Results 61-80 of 285 for likes to work speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

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Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Statements (13 Jan 2021)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...but for many those hopes were dashed. Sadly, many survivors are upset, deflated and angry by some of what they have read in the report. The assertion that there were no forced adoptions, that there exists little evidence of physical abuse and the overarching attempt to shift responsibility from the State and churches has left survivors shocked and some outraged. They are equally furious...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (15 Dec 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: I commend the important work of the task force led by Professor Brian MacCraith. It is an arduous task and the entire nation is dependent on a positive outcome from it. The Taoiseach may be aware from representations to his office that there is a widespread concern that the Government decided not to recognise people with disabilities in the priority list of groups for vaccination published...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: We believe people should have the right to retire with the State pension at the age of 65 if they so choose. The idea of sending someone to stand in a dole queue at the age of 65 is just wrong. When people have reached that age they have worked their shifts and paid their dues. We are putting a motion before the Dáil tonight calling for the State pension age of 65 to be reinstated. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Shared Island Unit (25 Nov 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...with various groups, academics, policymakers and opinion formers, the discussion on Irish unity is taking place right now. We published our discussion document in that spirit. It is a contribution to the exciting and hopeful debate on what a united Ireland might look like. As we approach the centenary of partition, which was imposed on this island with enormous and tragic human and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: US Presidential Election (25 Nov 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: I want to again congratulate President-elect Joe Biden on winning the US presidential election. I extend to him and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris my best wishes in meeting the challenges that will face the new administration. The President-elect is a long-standing friend of Ireland and has remained unequivocal in his support for the upholding of the Good Friday Agreement. He has...

Covid-19: Statements (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...and their plans for the future. We have all missed out on precious time with our families and we miss out on our simple routines. Most tragically, thousands of families have lost a loved one to this awful virus, and while we all may wonder what kind of Christmas we will be able to have this year, we know that for these families Christmas this year will be defined by the pain and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...agree that the courage and resilience shown by the family of Pat Finucane in their battle with the British state is inspirational. Pat Finucane was killed in February 1989 by a UDA death squad working in collusion with RUC special branch, the British Army's force reconnaissance unit and the British state. For three decades, like so many others, the family have fought a formidable...

Combating Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (19 Nov 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: "I'd gone from being a strong, independent woman to this quivering wreck with no friends, no job, and no confidence. I felt so low, I searched the house for pills for an overdose". This is Siobhan’s story, and her story told and retold thousands of times across the land because domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is an epidemic in our society; it is an insidious form of abuse...

Post-European Council Meeting on 15 and 16 October: Statements (20 Oct 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...happens in the next days and weeks will have a profound impact on the island of Ireland economically, socially and politically. On Thursday and Friday of last week, the European Council met to discuss, among other things, the status of the talks with the British Government as we fast approach the deadline for a workable, fair and, as the Taoiseach says, balanced deal. While we know...

Financial Resolutions 2020 - Financial Resolution No. 7: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: When the Government came to draft this budget, it did so against the backdrop of great crises and challenges for Ireland. It was written against the reality of lost jobs and incomes and the tragedy of lost lives. This pandemic is undeniably the most serious crisis we have faced in living memory, and as Brexit looms large on the horizon, there is justifiably a great deal of public anxiety...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: What happened to women and children behind the high walls of Ireland's mother and baby homes casts a long and a dark shadow. For decades, these homes were shrouded in secrecy and the awful abuse of single mothers, the forced separation of families and the horrors of what happened in places like Tuam is still hard to comprehend. Those who survived these institutions, those who did not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: Covid has had a devastating impact on services for people with disabilities and dementia. Many people who were receiving a full week's support prior to the pandemic are now only receiving one or two days of services per week. The sector has warned that this is because it does not have the additional funding to restore services to full capacity with the Covid protocols in place. Last night,...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic Plan (30 Sep 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: When he stands up to respond, will the Taoiseach tell us when the two errors in respect of the calculated grades came to light? I know this news will be deeply concerning to students across the land and it seems quite something that errors of this magnitude have occurred but I would like to know when the Government first discovered them. Can the Taoiseach confirm which Departments and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Sep 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...city and county were announced on Friday, including restrictions on bars and restaurants banning indoor dining. This particular measure came as a shock. People did not see it coming. According to the Restaurants Association of Ireland it has resulted in tens of thousands of workers being laid off. It is now clear that the Government’s strategy to deal with this pandemic will...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (8 Sep 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: Continuing on that theme, it is not only the representatives of the Sisters of Charity that the Taoiseach must speak to regarding these workers from St. Mary's, St. Monica's and the Caritas convalescent centre, but also the HSE. Many of these workers have given decades of service and worked right through the Covid-19 pandemic. They were front-line workers who were applauded, if the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Jul 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am sure the Taoiseach is not suggesting that those 287,000 recipients of the Covid payment are scamming the system or that they qualify as scammers. I would like him to make that very clear. These are people who have lost work and hope to return to work as soon as they possibly can. They are out of work because we are in the throes of a public health emergency. It is the case that the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committees (22 Jul 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: I too would like to know whether this Government co-ordination Cabinet committee met in advance of last night's Cabinet meeting. With regard to the green list, it was very clear that yesterday the Tánaiste acted as a critic of his own Government, or at the very least of his Government colleague, in telling the media it was wrong to send out mixed messages about international travel. In...

Maternity Leave Benefit Extension: Motion [Private Members] (14 Jul 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: I commend Deputy Kerrane for bringing forward this important motion at this time. On 11 June, the National Women's Council of Ireland, NWCI, submitted a petition signed by more than 28,000 people to the then Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, calling for an extension of 12 weeks to maternity leave and pay. He said he would give full and meaningful consideration to this request. However, after...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Economic Growth (14 Jul 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: ...labour. It seems that Fine Gael will have its fingerprints all over the economic strategy and approach of this Government. That is not something I welcome. That certainly is not something that working people across this State will welcome because they all know from bitter experience what that will amount to. Whatever about the initial flurry and rhetoric about stimulus, we know...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 (7 Jul 2020)

Mary Lou McDonald: In the 15 minutes allocated to me, I have some remarks to make and some issues I would like to tease out with the Taoiseach. If we could engage in an interactive format and the Taoiseach could respond, that would be very helpful. Today is the first occasion on which Deputy Martin, as Taoiseach, presented himself for Leaders' Questions and also the Revised Estimates. In building for the...