Last week, the Sunday Independent broke the story that a former parliamentary colleague of mine, Chris Andrews, was the person behind several hundred anonymous tweets attacking Fianna Fail. To say I was taken aback by this news is an understatement, not least because I was

Last Wednesday I published a short and long overdue piece of legislation: The Bank Bonuses Bill. If the government accepts this Bill in September then we can at last do something to tackle the continuing scandal of bank bosses awarding themselves excessive bonuses. It is

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Social Protection Willie O’Dea TD has written to the Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton requesting a detailed explanation for the surge in rejected applications for the Disability Allowance. Deputy O’Dea said if stricter criteria have been put in place under

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Social Protection Willie O’Dea has published legislation to crack down on big bonuses for senior bank staff over the next five years.   The Bankers Bonuses Bill (Credit Institutions Stabilisation Amendment Bill 2012 – see full text of Bill below) would

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Social Protection, Willie O’Dea TD, says that the suggestion by Minister Joan Burton that people earning over €100,000 should pay tax on any child benefit they receive is just “gesture politics of the worst kind”. “The idea that you could have

AS we have seen time and again since it came into office, this government is absolutely obsessed with communications. Its capacity for announcements, reannouncements and repackaged repeat reannouncements has been something to behold. But they would perhaps do well to remember that being obsessed with