Results 61-80 of 764 for speaker:Kathryn Reilly

Seanad: Report by Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (25 Oct 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: We are all aware of the problems homeowners face. Young couples and families are in distress having bought homes at highly inflated prices during the boom. People not much older than me were saddled with vast mortgages they have no hope of paying now as a result of the economic recession and job losses. We know these people were given mortgages almost without question. The banks were...

Seanad: Vocational Education Committees (25 Oct 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, to the House and thank him for taking this matter on the Adjournment. This is an important issue which has become more so in recent weeks since the announcement of the decision on the locations of VEC headquarters. Having spoken to managers, tutors and administrative staff who work in VECs, I have found the general reaction, not just to the...

Seanad: Vocational Education Committees (25 Oct 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: We have been advised by a departmental official that Cavan and Monaghan VECs were tied in the amalgamation process until the decision was made for a new education campus in Monaghan. The current plans for this campus do not even include a VEC. Will the Minister provide information as to the criteria used in the amalgamation? What were the two VECs tied on? Cavan was leaps and bounds ahead-----

Seanad: Vocational Education Committees (25 Oct 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: Is there more detailed information about the criteria used rather than this quote about the advice to the VECs? Was the criteria uniform for all VECs or were there differences by location?

Seanad: Reform of Junior Certificate: Statements (8 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: I am the Senator who has most recently done the junior certificate. Concerns were raised about science not being a core subject. Will students have the opportunity to try subjects before they have to sign up to them? If they have a choice they may not choose to study science. What is the take-up of science in schools where it is currently an optional choice? Can the Minister give any...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: I echo the comments of other Senators, especially Senator Wilson, on the Army barracks closures. The Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, has resigned on the basis that the decision to close the Army barracks was not backed up by facts and figures. Like other Senators, I call for the Minister for Defence, Deputy Shatter, to come into this House and show us his part of the comprehensive...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: The Minister needs to come in here and clarify the issue. We can look at the decision only when we see the figures. The memorandum of understanding with the EU-IMF includes a commitment that by the end of the third quarter of 2011 the Government must establish an independent regulator to implement the outstanding recommendations of the Competition Authority aimed at reducing legal costs. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: -----and the Law Society. When can we expect that legislation to come before this House?

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: I have been told by many people, particularly the very people for whom Senator Bradford prescribed amnesia tablets, that the proposed VAT increase will cost jobs and businesses along the Border even though, as indicated earlier, it had been in the memorandum of understanding agreed to by the Fianna Fáil Party.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: Over a number of years, perhaps not at once. Is it possible to have a discussion on the economy in the Border counties about which we have heard so much over the past few days and in the light of fact the Fine Gael presidential candidate did not know how many counties were in the State currently. I ask the Minister for Finance or the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to come to...

Seanad: Health Awareness and Physical Fitness: Motion (23 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: Like other Senators, I commend the Independent group of Senators, especially Senator Coghlan, for introducing this important motion. I will start with a little story. Earlier this year, in September, I got involved in boxing, for a white collar boxing tournament. On the first night I found it very hard to get through the warm-ups without nearly collapsing, which is not something I am proud...

Seanad: Health Awareness and Physical Fitness: Motion (23 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: I use it as an opportunity to vent. Physical activity should be a part of every young person's life in some guise or another. Encouraging a person to find an activity he or she is interested in, whether it be a traditional sport, dancing or anything else, is an important part of our task in the future. Physical activity is important, as the motion notes, in the overall well-being of...

Seanad: Address by Dr. Mary Robinson (24 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: I have long been an admirer of Dr. Robinson and her work, although I was only two when she was elected Uachtaráin na hÉireann. I was struck by the Hillary Clinton passage she read in her address and the statement that when everybody has the opportunity to participate, the economy will be richer. She asked us to reflect on the participation age and she mentioned the improved gender...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Nov 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: As mentioned, the ESRI report states the number in employment will fall by 22,000 next year, but this will be masked by the emigration of 40,000, in addition to the 35,000 expected to emigrate this year. According to the CSO, there are 3,440 legally defined electoral divisions in the State. The ESRI estimates that 12 people per electoral division will emigrate next year - almost an entire...

Seanad: Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) (Amendment) Scheme 2011: Motion (1 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: This is a U-turn. Members may recognise this from Fine Gael and Labour Party U-turns on issues such as increases in the college fees, hospital closures and cuts to child benefit or social welfare. Today we have another U-turn, one on which election promises were made and votes were hard won. This is the U-turn that brought phrases such as "not one more red cent would go into the banks",...

Seanad: Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) (Amendment) Scheme 2011: Motion (1 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: The truth hurts. The Labour Party might want to highlight the fact that it alone rejected the bank guarantee and is only dealing with the legacy of the mess left by Fianna Fáil but it is wrong. Today does not just herald that U-turn, marked by Deputy Doherty in the Dáil, it happened in June behind closed doors in Government when the ink on the programme for Government was barely dry. The...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: Every young person is advised to go to school, go to college, get a job and raise a family. What happens when it is not feasible for one to go to school or college because neither one nor one's family can afford it? What happens when there are no jobs for one or one's friends? What happens when one is forced to emigrate? What happens when one cannot to afford to survive because one's...

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: This is not a growth or jobs budget, but a budget like the last four budgets which the Government parties previously voted down. It is a budget for more of the same. It is hurting but not working. Nobody voted for this deficit plan, least of all the voters who were told that there would be no increase in student college contributions, no cuts in social welfare and no cuts in child benefit....

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: It should be ashamed of the cost of living crisis it is imposing on the low and middle income families in this State. We were also promised falling levels of unemployment but what has happened since the Government announced the Jobs initiative in May of this year? More than 5,000 additional people are looking for work, thousands more have emigrated, and last week we were told that an...

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Kathryn Reilly: Reform would have been across the board pay cuts for the Minister and his ministerial colleagues-----