Results 21-40 of 333 for likes to work speaker:Bríd Smith

Did you mean: like to work speaker:453?

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Industrial Disputes (12 Dec 2023)

Bríd Smith: 485. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will clarify the reason tripartite talks between her Department, ILDN and Tús co-ordinators have been cancelled repeatedly by a principal officer (details supplied); when urgently needed talks will resume to address the 15% disparity in pay between Tús and CE supervisors, who have been eager to resolve this...

Immigration: Motion [Private Members] (6 Dec 2023)

Bríd Smith: When I read this motion yesterday, I was highly amused or found it very strange that there was so much reference to Georgia, immigrants coming from Georgia, and the big study obviously done by the workers in Deputy McGrath's office to research Georgia. It is very interesting to see how obsessed they are with Georgia and Georgians. To be honest, I do not see how Georgians pose such a big...

Palestine: Motion [Private Members] (22 Nov 2023)

Bríd Smith: I have to come back on two very obvious, almost glaring, contradictions in what the Minister of State has just said. Both he and the Tánaiste are at pains to create this equivalence by all of the time going on about 7 October and what Israel is doing without, by the way, ever once condemning Israel. There are two pieces that I am going to pull out from what the Minister of State has...

Housing: Motion [Private Members] (7 Nov 2023)

Bríd Smith: I was in the office listening to the spat between the Minister and Deputy Ó Broin, whom I thank for putting forward this motion. It is very important that we focus on this all the time. I would like to respond to a lot of what the Minister said, particularly the idea that the Opposition, who represent local areas, are constantly objecting to local plans. I know the Minister and the...

Neutrality: Motion [Private Members] (25 Oct 2023)

Bríd Smith: I thank Deputies Connolly and Pringle and the Independent Group for tabling this timely motion before the Chamber. I am sure that when they decided to table it, they had not envisaged the horrors we are witnessing in the Middle East and Gaza. To go back to where it comes from, we have been witnessing the erosion, slow up to a point, of our neutrality over recent years. This has been led by...

Financial Resolutions 2023 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (11 Oct 2023)

Bríd Smith: I had planned to start with something else but I have to comment on the contribution by the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, tonight. It was quite something else to spend her minutes talking about the Future Ireland fund and to say this is the most significant thing any Government has done ever in this country, that is, to allow for €4 billion to go into a fund that will,...

Childcare Fees: Motion [Private Members] (3 Oct 2023)

Bríd Smith: ...amendment he painted a very rosy picture, and why would he not? Anybody who saw the demonstration last week outside the Dáil, which was not by a long shot only providers as there were hundreds of workers there, and listened to parents would have to recognise that there is a crisis in our childcare system. Many crèches have closed. The Minister said the closures are slowing...

Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) Bill 2023: Second Stage (20 Sep 2023)

Bríd Smith: I welcome the chance to speak on this Bill. Anyone would recognise that a shift to move powers from unelected individuals into a democratically elected office is a positive thing. However, that power then needs to be accountable to the people who put those people into the position to make decisions. We think this Bill is a missed opportunity to undo the effects of Ireland's weak and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jul 2023)

Bríd Smith: I welcome the workers from Iceland here today and they are up in the Gallery. I hope everyone welcomes them. They have been busy campaigning, unionising and some of them occupying their stores where they are losing their jobs. We have just learned that five more stores have pulled down the shutters today without any consultation with workers. The issue of the Iceland workers has been...

Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: From the Seanad (5 Jul 2023)

Bríd Smith: Apologies for being late for the debate. I listened to the previous Deputies, all of whom spoke clearly on the issue. I am really coming here as an alternative to Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, who is at another committee. I wish Deputy Boyd Barrett was here because, as we know, he was born in a mother and baby home. It is one of the many things that are excluded from this scheme with which...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Temporary Solidarity Contribution) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jun 2023)

Bríd Smith: I will listen to the Minister of State's answer afterwards. Have we given up on that? I am sure the Minister of State has an answer to that question. Second, the Act covers the activities in the fossil fuel sector "such as production or refining of natural gas, coal, petroleum or manufacture of coke oven products, carried on in the State". Again, I have a question. Does this...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Bríd Smith: The Taoiseach may or may not be aware of it but next Tuesday, 20 June, is World Refugee Day. It is both an opportunity for us to celebrate the incredible strength, perseverance and courage refugees have shown globally in the face of adverse and varied reactions from governments around the world to their plight, and an opportunity for us to protest aspects of what is happening to them at the...

National Minimum Wage (Equal Pay for Young Workers) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (14 Jun 2023)

Bríd Smith: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Before I introduce the Bill, I want to say quite openly and publicly that People Before Profit sends its full sympathy and solidarity to the family of the late and great Christy Dignam. If he was alive today, he would fully support this Bill. My experience of him was when he played in a local venue in Ballyfermot in the 1990s. It used to...

Respite Care Services: Motion [Private Members] (30 May 2023)

Bríd Smith: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion to us. The figures in the motion are stark. Three quarters of families get no respite care at all. In 2022 fewer than 5,200 received a respite service, despite the fact that there are 20,000 people or more with disabilities, including physical and sensory disabilities, or autism who need respite care. Fewer people received respite services...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (25 May 2023)

Bríd Smith: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Today marks the fifth anniversary of the magnificent repeal referendum vote. Thankfully, the situation for pregnant people in this country has improved massively since people voted overwhelmingly to trust women and repeal the eighth amendment. Abortion is available on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and, beyond that, in very limited...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Bríd Smith: I want to ask the Taoiseach about the shocking treatment of the workers in Tesco. This is a hugely profitable firm the great success of which in this country has mainly been achieved on the back of its loyal workforce. However, there has been shameful treatment of workers employed by the company prior to 1996. Effectively, these people have either driven out of their jobs because of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (9 May 2023)

Bríd Smith: I hope I get quick answers like that too. Coming Paddy last, or second Paddy last, it is hard to have all your questions in your head. I want to go back to the question of hedging. According to all the explanations the witnesses have given about the market and how it works and EU legislation, there is a common set of powers across the EU and individual states implement their own set of...

Construction Safety Licensing Bill 2023: Second Stage (3 May 2023)

Bríd Smith: No one could argue with the need for increased safety in construction and related trades. Next to farming, this sector has consistently recorded the highest levels of injuries and deaths. According to the Health and Safety Authority's figures for last year, seven workers lost their lives in construction. Between 2008 and 2019, 107 fatal incidents took place in the construction sector....

Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Statements (26 Apr 2023)

Bríd Smith: ...anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement. For the purpose of this debate, I will read some extracts from it. The 25th anniversary of the agreement has been marked by praise for the negotiators who pieced the text together. However, when the historical record is examined, it will appear that the architects of peace were not just politicians. The demand for an end to all violence...

Department Underspend and Reduced Delivery of Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (18 Apr 2023)

Bríd Smith: I guess the Minister could have a bog-standard speech stashed away in his filing cabinet or computer to pull out at least once per week as we deal with this housing catastrophe. There will continue to be Bills, motions and proposals coming from the Opposition to the Government in Private Members' time to try to highlight and deal with an absolute catastrophe. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael...