Results 21-40 of 53 for speaker:Patricia Stephenson

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Last week, The Ditch reported that an Irish academic had a connection to a lobbyist group for the defence industry. The lobbying group in question, The Irish Defence and Security Association, represents international arms manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Saab and KNDS. It regularly appears in the lobbying register meeting with the Department of Defence, including most recently last...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4(2)) (Scheme Termination Date) Order 2025: Motion (27 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I am sharing my time with Senator Harmon.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4(2)) (Scheme Termination Date) Order 2025: Motion (27 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister for coming to discuss this today. The point she discussed around certainty, which Senators O'Loughlin and Ahearn also raised, is important. The fact we are dealing with this motion four days before the end of the month suggests that there has not been certainty. I support the theory of the scheme but I wish it had been arranged earlier so that families were not living...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4(2)) (Scheme Termination Date) Order 2025: Motion (27 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I move amendment No. 2: To insert the following after “6th March, 2025”: “: provided that this Order shall not reduce the financial contribution payable to those hosting temporary protection beneficiaries”.

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

Patricia Stephenson: I support Senator Ruane's intervention. I would also like the Minister to furnish us with a report on the cost-benefit analysis of using this type of appalling, heavy-handed policing tactics versus using a community mediator in instances like this. This type of policing is morally wrong but I also suspect it is more expensive for the State. The issue I want to speak on today is to do...

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

Patricia Stephenson: Yes, I second Senator Harmon's proposal.

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I am very supportive of this Bill, by and large, but I wish to raise one major issue. It pertains to forcing survivors of domestic violence to obtain the consent of their abusers. I know the Minister of State is aware of the point, as I followed the debate in the Dáil. The current process forces survivors of domestic violence to obtain their abusers' consent to file complaints about...

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I want to speak on an element around domestic violence relating to the allocation for specialist training. I would like to see a percentage of expenses charged under subsection 2(a) to be ring-fenced for specialist training on financial abuse detection. TASC's financial abuse programme has successfully trained in excess of 500 professionals, but without dedicated resources, we risk the...

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Domestic violence and training.

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister of State for the response. Really what I am talking about here is specifically how it relates to detection when we talk about an holistic response to domestic violence. I know it might fall traditionally for the Garda to respond to instances of domestic violence, but there is an onus on all different types of State-funded institutions to play a part in detection of...

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: The Minister of State was going to respond to my first intervention when we reached section 9. I had spoken at the incorrect time.

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I agree with what Senator Murphy has said about fear, coercive control and people being trapped in these cycles, and the importance of us having institutions that recognise, spot, detect and respond to this. We have options. We have protection orders, which exist in the Domestic Violence Act. Is there something that can be done in terms of using these protection order mechanisms and using...

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: The Minister of State will be sick of me. There is also a component with this whereby the new cross-examination powers lack the safeguards for vulnerable witnesses. Re-traumatisation is a really common thing for survivors of domestic violence during financial proceedings. Perhaps we could consider the option of having examinations conducted through written submissions unless the...

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: What this amendment is not in line with is the Istanbul Convention on Violence Against Women and Girls and our obligation as a State to protect survivors of violence. That is my one comment on that. I do not think it is in the spirit of the case that there is not fairness when it comes to survivors being forced to sit in a room with their abuser. It is something to be cognisant of.

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I understood what the Minister of State was saying but to sit in a room with your abuser, not being cross-examined by them but sitting an a room with them and being obligated to be cross-examined by the ombudsman, could be a very re-traumatising incident, especially in cases with an active protection order, of which there might be very few. We might not be seeing many on an annual or...

Seanad: Childcare: Statements (2 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister. After all the interventions we have heard here this afternoon, we can say the situation for childcare and for families is really bleak. I have spoken to women who had to put their child's name on the waiting list when they were four months pregnant. I have spoken to a plethora of women my own age who are delaying having their first child or subsequent children because...

Seanad: Housing: Statements (2 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister. The housing challenges are widespread. We have heard that we are living in a housing emergency. Over 15,000 people are homeless, including over 4,600 children. We have a massive challenge around short-term lets. Airbnbs are blocking people from accommodation. We had the disastrous decision to remove the tenant in situ scheme. As the issue is so broad and given...

Seanad: Air Navigation and Transport (Arms Embargo) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (2 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I very much support the Bill the Civil Engagement Group has introduced. It puts Ireland in line with its international obligations. We would just be meeting standards by passing it. The permitting of the passage of weapons and ammunition through Ireland is quite disturbing and represents a potential facilitation of the genocidal actions of the Israeli state. Let there be no doubt about...

Seanad: International Trade and International Relations: Statements (3 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister of State for joining us today. As the Tánaiste said, we meet at a time of great global instability, not least because of the tariffs announced yesterday, because of ongoing conflicts and, as Senator Andrews highlighted, because of the genocide we are seeing unfold before our eyes. It is within this context that I reaffirm the importance of Ireland's commitment to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Apr 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Many of us were deeply disappointed by the findings of the Farrelly commission on the Grace case. Grace is a 40-year-old woman living in the south east. A lot has been said about her in the media over the last few weeks. I take the opportunity today to speak directly to Grace, who is often missing from this discussion, despite the fact that she is central to this issue. Grace, you were...