Results 1-20 of 1,958 for speaker:Sharon Keogan

Seanad: EU Regulations: Motions (3 Jul 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I was probably one of the strongest opponents of Ireland opting in to this migration pact in this House along with a small number of Independent Senators. People are entering this country illegally and when people enter illegally, they have to be dealt with and returned. People are sick of people entering this country illegally and not facing the consequences of it. The Minister stated...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Jul 2025)

Sharon Keogan: The Women's Aid 2024 annual report published last week paints a harrowing picture of domestic abuse in this country. Among the most disturbing findings is that 188 pregnant, post-partum or post-termination women were supported by Women's Aid last year due to intimate partner abuse. This is not just a statistic; it is a national disgrace. Tragically, this issue is not abstract. Just this...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Jul 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Hear, hear.

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I welcome the witnesses and thank Dr. Muldoon for his statement this morning. The ombudsman has the statutory obligation to serve and safeguard the children in Ireland. However, we have badly let down the children who are homeless, in poverty, awaiting timely healthcare, in State care, the migrant children who are missing and our own children who are missing. There are so many issues...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Does the scoliosis society have an office in the premises?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: What about any health organisation or disability group?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: BelonG To has listed the office as a location.

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Dr. Muldoon has not answered my questions.

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Perhaps I will get some of the questions I asked in the first round answered. My first question relates to the 2023 UCD report, which details the organised and systemic sexual exploitation of children in State care, including children being trafficked to hotels for abuse, the failure of professionals to identify and take action on clear signs of exploitation, and the lack of consistent Garda...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I find this all very shocking given how vulnerable and open to grooming children in care, particularly residential care, are. I had a child in my care in an emergency situation a couple of times and that child ended up in residential care, becoming part of this and taking her own life. These children are being let down badly. Let us go back to the issue of gender. Will Dr. Muldoon...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: No, I asked whether, given the number of individuals reporting irreversible negative outcomes post treatment, the ombudsman's office had undertaken or considered undertaking a review of the impact on Irish children of these referrals to the Tavistock centre.

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: The UK has permanently banned puberty blockers. As an advocate for children, does Dr. Muldoon believe that by actively endorsing a pathway for children questioning their gender he has actively harmed these vulnerable children and led them down a path that is irreversible? Does he see the danger that could be to children? Does he think Ireland should ban puberty blockers for children?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Does Dr. Muldoon believe that Ireland should permanently ban puberty blockers for children like the UK did?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the Cathaoirleach. Last week we had the Children's Rights Alliance before us and I highlighted the 8,500 Tusla referrals in April of this year alone that appears in the Tusla report. It is absolutely shocking. We are all talking about foster families and residential care. For me it is about how we can support families to be better parents, because that is the key. Obviously there...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: On those children who are in special care and who might be in Oberstown or whatever, they have a multidisciplinary team around them. When a child is in care after the age of 18 he or she may go off to college and may reside in Tusla accommodation. The safety net of that child is completely taken away and that person is now his or her own advocate. Some of the children, when they are in...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: If they are lucky.

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: We have some time left. There is a report today in the newspaper that security guards will be hired to restrain children in State care during violent episodes. Tusla confirmed it will be spending €1 million on close-protection personnel to work with staff in violent situations. Do the witnesses find that worrying?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: It says they are going to be assigned to other residential care units as well as off-site locations. That is really worrying. It is hard being a foster parent and having a child who may have violent episodes and may present violently in your home. To move that child into a residential care setting where he or she is cared by individuals who are coming in who have no real link to that child...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Does Dr. Muldoon believe that children can change their sex?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children (26 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: He is the Ombudsman for Children.