Results 121-140 of 7,404 for speaker:Mick Wallace

Direct Payment Schemes (29 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I thank the Minister. Are the agri-environmental options scheme, AOS, payments included? Some are still due from last year. Is it true that the EU funds 50% of these payments and the Exchequer must make up the remainder? Farmers are wary because if all the payments are not made this year, there is a fear that the Exchequer may be under even more pressure next year. If farmers do not get...

Direct Payment Schemes (29 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: Does the Minister agree small farmers are the most reliant on these payments? The State has taken the least care of them over the years. We have been much better at looking after large milk farmers rather than small farmers who are more reliant on these payments.

Twenty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I agree that improving the adoption laws is a positive step but, like Deputy Catherine Murphy, I am of the view that it is a terrible pity that a referendum on children's rights will not be immediately forthcoming. A referendum on the right's of the child has long been called for by organisations such as Amnesty International and Barnardos. I hope the Government will not kick the can down...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (29 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 46: To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Fisheries and Food if he will give assurances to this house that agri environmental options scheme payments due from 2010 and AEOS and REP scheme four payments for 2011 will be paid in 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17620/11]

Order of Business (30 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: I have asked a few times about promised legislation on the strategic investment bank but I am finding it hard to get a clear answer.

Order of Business (30 Jun 2011)

Mick Wallace: Does the Government intend to introduce this? The main banks are unlikely to lend to business this year and the strategic investment bank has been promised. When will the legislation be introduced?

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: There are some positive elements in the Bill, even though the legislation is insubstantial. I am still not convinced how much the coalition Government wants to make serious changes or how much of it will be cosmetic. Much of the change that is needed would require the Government of the day to be more accountable. Therefore, asking the incumbent Government to effect serious change is a bit...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: -----which they would be reluctant to do. The six-month by-election rule is definitely a good idea. What happened under the last Government was a complete sham, but it also occurred before that. It is definitely a good idea to introduce that provision. I was shocked to hear Deputy Pearse Doherty say last night that the Supreme Court appeal to the High Court decision to force the Donegal...

Road Network (6 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 23: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport if he will provide details on the amount of funding to be allocated to Wexford over the next three years for the improvement of the national secondary roads network following the findings of the National Secondary Roads Needs Study; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19295/11]

Road Network (6 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: I can understand why there will be less money to spend on roads in the next couple of years. I would be the first to admit that people from less well-off sectors of society are probably more in need of the money available. I wrote to the Department two months ago to ask for an explanation of the relationship between the Minister and the NRA, with specific reference to the division of...

Road Network (6 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: Some of the those who have analysed the matter have said we would need a population of approximately 10 million to justify some of the traffic volume projections made. Perhaps the Minister would not agree, but that is the feeling. I would like some serious research to be conducted into what has gone on in the last ten years. We need to examine the developers who were getting the work on...

Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (7 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: I would not claim to know much about medicine or how the health system works, but I am very interested in it. Given that I have so much to learn about it, I would have liked to have got the Bill earlier than yesterday. The HSE seems to be a monster that is out of control, much like the NRA in the transport area. Too much decision making has left this Parliament and gone into the hands of...

School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: It so happens that in two of the schools I visited in Wexford that were complaining about cuts to their education budget - concerning resource teachers for Travellers - they said they would like to have had an extra teacher rather than the IT facilities they received. I cannot be sure if it is the same all over the country, but when the IT materials was being given out in the good times,...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 25: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to introduce an independent appeals process which would allow parents of special needs children to make appeals directly to the National Council for Special Education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19169/11]

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: When the Government came into office, its members went to great pains to say they would not mind being judged on how they would look after the most vulnerable in society. If this is their way of doing that I find it difficult to understand. Resource teachers for Travellers have been cut. This hits every child in the primary schools that are affected but it hits most Traveller children and...

Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2001 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: Perhaps Deputy Boyd Barrett was drinking.

Written Answers — Education Welfare Service: Education Welfare Service (12 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 57: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will examine and reverse the decision to withdraw the visiting teacher service for Travellers' posts; if she will acknowledge the disproportionate nature of cutbacks to Traveller education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19168/11]

Foreign Conflicts (13 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: Question 10: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will be supporting the recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in September; if he will putting his maximum efforts into supporting the end of Israeli occupation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20373/11]

Foreign Conflicts (13 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: Over the years, I have always heard the Minister speak in a very fair manner about the Middle East. I hope this does not stop. The argument for giving Palestine a more fair deal than it is receiving a present is pretty obvious. I was reading this morning that Israel holds the world record for violating UN Security Council resolutions. It has violated 30, which is incredible. The...

Foreign Conflicts (13 Jul 2011)

Mick Wallace: I just wish to make the point that the most-----