Results 941-960 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: As a follow on to that and in the domestic context, we need to be assured or to give consideration to the fact that that Irish-born child by surrogacy will use that document for an application to school as birth certificates are produced for many things. While these children have a right, absolutely, to their identity and to their gestational origins, and nobody is disputing that we need a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Yes, I agree completely with Professor O’Mahony on that point and I thank him for that.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: That is great. I thank the Minister and his officials for attending. Of the people present today, I have no doubt but that the Minister has done extraordinary work. Behind him are the people who do not get to appear at committees. They also do extraordinary work. We have had and are continuing to have an unprecedented experience. I will begin by considering how we ensure that Irish...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I agree with that.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Lest there be any confusion of any sort, none of the organisations I deal with has moved children under any circumstances, although they do work with families. Organisations such as AsIAm have been providing fantastic resources with respect to autism services. How do you communicate a war to children who have profound disabilities, who are living with their families and who have to go to a...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses. Their work is extraordinary. Throughout this crisis we have begun to see at home how experienced the Red Cross is and that the past experiences of the Red Cross and the Irish Red Cross have crystallised for the Irish people. We get to see it first-hand because instead of doing work abroad, we have seen all the Red Cross is doing in Ireland. People are very proud of...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: That sounds excellent. I was involved in teaching therapy skills to community leaders in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide there. The small skills of active listening and protection, in terms of self-care, for those who are working on the front line and meeting people are very important. That is good to hear.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: These clearly are already well under way, including the idea of professional entities and bodies coming together and supporting it, such as the auctioneers we spoke of earlier. That is fantastic. They are great people to go and visit houses. They would size them up perfectly and use their skill set in a really beneficial and helpful way. The witnesses have really answered many of the...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I reiterate the Minister's advice, which is to connect with the authorities first before families come in, to ensure that adequate supports are there.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: As Mr. O'Dwyer has just alluded to, there are some situations in shared accommodation that do not work out. That is not unique to this situation and has happened before, as Mr. O'Dwyer shared in a Fine Gael forum when we talked about it previously. That is okay. We are human and sometimes it just does not work out. An important message to communicate to people is that it is okay to try it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Good morning to Ms de Boer-Buquicchio. I thank her for giving of her time this morning. Her opening statement well signposts the two reports that she wrote and submitted to the UN General Assembly. In the conclusions to her 2018 report Ms de Boer-Buquicchio states, "Commercial surrogacy could be conducted in a way that does not constitute sale of children", and she goes on to explore that....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am Senator Mary Seery Kearney but just "Mary" will do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I, too, am in the same place as Ms de Boer-Buquicchio regarding sheer prohibition. It will not address the best interests of the child. In Ms de Boer-Buquicchio’s reports, she has set out clearly when a sale occurs and when it does not. I think that is a very important distinction for intending parents to understand, because I think that people approaching surrogacy are coming from a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Ms Ward for her patience in waiting. We appreciate that. Her submission is comprehensive, which helpfully sets out a framework for us. I agree with her latter comments. We have had prohibition by stealth and if we fail to act on the recommendations of this committee, presuming that they are in line with what Ms Ward and many others have suggested, we will likely end up with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: My conclusion is that we must legislate for the best interests of the child. The Verona principles seem to incorporate everything we need. I am a bit disturbed by the latter end of the Ms de Boer-Buquicchio's contribution. I would appreciate Ms Ward’s comments on that. Children who have been born abroad generally have a birth certificate from there. We cannot legislate in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I want to say categorically that I have no desire for the surrogate mother’s name, or her existence, or a relationship with her, to be obliterated under any circumstances. However, a child has to produce a birth certificate when going to school. There are many instances in our lives when we have to produce our birth certificates. The birth certificate may be produced in a different...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Senators for the amendment. In principle, I support the idea. I can think of nothing worse than to be told there is no information or birth information available. The sentiments of the amendment are too strong, in that the wording presupposes that there might be something to seize, which raises an expectation that cannot be met. That is why I am cautious about the amendment....

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Perhaps we need to look at guidelines or a statutory instrument under the Bill. Perhaps the functioning of the specialist tracing team needs to be spelled out more clearly in terms of how it is going to function. If there is no information and there has clearly been a wrongful registration, be it that whatever happened was done illegally or mistakenly, a specialist tracing team was...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I should probably begin by taking responsibility. In the course of pre-legislative scrutiny, I first floated the idea of the registered letter because I looked to the courts and the mechanism there. A registered letter is sufficient in any legal proceedings as a demonstration of service of documents, proceedings and summonses. If a registered letter is sufficient to go before a court and a...