Results 621-640 of 1,195 for speaker:Erin McGreehan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: The witnesses are all very welcome. Something that comes across every week when people with lived experience and groups appear before the committee is that there is an innate lack of ambition by Departments for people with disabilities. We so often see barriers and a lack of integration. We see so many issues. That is not to say great work is not being done. I am saying that perhaps the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: We talk about the lead Department but the Department of Social Protection is the lead when it comes to social protection; the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is the lead when it comes to agriculture; the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is the lead when it comes to enterprise; and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead when it comes...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: There are no clear metrics regarding how we are evaluating success. The Departments are working on them but there is no "this is what we want. This is how we are going to get there". I will stay with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Mr. O'Sullivan said very clearly that we have the Housing for All strategy. There is a whole part of that dealing with housing for...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I will speak on amendment No. 36 in support of the concept of going after those responsible for the drug trials. All of us in the House agree that illegal vaccine trials were done. The Bill is not the place for it and this amendment is not the amendment for it. However, I am in agreement with Senator Boyhan that we should look at the next steps and how we can work. I know the House will...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tourism Industry (24 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: The Minister of State is very welcome to the House and I appreciate him being here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. I am very grateful that she sent her apologies to me yesterday. I want to speak about the importance of inclusive and accessible tourism. As a society, we recognise the necessity of ensuring everyone can participate in activities without restriction or...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tourism Industry (24 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I thank the Minister of State for the response and encouraging words. Like so many issues, there is goodwill in many policies but the end user does not get the best value. Part M has been amended to ensure there is provision in certain buildings and relates to the Minister of State's Department but nothing has been made compulsory. Currently, it is not compulsory to provide "changing...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I ask the Leader for a debate on inclusive sport and how the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media is going to encourage and support sports clubs all around the country to welcome people with differing abilities. I raise this after an incredibly successful event last Sunday when my club Glenmore Athletic Club had a come-and-try day for the second year running....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Funding (25 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I am very glad to have an opportunity to speak about a desperate situation in County Louth whereby Louth County Council has closed applications under the housing adaptation grants for older people and persons with disabilities. We are all aware of the importance of these grants. We know they make a significant difference in the lives of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Funding (25 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I thank the Minister of State and accept everything in his response. As I have said, Louth County Council, like many other county councils across the country, has received increased funding for housing adaptation grants. I will, however, continue to advocate for the families in County Louth who are not able to apply for funding and for the 400 families who have applied but have no hope of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Living with a Disability: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I thank the witnesses for their time. It would have been great to have them here last week when officials from the Departments of Social Protection, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Education, and Enterprise, Trade and Employment were before the committee. I asked the officials a question about disability-proofing of their policies and the need to look at any decision through a lens of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Living with a Disability: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: On that point, I forgot to mention something because I was getting more and more annoyed and lost my train of thought during my contribution. Mr. Delaney has raised a huge problem. As a councillor, I asked Louth County Council to give disability access training to those council staff who are responsible for public realm projects. It was to provide equality and equity training for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Living with a Disability: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: It is all over the place. It is terrible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Living with a Disability: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: It is even difficult for someone who is not-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (25 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I thank our guests from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation for being here; it is always great to have them with us. We are all incredibly ambitious for Ireland. I am especially so and I have such belief in it. We can only operate in what we have at the minute. Organisations like the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation are facilitators and mediators and this is their...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Motion (30 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I move: That Seanad Éireann: - celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement; - acknowledges the thousands of lives saved over the past 25 years; - recognises the personal and political risk that participants in the multi-party talks undertook on all sides; - remembers the lives lost and families bereaved during the Troubles; and calls for: - all parties on...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Motion (30 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I thank all Senators for their contributions this evening. There is a collective agreement that we are all very grateful for the sacrifices many men and women have made. They pushed for better and they dreamt of what could be. For me, as a new Senator and having been given an opportunity to be in this House, probably one of the greatest privileges I have had is to meet people who were part...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I ask the Leader for a debate on the cost of living with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, specifically in the context of the cost of electricity. The truth is that bills continue to rise while input costs are decreasing. We have the highest prices in all of Europe. Something is seriously wrong when our energy market is 60% above the EU average, and that is...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2023)

Erin McGreehan: Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jun 2023)

Erin McGreehan: I too remember the late Senator Paul Coghlan from when I worked here as a staff member. He was a wonderful gentleman with a very respectable dose of rascal. He was a real gent and I remember him very fondly. At college, I also knew his daughter Aoife. I send my condolences to all his family and all who loved him, and all his Fine Gael colleagues with whom he had an awful lot of fun and...