Results 41-60 of 171 for speaker:Alison Comyn

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Bus Services (13 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: I thank the Minister of State for his time in the House.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: I wish to be associated with Senator Nelson Murray’s comments welcoming Pope Leo XIV. He is a great Augustinian. We have a tremendous association in Drogheda with the Augustinians there. We hope to welcome him to Ireland soon. I will continue on the comments of my Meath colleague. As the sole Louth representative in the Seanad, it would be remiss of me, standing here in my...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Business of Joint Committee (14 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: I am based in County Louth. Having been a journalist for nearly three decades, I obviously have a keen interest in making sure that the media is well regulated, particularly with respect to defamation and libel laws and moving those into social media as well. I have a great passion for the arts and culture. I look forward to promoting those, particularly in the north-east region. Given...

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

Alison Comyn: As Ireland marks water safety awareness week this week, the recent tragic loss of three young lives to drowning serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to prioritise water safety education in our schools. My condolences to the families of Emmanuel Familola and his friend Matt Sibanda, who lost their lives in Donegal, and of seven-year-old Alan Singh who, sadly, drowned in Sligo. It...

Seanad: Driving Test Waiting Times: Statements (20 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. As we have heard across the House today, Ireland is facing a critical challenge with driving test waiting times, which we know have reached unprecedented levels. I will not repeat some of the figures we have heard today but we know some test centres have waiting lists four times the RSA's target of ten weeks. This backlog is not just an...

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (20 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: I thank the Minister for coming to the House today. I wholeheartedly support Senator O'Loughlin's Bill. Catfishing, as we know, is a growing problem in our digital age where individuals create fake online identities to deceive others, often for financial gain, emotional manipulation or even more serious criminal purposes.It is not a frivolous or harmless activity, as we sometimes may think...

Seanad: Public Procurement: Statements (22 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Senator Noonan is sharing time with Senator O'Reilly. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Public Procurement: Statements (22 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Before we take our next speaker, I welcome our group here. I am afraid I have not had time to find out who they are but they are always very welcome to come and join us for Seanad business. We are discussing statements on public procurement. I hope the group enjoys the next few minutes they are here with us.

Seanad: Public Procurement: Statements (22 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: I thank the Minister of State for her time in the Seanad today. I welcome our special guests to the Visitors Gallery. They are guests of Deputy Hildegarde Naughton from Clarin College. Athenry. I welcome the students. I believe the group leader is Paul Casserly, so I probably have to address this to him. It is tradition in the Seanad that when we have a school group here, they have no...

Seanad: Public Procurement: Statements (22 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Is that agreed? Agreed.

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

Alison Comyn: Colette Campbell, Theresa Morgan and Bernie Cranley are the names of three of the five women who so tragically lost their lives over the weekend on Irish roads. A driver, three pedestrians and a cyclist, these women were killed in counties Clare, Meath, Wexford, Louth and Tyrone, four within an eight-hour period, bringing the number of fatalities on our roads so far this year to 67,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Business of Joint Committee (27 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Like all other members, I wish the Cathaoirleach all the best and congratulate him. I am really looking forward to working on this particular body. I am a Louth-based Senator, and therefore a Border-based Senator. It is particularly important for me to see not only how we can stretch our hands across a very close Border but also how we can work throughout the entire shared island as we now...

Seanad: Situation in Gaza: Statements (29 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: I thank the Minister of State for attending today and the Tánaiste before him. Unfortunately, two minutes simply do not allow for enough words to describe the horror, the anger and, to borrow the words of the Tánaiste, the repulsion I feel watching 600 days of atrocities in Gaza. What little time I have must contain words like condemn, genocide and slaughter of innocent people. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Policy, Governance, Expenditure and Administration at RTÉ: Discussion (28 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: On a slightly more positive note, looking at the JNLR figures, I can see that RTÉ is still a valuable and valued asset. We need to keep tight control of that and make sure it continues. I am new to the committee. I am slightly disappointed that we are starting another year in a new committee with a fresh financial impairment. The first contribution from Deputy Byrne alluded to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Policy, Governance, Expenditure and Administration at RTÉ: Discussion (28 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Mr. Bakhurst was very clear that he faced challenges and there were very serious financial impairments in previous years. Is he concerned that there is a need-to-know basis and that they took it upon themselves that he should not know about this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Policy, Governance, Expenditure and Administration at RTÉ: Discussion (28 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Is Mr. Bakhurst satisfied that this need-to-know basis is completely gone?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Policy, Governance, Expenditure and Administration at RTÉ: Discussion (28 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: We have the opportunity to get Mr. Bakhurst in a room and interrogate him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Policy, Governance, Expenditure and Administration at RTÉ: Discussion (28 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Are the 228 redundancies broken down into particular departments? Is there one outstanding department that is looking for redundancies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Policy, Governance, Expenditure and Administration at RTÉ: Discussion (28 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: I noticed Ms McCarthy shaking her head when Deputy Cleere spoke about discontent in the newsroom over the new promotional video. I have worked in newsrooms over the past 30 years. I have not worked in RTÉ but I have worked in Sky News, the BBC and UTV Ireland. I know this is built on not being "us and them". It is built on good morale. There are reports of newsroom staff not being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport: Policy, Governance, Expenditure and Administration at RTÉ: Discussion (28 May 2025)

Alison Comyn: Let us address some more of the misinformation. There have been suggestions that people were brought in to cover a more diverse aspect of our communities. Is this correct? If so, does that acknowledge that RTÉ, particularly in the newsroom, has a lack of diversity?