Results 901-920 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: How do we follow that? I follow it by saying this day seven years ago my daughter was born and when her surrogate mother recovered I placed her in her arms, knelt at her feet and thanked her for the incredible miracle that is my child. We light our candles later today. She has asked for anonymity in these circumstances but she is not anonymous in our house. She is very vital and important...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: There are protocols in place that we can build on for other aspects-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: -----particularly the Chair's question of last week which I promised her Ms Wheatley would be able to answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Chair. I think she chairs exceptionally kindly-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: -----and I thank her for her great indulgence. I say that as I stretch it a little bit. Clearly I am exploitative and manipulative. I thank all members for their contributions but Senator Ruane's contribution has been a seismic shift; I acknowledge her all-time genius but particularly today. I met a couple and when Ms von Meding was on the radio I texted in abruptly about it and did not...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Safety (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter today. On 26 April, apartment owners in a particular complex in Dublin South-Central were informed by the management company that they were each going to be levied with a fee of €32,000 for construction defects in the complex to cover the work needed to bring it up to the correct fire safety standards. Of that sum, €7,000...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Fire Safety (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State. This is an issue in everybody's constituency. The worrying aspect is not just that homeowners are barred from the possibility of sale or the costs involved, but also that there are insurance issues. These homeowners cannot get insurance on their properties. The management companies of some of these complexes are now insolvent because they have spent their...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: My issue is trite in light of the previous two contributions. However, I want to raise an issue and ask for the support of both the Leader and the Cathaoirleach in the matter. Heritage and Tidy Towns groups go to enormous effort to ensure the upkeep, care and love for their communities. They are to be lauded. I have a group in the Dublin South-Central constituency that works...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Second Stage (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. We stand in a quite magnificent room that carries with it a whole heap of history and magnificence. Am I proud and do I think it appropriate our Government would issue an apology in the surroundings of the Seanad, given the honour this noble House has? I so. Do I agree with it? I do not. The Minister has done an extraordinary amount. He is...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Second Stage (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We will deal with many other issues on Committee Stage. For today, I join with the apology, as my party’s spokesperson on children and as a Government colleague, and I apologise for the grave hurt these people have been caused, which can never be undone and in respect of which they can never be fully consoled.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Second Stage (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Second Stage (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will probably repeat much of what the Vice Chairman said, so I apologise in advance. I will watch the video recording of the meeting later because I am sure much of what I had intended to say has been covered. A proposed development in my home constituency, Dublin South-Central, arose recently and is currently at the pre-planning phase. It is in the order of about 300 apartments in an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: There is no doubt about that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Provision for Older People: Discussion (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Is there a challenge in recruitment?

Seanad: Childcare Provision: Statements (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the Minister to the House and I thank him for taking these statements on childcare. We have long since moved on from the concept of childcare as childminding. We see it now as the vital, wrap-around care of children, entailing the provision of and support for their early development. Childcare is pivotal to the functioning of our society. That was never driven home more at any...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will speak to amendments Nos. 58 and 59. These relate to the proposal to delete "may" in section 12, to the extent it is practicable to do so, and replace it with "shall". I agree with what Senator Boyhan has said and I thought he would say what I am going to say but I realise that perhaps we disagree. We need to be careful that the language in the statute does not promise material that...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I disagree with the amendments for the following reasons. In the apology the Minister gave to those affected, in this House, I did speak about the fact that illegality has an implication of criminality and that there needs to be a mechanism for assessment of that. On that basis, and following other discussions I have had around this, when the file is reviewed by the specialist entities that...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We need to be careful not to suggest that empathy is the preserve of any one individual. The fact is that the Minister stood up and apologised on behalf of the State and while I might have given out to him about bits of that apology, the fact of it should not be lessened. The fact is that he acknowledged the illegality of what happened to individuals and that is now on the record of this...