Results 61-80 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: The Minister has referenced the index. I support an index. As he is receptive to that, I invite him to take on board these legitimate and supportive comments. With regard to the review, I 100% support what Senator Ruane is saying but I am opposed to the amendment. No matter how broad and thorough it is, it may inadvertently fetter the scope of a review. We need to look again. Our...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I completely agree with the sentiment of the amendment. There are broader issues, however, and there are other Departments that need to have a say in this as well. It is a bigger matter than merely, with due respect, the Minister's own Department. Fettering the legislation with a time, albeit that it could be amended or extended, is unhelpful, perhaps, although I accept that the Minister...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: Now.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: Now.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister and all the contributors to the debate. This has been a long and worthy day. On Wednesday, I expressed my confidence in the Minister to address the issues of tracing and disclosure. I know he will and I heard that today. This Bill was never going to address those wider issues. I believe the last word of the day should go to the people who are at the centre of this...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: Would it be possible to bring the Minister with responsibility for further and higher education, research, innovation and science, Deputy Harris, to the House? I am echoing the sentiments of Senator Pauline O'Reilly in speaking up for our third level students. They are in the most invidious of positions because two of their academic years have now been affected. There are great supports...

Seanad: Electoral (Civil Society Freedom)(Amendment) Bill 2019: Second Stage (22 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: This is a great legislation and it is a great stimulus for debate and the thought behind it is thorough. I quite like the definitions in it. I am someone who has built my whole life on advocacy, working in communities and being an activist. The obvious choice of career was to try to move into politics and make that effective change from inside this House. I understand the chilling effect...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies Bill 2020: Second Stage (23 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the Minister and the provisions he has brought forward in this Bill. It is a great initiative. It is not the preserve of the Opposition to be uncomfortable with rushed legislation and the perception that this House is being used for rubber-stamping. However, I appreciate that haste was necessary in this instance. This Bill and the Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: Senator McDowell has stolen all my lines. There are bona fides in the presenting of this Bill, but we can never say anything on it without prefacing our remarks by acknowledging the context, namely, the appalling wounds and trauma and the retraumatising that is happening in the course of this discussion. I believe there was an original intent to see a legal problem, see a deadline and deal...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: These amendments are welcome. They are a response to the amendments that were fought over and the debates that occurred in this House. I accept that there is a need to extend the commission's life to 28 February. I am curious as to how the groupings worked on this because I would think this should have been discussed with amendment No. 9. As I understand it, the purpose of the extension...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I have a point of order. That is not what the article states.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is not what the article states. It refers to the 2018 amendment of the 2004 Act; it is not referring to the Bill currently before the House.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: Regarding contributors to the confidential committee, how can they make a decision on whether they should have their names attached to their contributions if they do not have a copy of what they said? I agree with Senator Higgins in this regard. The advice is that people would be able to identify themselves within the report, such is the transparent manner of the representation of what they...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I disagree strongly with Senator Bacik. This is about the database and its preservation, and just because there is allusion to other matters it does not make them the central part of this Act. It is unfair to make that statement. With due respect, the only party politics being played arise from the Sinn Féin position of criticising the Government.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Sustainable Development Goals and Departmental Priorities: Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (3 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I congratulate the Minister on the work plan. It is a broad church of work and I look forward to working with him on it. I particularly lobbied for the employment regulation order for the early years sector and I was delighted when it made the programme for Government. I am particularly looking forward to the recognition of early years professionals. Time is short so I want to address...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Referendum on Right to Housing: Discussion (3 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: We did not realise that we had an option to wait.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Referendum on Right to Housing: Discussion (3 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses for their presentation and all the background documentation, which I have read. I completely support the objective of prioritising housing and security of tenure. Everyone should have the right to a secure home. I have been involved in the provision of social housing, worked with the homeless and, as a public representative, advocated on behalf of families in need. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Referendum on Right to Housing: Discussion (3 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I was not suggesting that it was a subordinate right within Article 43 but it is being advanced as a qualifying provision. It comes back to the fact that the right is being attached to individuals and not to the Oireachtas. I would have thought putting the impetus and obligation on the Oireachtas would be a more secure means of ensuring it would be more effective in budgetary allocation....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Referendum on Right to Housing: Discussion (3 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: My concern is in regard to other arenas of law such as in the X case and the court determining a right within the Constitution. It was not until the Fine Gael-led Government came to power that that was brought into law. There can be a 20-year gap. Just because something is written into the Constitution does not mean it will happen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: National Disability Inclusion Strategy: Discussion (4 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister and Minister of State for their opening remarks. I really welcome the inclusion of disability and equality under the same roof. It makes absolute sense. It resonates with the Equal Status Act. When I think of all those rights, it is fantastic. The lawyer in me gets absolutely thrilled with the notion of this Department. The Minister has a fantastic vision for it and...