Results 581-600 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

Seanad: Draft Guidelines on Rural Housing: Statements. (10 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have read both the guidelines and the Minister's speech with interest. I do not believe they will make a great deal of difference as most applications for planning permission are granted anyway. I am somewhat bemused as to how this will address the problem of rural depopulation. I had understood that the main reason people were not living at...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: I am the last of the terrible trio from Trinity. Senator Ryan may think we are precious but most people think we are very valuable. I listened with great interest to the Minister of State who said the Government sees it as the responsibility of the boards of State bodies whether in the commercial or non-commercial sectors to give leadership and strategic direction, define control mechanisms...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Second Stage. (11 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: I wish to share my time with Senator Norris.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Second Stage. (11 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister and the Bill. I will begin with the parts of the Bill I like best. I am delighted the Minister will spend dormant funds from suitors. We constantly hear complaints about the condition of many of our courts from witnesses and families of victims. I welcome the Minister's proposals in that regard. However, I think more resources will be required from the Central Fund...

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: The deaths of more than 200 people in the bombing in Madrid was appalling but the number probably would have been greater if the accident and emergency services had not worked so efficiently to deal with the 1,500 casualties in a short time. No country is safe from such a catastrophe. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Health and Children to come to the House to address Ireland's plan for...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Second Stage. (23 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: I thank Senator Norris for sharing his time. Something that concerns me about the presentation of the Bill is that it seems to be taken as though it is in isolation and does not affect people in any respect other than through increases which are definitely being given. I am most concerned with the appalling decline in the number of people who now have medical cards, and as a pharmacist the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (24 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: I second Senator Norris's amendment. The Leader knows, as well as I do, about the struggle the National Association of Widows in Ireland has had for nearly 40 years to obtain some rights. I do not think it will give the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Coughlan, long enough to try to rectify this if we take the Bill this morning. I am quite sure she is concerned about the...

Seanad: Agency for the Irish Abroad: Motion. (24 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: Senator Mooney is right that unless one has had the experience of emigration, and the loneliness of being away from home, it is difficult to empathise with those whom we are discussing. For approximately 17 years, Senator Mooney presented his RTE radio programme "Both Sides Now". It must have been a draining experience at times because some of the messages broadcast from London, Coventry,...

Seanad: Agency for the Irish Abroad: Motion. (24 Mar 2004)

Mary Henry: She was a psychologist. She told me the centre had been set up because Irish women who were in serious trouble with psychiatric illness and alcoholism did not want to let the side down by saying why they had to leave Ireland. That is dreadful. They felt that when they went to the regular social services, they could not tell the truth about their previous predicament. I salute the women who...

Seanad: Order of Business. (6 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: During the war on Iraq and the subsequent occupation the Leader has been diligent in ensuring that we debated the issue in the House at regular intervals. Will she arrange for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to come to the House for another debate as soon as possible? We have spoken about the detained prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, but there are probably 15,000 people detained in Iraq. Their...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: It is very unsatisfactory for all Members that we do not have the Government amendments before us. Fourteen months have elapsed since Second Stage of this incredibly important Bill which seeks to update legislative provisions in this area by repealing the 122 year old Trial of Lunatics Act 1883.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: We have only just received notice of the grouping of the amendments. If Senators Terry, Tuffy and I find it impossible to deal with the amendments in the groupings set out, can we change them? All of us have naturally put our notes together in such a way as to deal with the amendments consecutively.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: Will the Minister agree? The problem is that we have only just received notice of the groupings. If we cannot cope with the groupings as ordered, will the Minister agree to address the amendments in order?

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: I am sure the Minister would not try to bring forward Government amendments without debate. The only problem is that on Report Stage we can speak only once.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: I move amendment No. 2: In page 4, subsection (1), to delete lines 6 to 8 and substitute the following definition: "'mental disorder' has the meaning ascribed to mental disorder within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 2001;". While the Bill may be short it is very important. As I said when we began the debate, it repeals an Act, which is more than 120 years old and we should do our best...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: There appear to be two thresholds in the Bill. Under the section on fitness to be tried, section 3(b) states that the courts should determine "if the accused person is suffering from a mental disorder, within the meaning of the Act of 2001." If it is suitable there, why is it unsuitable for the whole Bill? Under subsections (7) and (8), the courts are supposed to use the mental disorder...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: The Minister should not shake his head. On Second Stage, he informed the House that this Bill was for the ordinary, common sense, normal people one finds in the Four Courts and not psychiatrists. However, the courts rely on psychiatrists to give a medical opinion in cases. To ask them to give an opinion in a situation which they believe is crazy — forgive the use of the term — is not...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: I do not for one instant think the Minister is being specious. I just want him to be sensible. I accept fully that some of the Minister's best friends are psychiatrists and, indeed, the odd sociologist may also be thrown in. However, I do not agree with the Minister. I think the mental disorder definition is sensibly inserted in this section and it would have been much better to follow it in...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, subsection (1), between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following definition: "'Mental Health Tribunal' means the Mental Health Tribunal established under Part III of the Mental Health Act 2001 with the additional condition that whendetermining matters in relation to a patient detained under this Act the Chairperson shall be a Judge of the Court which exercised...

Seanad: Citizenship Rights for Non-Nationals: Motion (7 Apr 2004)

Mary Henry: I am quite sure there is not one Member of this House who does not want to see this referendum brought forward in a calm and responsible manner. At the same time, I am sure I am not the only Member to receive letters asking what I intend to do about black girls pushing top of the range buggies in this city. We must recognise the facts on the ground. I am not suggesting the Irish nation is...