one taking one's life in one's hands when one ventures out in rural Ireland. People should not be prisoners in their own homes. Some would suggest they are prisoners in...

Seanad: Legal Practitioners (Irish Language) Bill 2007: Second Stage (14 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus gabhaim comhghairdeas leis. Go n-éirí an t-ádh leis ina phost nua. Molaim an Seanadóir Ó Tuathail as a bheith in ann an Ghaeilge a stealladh le linn a chuid ama ag caint. Is cúis náire é domsa nach bhfuil mé in ann sin a dhéanamh. I am most embarrassed I cannot give my full speech in Irish. This is despite the fact that when I was in secondary...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I join Senator John Paul Phelan in calling for a debate on housing. It is true that we will not have as many housing starts this year as in previous years. The proposed review of Part V of the Planning and Development Act is timely, given that there has been a big downturn in terms of the number of planning permissions being sought from local authorities. Historically, land and housing...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (13 May 2008)

Lisa McDonald: The disciplinary and professional teams dealing with the care of victims of child abuse are working across multiple disciplines and that appears to be causing problems when looked at from the outside. Also, the cases are closed too quickly and once closed are very difficult to get re-opened. These are the issues we must examine. With regard to the debate on child welfare generally, I am...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Bill 2005 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2008)

Lisa McDonald: Now.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Bill 2005 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I welcome the passage of the Bill through both Houses. I congratulate the Minister, his staff and the officials in his Department on the major work done in respect of this legislation. There are a number of areas of the Bill that are quite technical in nature and in respect of which serious consideration was required. The drafting process relating to the legislation has been excellent. We...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Bill 2005 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (17 Apr 2008)

Lisa McDonald: At 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April 2008.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Second Stage (9 Apr 2008)

Lisa McDonald: I am not sure how long my speech will take because I have been thrown slightly by the fact that the legal ombudsman provisions are now in a separate Bill. In that context, if I have time remaining, I wish to share it with Senator Walsh, with the agreement of the House. As several speakers have said, the Bill is a tidying-up exercise. I do not wish to repeat the changes contained therein for...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2008)

Lisa McDonald: On a separate issue, I want to call for a debate on sexual offences against women. There has been an enormous number of murders involving women victims, violence against women in the home etc., and this area seems to be slipping on the political agenda. During the week we had a debate on human trafficking when the issue of prostitution arose and whether the users of such sexual services...