Results 1-20 of 120 for going forward speaker:Bríd Smith

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (An Teaghlach), 2023: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (The Family) Bill 2023: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jan 2024)

Bríd Smith: ...done by the Joint Committee on Gender Equality, much of which was based on constitutional legal arguments. Nevertheless, the work was very impressive. Regardless of what was recommended to the Government, it has been ignored and the Government has gone ahead and given us a very weak set of proposals for constitutional change. This makes it difficult for people to be enthusiastic and to...

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...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (4 Oct 2023)

Bríd Smith: ...have been through an epidemic of misogyny and gender-based violence, violence against women. Sometimes, when you stop and think about it, it is quite extraordinary and you wonder what the hell is going on in the world and why this has taken off in the way it has. It is also important to be very clear to the population, to our constituents, because there are muddled messages out there as...

Eviction Ban Bill 2022: Motion (27 Sep 2023)

Bríd Smith: ...passed by the Oireachtas. We had to use Private Members' time to insist it move through Committee Stage. With the support of the Minister of State's party that was in opposition at the time, we got it passed and then it was obstructed further by using some other vague Standing Order which we ended up contesting in the High Court. We are used to having to challenge this House on its...

Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Bríd Smith: ...on the original Seanad Private Member's Bill. This Bill included a section that banned the harassment of abortion providers outside of safe access zones. In other words, it was not permitted to go to their homes or to harass them on the street. Today, many of us had to run a gauntlet across the road of far-right protestors who want to undermine trans rights. That has to be put up with...

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

Bríd Smith: ...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 be packed to the gills, full of young people who really got him, and he really got them. He understood young people in working class areas. He was of them, he was part of them, and he fully expressed their experience in life. Not so long ago, on...

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

Bríd Smith: ...outside the gate. The users and their families came here and told us in graphic detail what that hotel meant to them, particularly the users, the people with disabilities and challenges who looked forward so much to having the option of a holiday in Cuisle, Roscommon, every year. It is not just any old hotel that can cater for the complex needs of people with mobility issues, feeding...

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

Bríd Smith: ...before the House on the fifth anniversary of repeal because of the lottery system we have. Nevertheless the Minister is right to say that if we match this with Marie O'Shea's report the Bill goes further. That is true. That does not mean if the Bill was dealt with in a committee that people would not put forward amendments and all the rest. I note there are people in the House who are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) Bill 2023 (18 Apr 2023)

Bríd Smith: ...sector has led to this massive price gouging? We can see 20 years on that deregulation has been a major mistake. I would like to hear the EU's opinion on that. I know Ms Sikow-Magny is not going say the EU made a huge mistake there and is going to rectify it immediately. Perhaps she could give us some critique on why the deregulation of the market has led us to where we are and how we...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Church-State Relations (22 Mar 2023)

Bríd Smith: Since we are on the topic of divestment of schools, we are having quite a difficult experience in Ballyfermot with the divestment and amalgamation of schools. There needs to be more forward planning about how we carry it through. When you talk to parents, the vast majority of them say they are for non-ethos based education. Schools often carry out surveys to see how the parents will...

Reform of Carer's Allowance Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (22 Mar 2023)

Bríd Smith: I thank Deputy Harkin and her group for putting forward this important motion. I hope that given that we have set up an all-party committee on the role of carers, with a focus on young carers, this year and beyond we will begin to change the attitude and climate in this country towards the important role of caring for people in the family and at home. The statistics are startling and I want...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: First Stage (8 Feb 2023)

Bríd Smith: ...to do what they want with their own bodies must be questioned; that the healthcare they are seeking access to is somehow different from care for other aspects of their health and that we are going to place obstacles and hurdles in their way. It suggests there is something wrong with their choice. We totally reject this and the burden it places on women. In many places in the country,...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2022: First Stage (15 Dec 2022)

Bríd Smith: ...or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman; and to decriminalise the provision of abortion. This is the unfinished business of the great repeal movement that in 2018 challenged the Government, through one historic referendum, to give women the right to choose what to do with their bodies and their reproductive health. In moving this Bill, I remember those whose cases...

Abuse at Certain Educational Institutions: Statements (24 Nov 2022)

Bríd Smith: On behalf of People Before Profit I express our solidarity to the victims. I thank those who came forward to raise this issue and brought it into the public eye. We owe them a deep debt of gratitude. There was something different about this particular revelation. We have been heaped with revelations of abuse of men, women and children by clerics and the churches over recent decades. What...

Transport in Galway and Other Areas: Motion [Private Members] (23 Nov 2022)

Bríd Smith: .... The economist said that when he talks to senior Government officials about these issues, their attitude is that they will look after it when it happens. They said they did not know Covid was going to happen and that they looked after it. They turn a blind eye to the need for forward planning. This motion creates a realisation of that need. The importance of reopening the western...

Energy Regulations: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (16 Nov 2022)

Bríd Smith: ...They are completely absent from it and I am delighted to see that because it is progressive. The motion calls for a reduction in the use of electricity by data centres, which Deputy Kenny has just gone into very thoroughly. It also covers things like putting a cap on the revenue of the energy companies and details clearly how the profits of the energy companies have skyrocketed out of...

Retained Firefighters: Motion [Private Members] (15 Nov 2022)

Bríd Smith: I want to recognise that 15 years ago this September we lost Bray firefighter Mark O'Shaughnessy and Bray substation officer Brian Murray. I attended a vigil for both of them at the time. Their lives were lost at a fire in the town. Our thoughts are with their families, friends and colleagues. Like others, I welcome all their colleagues to the Dáil. I went down and spent a few...

Social and Affordable Housing Supply: Motion [Private Members] (26 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: When the Minister, Deputy Noonan, walked in here this morning I asked him why he was here and not the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien. He said he had pulled the short straw, and indeed he has. I have noticed that the Minister, unusually, has put in an amendment to our motion. We have been listening to Private Members’ motions for months now where...

Public Transport: Motion [Private Members] (25 Oct 2022)

Bríd Smith: ...to be abolished from the start of 2023, including for commercial bus and rail operators, and investment to ensure free public transport is also fast and frequent". I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. It is good to have the opportunity to talk about this hugely important issue. It is evident, from the contributions of all of the Deputies who have spoken, that we...