Results 41-60 of 1,875 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The Order of Business is No. 1, statements on agriculture, to be taken at 3.45 p.m. and to conclude at 5.30 p.m. if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening contribution of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes, of which time can be shared, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes and the Minister to be given no less...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I will start at the very beginning. Senator Dooley began contributions on the Order of Business by highlighting the tensions in the Middle East with regard to Iran and Ukraine. The fact is the latter is running out of munitions and a debate was sought in this House. It is something we need the Tánaiste to come in and speak to us about. He could perhaps...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Motion (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I move: That Seanad Éireann — - expresses its deep sadness on the death of former Senator Richard Dowling; - conveys its sincere condolences to his family; and - expresses its gratitude for his notable contribution, as a member of Seanad Eireann, to Irish public life and for his dedicated service to the people of Ireland. I add to that a reference to Councillor Murphy.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Cathaoirleach and thank the witnesses for taking the time to be here, and in person, which I very much appreciate. My remarks will probably be more pertinently directed to TikTok and Meta because I take the point that X is more for older users. I come from a place where my view of social media is that, by design, it pushes an operant conditioning in behaviour modification. It...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am sorry, but that is not what I am asking. I am asking about the fact that a young person spending a significant amount of time on social media is interrupting his or her development of social skills with other human beings, not learning things on social media. I agree there are positive possibilities here but that is not what I am getting at.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Is that in the context of self-harm, suicide and toxic body image or does it relate to the actual function of social media, the scrolling, which is, in and of itself, a variable reward mechanism that changes cognitive function?

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I thank the witnesses for the engagement, which has been very good. I appreciate they sit there and take a lot of stick from us, so I have two positive things to say. First, I congratulate Meta for the creation of Threads. It is brilliant. It is safe. It is shown to be a very positive experience compared with X, which sadly is a vile experience. I say that as...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I do not deny that, but we see what can happen on social media. A person can just go on X and put up a post. I mute everything and never see what is on there because it is just so appalling. People can, through a screen, say and be who they are but their in-person behaviour could be very different. We see teenagers with heightened levels of anxiety in our schools. We have had to bring in...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The French Government requires parental consent for children under 15 to access WhatsApp, which should be introduced here too.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the ambassador. The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the orders of reference of the joint committee on drugs use, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Agreement on a Unified Patent Court) Bill 2024 – Second Stage, to be taken at 12.15 p.m. and to adjourn at 1.30 p.m. if not...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am surprised at what Senator Craughwell said about turbines. My understanding from the housing committee was that turbines are getting smaller rather than bigger. I am surprised by his point and I will certainly raise it as an issue. It seems contrary to what we were told in the housing committee as we went through the planning permission for all of these, especially offshore. Do I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The group is very welcome. The minute I go back to my office I will contact the Minister on the issue of photographic ID. While we are on the subject of mother and baby home redress, it is my memory that on the record of the House the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, when it was raised with him that people were left out of the scheme, said he would review it. I have it written in big bold...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: That is the experience of the people advising the Senator. However, there are huge amounts of money out there - €80 million from the Government and €80 million from the EU is considerable support. We need people coming up. I liked the championing of the ideas and the opportunities in this. That is to be commended and amplified further. I would say to Senator Clonan that...

Seanad: Joint Committee on Drugs Use: Motion (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders— (1) a Special Committee consisting of five members of Seanad Éireann be appointed, to be joined with a Special Committee to be appointed by Dáil Éireann, to form the Joint Committee on Drugs Use (‘the Joint Committee’); (2) the Joint Committee shall consider the Report of the Citizens' Assembly...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regeneration Projects (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the Minister of State. This is a matter for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, so I am mindful of that. On 7 February last the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on the steps of the Iveagh Markets on Francis Street, made a fantastic announcement of a €9 million investment there for works to preserve the building. It would be really fantastic except it is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Regeneration Projects (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State. The urban regeneration and development fund certainly is a noble undertaking. Two minutes of her statement were taken up with outlining what it involves. That is not the Minister of State's fault; she is merely the messenger. I want to know when the Iveagh Markets building will be of use to the people of Dublin rather than standing there unused. The problem...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Not at all.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is good to hear everyone’s perspective, so I thank the witnesses. I will begin by showing my appreciation of the fact that, although the commission has only been in place for a year, a large amount has already been accomplished. The commission has been forthright in the media in discussing and explaining matters. I appreciate that. I am optimistic about what lies ahead. In 2016,...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: There is no doubt about that. The coimisiún's representatives will be more sensitive than most to the boundaries of its powers and where the gaps lie beyond that. My concern is that people do not know. As I said last week, when I first came into the Oireachtas, I had been in the GDPR space for a few years, had seen when it went terribly wrong and had to address it for companies when...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Protection of Children in the Use of Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Clearly Coimisiún na Meán is very focused.