Results 41-60 of 73 for speaker:Laura Harmon

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Facilities (10 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister of State for the response and for providing clarity on my questions. It is welcome that the deficit in radiation therapy posts has been reduced from 30% down to 14% to 22%. That is still quite a high deficit, but it is welcome that progress has been made on it. Regarding the 0.5 of a machine inactivity rates in the areas the Minister of State mentioned, is that daily,...

Seanad: Europe Day 2025: Statements (1 May 2025)

Laura Harmon: The European project is a wonderful and impactful project that has contributed to so many progressive laws in this country in employment, human rights, women's rights and the environment. We must protect the progress that has been made and the rights that have been won and guard against any rowing back of that. Last week I was fortunate to visit the European Parliament with some of my...

Seanad: Higher Education: Motion (7 May 2025)

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister and look forward to engaging with him in respect of his brief. I congratulate him. It is great to see the work he has been doing so far. I want to raise a couple of issues briefly, the first being student housing. Funding really needs to be unlocked for the technological university sector. It needs to be allowed to borrow money to purchase and build purpose-built...

Seanad: Appointment of Members to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission: Motion (13 May 2025)

Laura Harmon: I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To delete “Michael McDowell” and substitute the following: “Nessa Cosgrove”.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 May 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank my colleague Senator Patricia Stevenson for co-ordinating some actions by the Opposition today to highlight what is happening in Palestine and Gaza. Palestine is a mirror to humanity's soul at the moment. With every day that we do not act, the soul of our humanity is dying. We know that more than 55,000 people have been killed in Gaza. The song says, "The Revolution Will Not Be...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Business of Joint Committee (21 May 2025)

Laura Harmon: I wish the Cathaoirleach well in her role and congratulate her. I look forward to working with everyone on this committee. I have presented to this committee on a number of occasions over the years wearing different hats. I was president of the Union of Students in Ireland ten years ago and, just recently, I was director of the Irish Council for International Students, so this is an area...

Seanad: Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2025: Second Stage (28 May 2025)

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister of State. I am pleased to support this important Bill from Senator Noonan. I am delighted that the Cross-Party Group is bringing this forward as part of our Private Members’ time this evening. It is important that we pass this Bill without delay. There has already been too much delay in terms of addressing not only the housing crisis but also the high levels...

Seanad: Breast Cancer Services: Statements (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister for being here for this important discussion. I thank my fellow Senators, especially Senator Costello for all of her advocacy and awareness raising. I am learning so much being part of these discussions in the Seanad. Like many others here, I did not receive any education through school on breast cancer, checking our breasts and what we need to do in terms of minding...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the witnesses for being here at our inaugural session. This is very much going to be an ongoing conversation that we will have with many experts like the witnesses before us. I thank Dr. Seoighe for the very detailed and informative presentation. I am still very much learning about this area, as a lot of us are. It is evolving at a rapid pace. I have a number of questions....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the witnesses. I only have 20 seconds but as a short follow up, can the witnesses recommend international examples of countries that Ireland should look towards for best practice? If you take mitigating the risks around elections, are there particular countries that have done work on that?

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (11 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank all the guests for attending. It was illuminating hearing their contributions and having this discussion. I thank Cara for all of her advocacy and campaigning. Her protest highlighted this to many people in the corridors of power in Leinster House. It is important that action be taken and that there are not just empty words. I wholeheartedly agree with her that what is happening...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I wish the Chair well in his role and I look forward to working with everybody on this committee. I also welcome the witnesses. This is a very exciting committee to be a part of. Every aspect of humanity is going to be affected by artificial intelligence in the future. It is going to affect how our societies operate and function in everything, from our education and health systems to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: On AI literacy and the general population, I am conscious that in Ireland, over 20% of the population have low literacy rates in terms of reading and writing. Where do we start with AI literacy to ensure there is a level playing field in education?

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (11 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: As a follow-up from that question, what are Ms Darmody's next steps in her own advocacy? She has made clear her asks today. I suppose one of them is, as she mentioned, a task force. In terms of this committee here and us as public representatives, what does Ms Darmody want us to do after today in relation to this? I think they have already outlined that, but for the record, what is Ms...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: The Minister is very welcome and I look forward to working constructively with him and the committee over the coming years. I will start with student housing. I was president of the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, ten years ago and student housing was an issue then. The scale of the issue has increased tenfold since then. This is a symptom and consequence of the wider housing crisis....

Seanad: Balanced Regional Development: Statements (17 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister. It is great to have him here. I want to focus on Cork. The national planning framework 2040 anticipates that Cork will become the fastest growing city region in Ireland, with a projected 50% to 60% increase in its population by 2040. This increased demand must be supported by travel infrastructure. In order to decarbonise and create a more connected city, the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: The Minister is welcome to the House. The way these measures have been communicated has been extremely confusing. Things were said at press conferences and in press releases. There were messages from the Minister and Taoiseach. This has been confusing for the public in general. The whole country should be a rent pressure zone in the long term. There is a huge missed opportunity in these...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the witnesses for attending. I look forward to engaging with them. It is good to have this discussion. I am sure the committee will be engaging with the HSE throughout the course of its work over a number of years. I thank Mr. Gloster for his opening statement. I wish to focus on assessments of need. I am from Cork. Recent figures show that there are more than 1,200...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: We heard from campaigner Cara Darmody and her dad last week regarding this. They were concerned about potential changes to the legislation. That is why I wanted to get Mr. Gloster's view on it. Moving on to the issue around waiting lists in terms of therapies, the figures nationally are concerning. Locally, the waiting lists in Cork for psychology, speech and language therapy and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: The changes proposed by the US Administration regarding visas, including J1 one visas, are concerning. There is a proposal that authorities would potentially check back over five years of people's social media handles before they can be accepted onto the J1 visa programme. This is an unwelcome measure. It is intrusive and will have a chilling effect on people's freedom of expression. It...