Results 21-40 of 72 for speaker:Mal O'Hara

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Women and Constitutional Change: HERe NI (30 May 2024)

Mal O'Hara: On the section 75 funding, my understanding is that the last time there was direct funding from the Minister with responsibility for sexual orientation was under Peter Hain in 2005. Regardless of what Ministers have been in the Department of Communities or the Executive Office, there has been no funding. That is a really poor picture. I contrast that with the millions and possibly tens of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Women and Constitutional Change: HERe NI (30 May 2024)

Mal O'Hara: Yes, and that was my time in the sector. Previously, I worked professionally in the LGBT sector for the best part of eight years. It answers Deputy Conway-Walsh’s question a bit. If we use section 75 and we do not just fund localities but also fund communities of interest, that would get the resource into marginalised groups. Would that be a correct assumption?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Women and Constitutional Change: HERe NI (30 May 2024)

Mal O'Hara: We need a sympathetic Minister to make that change then. Regarding local authority funding, during Covid I argued at Belfast City Council that we do not just fund localities. Thankfully, others saw that logic and we funded LGBT groups. I think we funded HERe NI for some work. In addition, Belfast City Council is progressing with the LGBT hub. I think that can inform any sort of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Women and Constitutional Change: HERe NI (30 May 2024)

Mal O'Hara: Regarding women in political life, I understand there are no out queer women elected in the North. We had my friend, Mary Ellen Campbell, as former deputy lord mayor, and my other friend, Julie-Anne Corr Johnson, for the PUP - two queer women, in Sinn Féin and PUP, respectively. We are currently at a stage where have no queer women elected in the North – or out queer women....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Women and Constitutional Change: HERe NI (30 May 2024)

Mal O'Hara: There is huge success with quotas in the South but some resistance to them in the North. Does Ms Nelson think quotas may be imbedded in the constitution for minority groups? I note women are not a minority group; they are a majority group. Does Ms Nelson think quotas might be in any new constitutional framework to address that lack of representation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Women and Constitutional Change: HERe NI (30 May 2024)

Mal O'Hara: It is a short-term measure to effect change and if it succeeds, we move on. I have a question on the strategy. Minister Hargey said that it would be up to individual Ministers to contribute financial resources or departmental prioritisation of their elements of the strategy. Is that still the case? I am conscious that Minister X may decide queer equality is not an issue for him and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Women and Constitutional Change: HERe NI (30 May 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I have about 20 other questions but I will go with this one as the last one. We are awaiting the outcome of the hate crime review in the North. In the South, we are currently debating hate crime and hate speech legislation, and it has gotten a little bit toxic, unfortunately. Is it fair to say that queer organisations across the island would be very clear that any new constitution or any...

Seanad: International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Motion (19 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I have listened carefully to the debate thus far. We in the Green Party approach this issue on a humanitarian basis. Senator Higgins has articulated the reality of the crisis of people dying in the Mediterranean and how the EU and certain member states along the southern European coast have not responded in any way appropriately to that crisis. It is a challenge. We live in an...

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I have a few more questions, especially for the Department of Health and the HSE. We got some figures in the opening statement on spend in comparison with other European countries. How does that benchmark against others? Some of the key actions being taken were mentioned. Are there inhibitors to good practice in the Misuse of Drugs Act and, if so, what are they?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: What are the barriers to international good practice caused by the Misuse of Drugs Act? Perhaps it is a question for the Department of Justice.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: When we speak about innovative approaches, we mean health-led and human rights-compliant approaches. I firmly believe the Misuse of Drugs Act inhibits us from taking some of those approaches. What international evidence do we have to suggest things we cannot do because of the Misuse of Drugs Act?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I am specifically thinking about data collation on service use and access to services. What sort of data are we systemically collecting? Do we have any picture of vulnerable groups who may be falling through the net?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: Will the Department of Justice speak about specific challenges around the Border, especially around supply - I am a Northerner - and potential challenges as we change and evolve our approach here if there is a lack of evolution in the North?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I thank the witnesses for their opening statements and their answers to other members' questions so far. I will first pick up on the point made by Deputy Gould relating to the challenge around data and its collation across Europe. How many countries are we comparable with and where are we ranked?

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: My apologies that I missed the start of the debate. Forgive me if some of the issues I raise have already been flagged. I want to push back a little on the language we have heard already today. I have a concern that those who often champion our position and use the language about the safety of children have an underlying ideological agenda. Senator Seery Kearney has already clearly...

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I will wind up my remarks and come back in later.

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (26 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I will push back on that a little. I appreciate what Senator Keogan said on fostering. However, the reason we have a higher bar for fostering is not just that it involves children but because they are vulnerable children. That is why we do that piece of work. Not every child who is born necessarily becomes vulnerable. Children are born in safe, loving, supportive, caring and nurturing...

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Second Stage (26 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I, too, commend the Bill. My colleague's impassioned plea at the end of his contribution suggests the scale of how we need to shift culture. I will talk a little about that. In 2023, more than 40,000 disclosures of abuse were made to Women's Aid, of which 35,000 concerned abuse against women and almost 5,000 concerned abuse against children. That is a marked increase of 18% from 2022. In...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: I formally second the proposal.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Jun 2024)

Mal O'Hara: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I thank my colleagues for their good wishes for next week's election in the North. The UK is one of only two places in Europe that uses the first-past-the-post electoral system, the other being the well-known liberal democracy of Belarus. I formally second my colleague, Senator Martin's amendment to the Order of Business today.