Results 121-140 of 1,311 for speaker:Sheila Terry

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: ——benefits for older people such as contributory and non-contributory pensions, carer's allowance and fuel allowance are extremely well deserved. Will the Minister tell the House how much is spent on contributory and non-contributory State pensions? I believe it is approximately €2.4 billion or €2.5 billion. I will focus on the relationship between this and what we forgo in tax in...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: The Minister said he wished pensions were taken up by more people on low incomes. I disagree with this because they get very bad value for money if they take out pensions. They only receive tax relief at the lower rate as against individuals on the higher rate, so there is inequity in that. If the Minister were prepared to give them tax relief at the higher rate and afford them equity, it...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: The Minister should say that to pensioners who have deferred or frozen benefits. He should compare the income of a pensioner who has been retired for ten or 20 years with that of a civil servant. If he does so, he will get an indication of whether it is good value for money.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: How many of those 900,000 people are outside the tax net? What benefit will they receive in the context of tax relief?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: Is it not then very bad value for money?

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2006: Second Stage (14 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: I compliment the Minister for Social and Family Affairs on the many increases provided for in the Bill. Increases have been provided in the past several years which have made a difference to many people on social welfare benefits. I recognise the work the Minister has done in this area since he took up his portfolio. The moneys are available to the Minister to achieve these increases. In a...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: The Central Statistics Office has published a report entitled The Women and Men Study 2006 the findings of which are interesting if not very surprising. Once again, it highlights the fact that women lag behind their male counterparts in terms of their representation at regional and national level, namely, in county councils, the Dáil and Seanad, and generally in securing senior positions in...

Seanad: Defamation Bill 2006: Second Stage (Resumed). (13 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon. I regret that this important Bill has taken an undue amount of time to come before the House. That said, I welcome it. For all the reasons outlined by previous speakers, the Bill is urgently required. We need it now more than ever. More and more newspapers, especially British ones, are coming to this country carrying scurrilous articles. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: I wish to add my voice to that of other Senators who expressed their horror at this morning's killing and also at the murder of an innocent man in Kilkenny who was merely going about his business. The way these people were killed has been a shock to everyone. On many occasions, we have expressed our horror in respect of events of this nature. However, there really has not been an...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: Statements on the tribunals.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: For some years, I and other Members on both sides have asked for recognition of women who were forced to give up work due to the marriage ban. When they come to pensionable age they should be given the qualified adult payment as of right in their own name.

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: In an effort to be positive for a change, I acknowledge that the Minister has at last recognised this. However, I am concerned that women must wait until next September for this recognition. I cannot understand why, now that the Ministers for Finance and Social and Family Affairs have acknowledged at long last that women should be recognised in this way, they must wait until next September...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: We spend a lot of time here discussing parents' experience in this regard. It must be recognised nothing meaningful has been done to address the problem.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)

Sheila Terry: Many organisations are waiting patiently to see if the Minister for Finance will give them additional funding in today's budget. It is unfair to raise the profile of any single organisation. I would like to discuss the needs of people with cystic fibrosis, however, as they have not been mentioned in the House for a long time and have been neglected over the years. A review that was...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Nov 2006)

Sheila Terry: At 7 a.m. last Saturday an act of outrageous vandalism was carried out by a developer on a building in Terenure in Dublin. Having bought a convent and three acres of land, this developer brought bulldozers onto the site and demolished the convent without planning permission. This is unacceptable behaviour by a major developer. I hope he will be made an example of, be made to suffer the...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 Nov 2006)

Sheila Terry: It is not cheap electioneering. We are entitled to our opinions, as the Senator is entitled to his.

Seanad: Domestic Violence: Statements (29 Nov 2006)

Sheila Terry: He is the Minister of State for the country.

Seanad: Domestic Violence: Statements (29 Nov 2006)

Sheila Terry: I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss this important issue. Many Members call for debates on domestic violence to highlight the ongoing difficulties that many people face. It is a problem that is not going away, unfortunately, but continues to grow. We have not been able to arrest this growth. While the Minister of State outlined the difficulties in dealing with the...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2006)

Sheila Terry: Will the Leader arrange a debate on drugs, which might encompass cigarettes and alcohol as well as hard drugs, at the earliest opportunity? On my journey to the Chamber, I heard a radio discussion involving two inmates of Wheatfield Prison. My first observation was that they were able to engage in this conversation using mobile telephones even though, as I understand it, such items are not...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2006)

Sheila Terry: Yes. We have not had such a debate for some time even though the level of drug abuse in communities is increasing. Such abuse is the source of a significant proportion of crime and we are not coming to grips with it.