Results 141-160 of 764 for speaker:Kathryn Reilly

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I support the comments of Senators Cullinane and Quinn in regard to the budgetary process and pre-budget discussions that will occur here in advance of budget 2013. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a report last week by a two-thirds majority. The report, entitled "Austerity Measures - A Danger for Democracy and Social Rights" highlights a comment made by the...

Seanad: Mortgage Arrears, Banking and the Economy: Statements, Questions and Answers (3 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Like other speakers I wish to touch on the issue of mortgage arrears. While I welcome the move which will ease the burden on some of those in distress, the first reaction of my party to the proposed legislation is that it is a missed opportunity. What is needed is an independent and responsive insolvency service to deal with insolvencies and bankruptcies, but what is proposed is a one-sided...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: All Senators will have seen yesterday's newspaper report of a woman in County Donegal who had to transport gardaí to her burgled home because no Garda car was available. When she reported the burglary, she was told by a garda that he did not have access to a patrol car. Could the Minister for Justice and Equality be brought to the House to discuss this issue? The Garda press office has...

Seanad: Rent Supplements: Motion (4 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I welcome the Minister to the House. Like Senator Ó Clochartaigh, I thank the Leader for the opportunity to bring this important motion before the House. My colleague, Senator Ó Clochartaigh, has outlined the difficulties, in terms of changes to the rent supplement, facing many of the families. Staff in my office, as I am sure are staff of other Members, councillors and citizens...

Seanad: School Accommodation (5 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House and taking this matter on the Adjournment on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills. This is the second time I have raised the issue at St. Mary's national school in Virginia, County Cavan. When the Minister announced details of his infrastructure plan for 2012 last December, the school was omitted. When he announced his five...

Seanad: School Accommodation (5 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I thank the Minister of State and I ask him to bring back to his colleagues the point with regard to young families moving into the 50 new houses which have been allocated. I also have an issue with the projection of the slight decrease in enrolments. I firmly believe any decrease in enrolments will not be because of a lack of demand for places in the national school; it will be because...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (10 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State. In considering this legislation Senators would do well to examine the reasons the joint labour committee system was introduced in the 1940s. Employment regulation orders and registered employment agreements remain necessary as they play a vital role in protecting the most basic and essential rights of workers in the regulated sectors, including basic wage...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (10 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: As the Senator is well aware, we do not set the minimum wage.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Today a meeting of representatives of the Internet industry, backed by the European Commission, is taking place to discuss how children can be kept safe online. It is taking place on foot of research carried out by the EC Safer Internet programme led by the London School of Economics. The document is entitled, Towards a better internet for children. It does not consider how we can stop the...

Seanad: Microenterprise Loan Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Like previous Members, I welcome the Minister of State. Sinn Féin broadly welcomes the Bill and its goals and will support it. The banks, even those owned by the people, unfortunately, are not lending as they should and are not being compelled to do so. As stated, microenterprises and SMEs account for the majority of employment in the State but are the least likely to get the loans...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2012: Second Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I am not as positive as other Members about this Bill, as they will be aware from how Sinn Féin voted on it in the Dáil. It is a measure of the innately conservative aspect of this charade in political reform that the electoral register has been chosen as a means of selecting delegates from the public to participate in the forthcoming constitutional convention. Of course, we cannot be too...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Other Senators have mentioned the Government's stimulus package but I will touch on it also. We now know more detail of the €2.25 billion that will span until 2018. I have reservations about the package. I see Senator Gilroy is shocked by that.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: I am not against job creation, but I will continue with my contribution.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: The package is a fudge. The capital budget will be cut by €755 million in 2012, and the Government has already announced its intention to cut the capital spend by €560 million in 2013 and by €120 million in 2014. We are told the package will create 13,000 jobs. In the programme for Government, the Government undertook to have 100,000 more people in work by 2016. The projects...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: There is a need for a real stimulus package with more funds behind it that would go further toward filling the gaps in health, education, energy and vital infrastructure. Nearly 200,000 people are long-term unemployed. This announcement is too late for people who are on the dole or who have already left the State, as mentioned by Senator Ó Murchú. Will there be social and labour clauses...

Seanad: Developments in the European Union and Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements with An Taoiseach (18 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Taoiseach. Is mór an trua é nár tháinig sé anseo níos luaithe agus nach bhfuil níos mó ama againn le labhairt leis, ach úsáidfidh mé an t-am atá agam. Fáiltím roimh an athrú treo atá ag teacht. It seems likely that a significant U-turn is happening with the European Central Bank's policy on senior bondholders. This is something that...

Seanad: Developments in the European Union and Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements with An Taoiseach (18 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: If not, however, perhaps we could move towards the commissioning of a Green Paper. In the interim, in what way is the Taoiseach planning to co-operate with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure an all-Ireland dimension to the EU Presidency? I know that staff will be seconded from the North, which is to be welcomed, but given the obvious mutual interests of, for example,...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: D'iarr mé ar an Taoiseach inné, i gcomhthéacs an tábhachtacht a bhaineann leis an nGaeilge, an bhfuil sé i gceist aige Uachtaránacht Aontas na hEorpa a úsáid chun stádas na Gaeilge san Aontas Eorpach a chur chun cinn. Chualamar ar maidin go bhfuil sé níos daoire téacs a sheoladh as Gaeilge ná mar atá sé i mBéarla. Yesterday, Vodafone confirmed that users would be charged the...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Our starting point must be to accept a number of facts, many of which have been laid out already. We need to acknowledge the suffering and bravery of the victims and survivors, some of whom are in the Gallery. It is humbling to hear their stories and how they continue on despite all that has happened to them. We must also acknowledge that they were failed not only by the church and the...

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Jul 2012)

Kathryn Reilly: Vótáil.