Results 1-20 of 158 for speaker:Patricia Stephenson

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I want to confirm that we are just speaking on the amendment.

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I commend Senator Ryan on her bravery and honesty. It is very difficult to speak about personal issues in the Chamber. It takes incredible strength so well done and thank you. It is important that people do because it adds so much colour and weight to what we are talking about. So often we talk about these things in legalese terms and it loses the meaning in many ways. As Senator Ryan...

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I appreciate the intervention of Senator Comyn, but the legal age for children is 18 for a reason. We deem anyone under 18 as a child and it is not appropriate for us to make a distinction between a younger or older child when they are witnessing domestic abuse. A boy of 17, an example the Senator gave, watching his mother being abused will suffer long-term psychological trauma. We spoke...

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: As we heard already, domestic violence and violence against women continues to be an epidemic across the island and that is why we need this Bill. Since 2020, 37 women have been killed in the South and 27 women have been killed in the North of the country. The vast majority of those women were killed in their own home. I also want to mark the latest tragic killing of Sarah Montgomery, who...

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Why does violence against women happen? It is because of the patriarchy. It is because we have had decades of decades, hundreds of years, where it has been acceptable to be violent towards women. We cannot just call on individual men, although allies are always welcome. It is great to have strong voices of men in the Seanad calling this out, of course, but we need a really strong response...

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: To draw on what Deputy Tóibín was saying, Mr. Mullan is happy with the staffing levels for this year but he is saying that if infrastructure were to be scaled up and there were to be further planning applications, then the current staffing levels would not meet that demand.

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Is that still the case if we were to scale up?

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: That is fine, I just wanted to clarify-----

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: We are just trying to get to the bottom of whether, if other workstreams were to come up, staffing of inspectors is a blockage.

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Okay. That was the question. Perfect. I thank Mr. Mullan. In the previous iteration of An Bord Pleanála there were differing opinions on the board maybe having different opinions from those of the inspectors and then changing those decisions. How will an coimisiún ensure this is not an issue going forward where inspectors' recommendations differ from board decisions?

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: It might be an issue around transparency, I suppose.

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Are there guidelines though?

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Are there guidelines or criteria on how much an inspector's weighting might be considered against the-----

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Role, Responsibilities and Processes of An Coimisiún Pleanála and Office of the Planning Regulator: Discussion (2 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: My understanding is that planning priorities are done on a first-come-first-served basis, meaning that if the planning for a one-off house comes first, that will be the first consideration versus the planning for a larger scale development. Are they done on a first-come-first-served basis or how are planning priorities allocated?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I would like to ask about the Attorney General's advice. I want to make a clarification. The Attorney General's advice was actually leaked and he did not say that goods were more defensible. I just want to make that point. Can the witnesses understand me?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: He did not say that goods were more defensible. Does trade as per the ICJ ruling, meaning goods and services in the opinion Ireland-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: In that context, does Mr. Smyth accept that the heads of Bill are not fully compliant? They cannot be compliant because they do not include services.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: With regard to EU law and international law, does EU law trump international law or is there a hierarchy with regard to whom we are beholden?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: So, international law trumps EU law.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025 (1 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: The Long Title of the Bill lifts language directly from the advisory opinion of the ICJ. It states that the Bill is to provide compliance by the State with its international legal obligation. It reads: "... to take steps to prevent trade relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory". However, two specific words...