Results 1-20 of 37 for going forward speaker:Tom Clonan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at Local Level: Discussion (Resumed) (1 May 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...categories of citizens - on the basis of LGBTQI+, ethnicity, religious formation or whatever - all of us are likely to become disabled. I think the World Health Organization tells us each of us is going to be 8% to 10%. Given that the numbers are so low, do the witnesses think there is a case to be made for radical positive discrimination, and not just targets, but that we should have...

Seanad: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (23 Apr 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...and it was disruptive. One of the issues I want to address by way of my amendments is that academic freedom would be very explicitly preserved in the wording of the Bill because it is lacking in that area. As we move forward as a society, and as a strong, independent, neutral voice in Europe and in the world, we must ensure that we have a research environment that is holistic and that...

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

Tom Clonan: ...that was exacerbated during Covid, which leads to behavioural disturbances and can be quite challenging. Lisa is a carer in the family home. We have been talking about this since the proposed wording was put forward by the Government for the referendums on which the people have spoken. Lisa is part of the invisible population of carers we have. She receives no respite and no supports....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Mar 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...echo Senator McDowell's call that perhaps the Whip should not always be applied in this House when we feel the weight of the public good behind us. That is something we should probably think about going forward. I cannot let this moment pass without mentioning what is happening in Gaza and the pictures that we are seeing - it is not famine, it is forced starvation. As an Irish people...

Seanad: International Women's Day: Statements (6 Mar 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...the State that I joined Óglaigh na hÉireann as a young man. It is also why I my PhD research into the experiences of my female colleagues, which revealed shockingly high levels of sexual assault, sexual abuse, discrimination and rape. I brought that forward and was subject to a campaign of the most appalling reprisal, which continues to this day. It has been reanimated because...

Seanad: Situation in the Middle East: Statements (20 Feb 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...against the border, a fortified zone known as the Philadelphi corridor or the Saladin corridor between Kerem Shalom on the Israeli border right through to the Mediterranean. There is literally nowhere to go.They cannot evacuate. Israel, as the belligerent and having entered the territory of another country, is required under the Geneva Conventions and the laws of foreign conflict to...

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (14 Feb 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...on the increase in number of people applying for An Garda Síochána. Some people made light of the fact there were older candidates. I believe they bring life experience to the role. It is a good news story and the Minister deserves recognition for that. That initiative was swiftly acted on and pushed through. Obviously, the success of it is evident in the increase in the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2024)

Tom Clonan: ..., as am I, that those criteria be updated to reflect how we live in the 21st century. The loss of one arm is sufficient grounds to be considered a disabled driver. I do not think people are going to try to exploit the scheme because they have lost an arm. It is a really bizarre and arbitrary rule and it is very unfair to David Dignan and his family. I ask that we move this forward in...

Seanad: Family Carers: Motion [Private Members] (31 Jan 2024)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister of State for coming in again this evening. I thank Fine Gael for putting forward this motion. Care for our most vulnerable citizens is such an important topic. I am proposing two amendments, however. I have moved amendment No. 1 but I will speak to both amendments. In the first amendment, I ask the Government to abandon the proposals set out in the Green Paper on...

Seanad: Defence Forces Tribunal of Inquiry: Motion (30 Jan 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...and the members of the Defence Forces Justice Alliance who are here today. They came out in September 2021 and identified themselves. They and their families and everybody associated with them had to go through all of the trauma again and to be identified in such a public way. I also want to thank the Tánaiste for his commitment to this and for getting it over the line. In...

Seanad: An Bille um an Daicheadú Leasú ar an mBunreacht (Cúram), 2023: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (23 Jan 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...self-actualised life and for the Constitution to not contain within it the assumption that disabled citizens will have a life exclusively within the boundaries of the home and with elderly parents going into crisis. It is precisely that philosophy and view - seeing disabled citizens as being somehow of less human value than other categories of citizens - that is the reason we have almost...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Engagement with People with Disabilities (16 Jan 2024)

Tom Clonan: ...that process or decision in their life? We have to disregard the research internationally in this regard, because Ireland is completely and utterly different from any other jurisdiction. I put forward legislation last year, the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, that would have given disabled citizens the right to medical treatment, surgeries and therapies, and I was told before...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Planning for Inclusive Communities: Discussion (6 Dec 2023)

Tom Clonan: My final question, on disabled citizens’ voices, is for Ms Weldon and Ms Kenny. Ms Weldon said that we should move forward ideally by co-creating, not just by consulting or, as is often the case, saying, “Take it or leave it”. Most commonly, people are told there is nothing for them, meaning they must rely on their elderly parents until they go into crisis, after which,...

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: ...and he will take up the balance. I thank the Minister for coming here. It is very much appreciated. I want to talk about the Green Paper on disability reform. I have it here with me and I have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb. It is an extraordinary document. I want to give the context in which it has been published. Ireland is an outlier when it comes to disability rights....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Legal Aid (3 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta James Browne, go dtí an Seanad. Unprecedented action is taking place today where, country-wide, barristers and solicitors who represent clients who are accused of criminal offences are actually boycotting our court system. I think it is the first time in the history of the State that this has happened. It represents, as has been...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: ..., and this is the big idea. Where will they get the medics? At the moment, disabled citizens cannot get to see a doctor, surgeon or therapist. Where is the Department of Social Protection going to get these doctors to medically examine the 225,000 people? This is a system that was brought in as an austerity measure in the UK in 2008 and which has been thoroughly brought into disrepute....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (20 Sep 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the witnesses for coming in. I apologise; as the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is before another committee, I will have to leave after their responses to attend it. I was on the DSG and benefited from Ms Dempsey-Clifford's stewardship and her skills as a chair, so I appreciate that very much. As for the NDA's reports, I have a number of young adults and teenagers. My youngest...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (20 Sep 2023)

Tom Clonan: ...out about this, there is a responsibility on people like me to try to be a part of the dynamic that persuades those in positions of power to actually have the political will to drive this thing forward. I will try to finish with something positive. When I started on this journey with my son, purely by accident of circumstances, we were met with hostility ten years ago at the first...