Results 421-440 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

Seanad: Address by Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, MEP. (27 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: As we have very little time I would be grateful if Ms Scallon could respond to my question about the biotechnology firms in the United States and the testing of drugs which may be used by the pharmaceutical companies here.

Seanad: Address by Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, MEP. (27 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: This is not to do with the vote. This is about what Ms Scallon feels.

Seanad: Address by Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, MEP. (27 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: Would Ms Scallon allow drugs which have been developed using embryonic stem cells to test for toxicity in here and would she allow pharmaceutical companies which use such technology, for example in the United States as they do at the moment, to have establishments here?

Seanad: Address by Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, MEP. (27 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: It is entirely private funding.

Seanad: Address by Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, MEP. (27 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: What is Ms Scallon's opinion?

Seanad: Address by Ms Nuala Ahern, MEP. (27 Nov 2003)

Mary Henry: I welcome Ms Ahern to the House and I thank her for her address. I want to deal with the stem cell issue first as it is very serious. Like Senator Browne, the reason I am so in favour of the Government's position, as expressed by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, is because I look with dismay at what is happening in the United States of America where large...

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I compliment Senator Cox because she has been trying to address this issue for some time. We appear to have had great difficulty with confinement dates and must have had the worst record in regard to when children were actually delivered. Therefore, this is a welcome change and I thank the Minister of State for making it. Amendment agreed to. SECTION 3.

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I support Senator Terry. It seems hard-hearted that we allow for maternity leave but, if someone gets sick, we take that leave away again. I accept that women will not be at work because they will be on sick leave. However, it might be a good idea to give this additional time, to which a woman would have been entitled had she not become sick, to ensure that she is in the best possible health...

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I had children at a time maternity leave did not exist. It was considered that the world would come to an end if maternity leave was introduced but that did not happen and women became more popular as employees because they were needed in the workforce. Did the Minister of State's advisers take into account that the average family size is 2.1 children? It is not as if women will seek extra...

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I support the amendment – that should cheer up the Government remarkably. This change appears to strengthen the situation for the employee.

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I am pleased to see this compassionate amendment.

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I support Senator White's comments on the value of breastfeeding. It is very important physically, psychologically, intellectually, etc. It is very sad that the incidence of breastfeeding is so low in this country and worse still that it goes down for mothers lower on the socio-economic scale. A child in social class one is much more likely to be breastfed than a child in social class five. I...

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: The Minister of State's amendment covers what I am trying to achieve. We have a new and dreadful problem of obesity in children. Obesity in babies is much less likely if they are breastfed. The national breastfeeding policy has extended the amount of time a child should be breastfed before solids are introduced into the diet. It is a serious health issue and what the Minister of State has...

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: My amendment also seeks to change the wording in section 8 to make it positive. The only facility required for breastfeeding is a chair to permit the mother to sit down. I do not see why employers should not have to provide a chair. Nothing else is needed. If the chair was in the corner of an office or where other people have coffee, that would be fine. It is not as though this is a big deal....

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I agree.

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: Now that we have explained all we are looking for is a chair, will the Minister of State look at this again because I certainly do not want to get into a tangle with the Supreme Court? A chair would be a nominal amount. Senator Tuffy spoke about making this positive. People breastfeeding babies on aeroplanes, boats or elsewhere do not expect some special room – they just sit there and feed...

Seanad: Maternity Protection (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (2 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: It will be easier than stopping smoking in the bar.

Seanad: Order of Business. (3 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: Since the 1970s we have been warned that thinning of the ozone layer would lead to an increase in skin cancer. In this part of the world in the past ten years there has been a 64% increase in melanoma in men and a 54% increase in women. Surely this demonstrates that a debate on the Kyoto Protocol is urgently required in order to try to bring some sense into the American stance on the matter....

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: I support Senator Quinn's call for a debate on lifestyle. We all have different interests and come from different walks of life and we may be able to make positive suggestions as to what we can do about improving lifestyle here, particularly for children, because the increase in obesity among children is very substantial. I have asked Senator Ó Murchú previously if he could get Irish...

Seanad: Report on Dublin and Monaghan Bombings: Motion. - Local Authority Funding: Motion. (10 Dec 2003)

Mary Henry: There is a crisis of homelessness in this country. There is a dire need for social housing, but in his budget speech the Minister for Finance did not mention either social housing or homelessness. These are serious issues, but they can be neglected because there is a feeling that there are no votes to be gained from dealing with them. To my sorrow, I find that in some areas in which social...