Results 961-980 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I listened with some amusement to Senator Mansergh speaking about SenatorRobinson's Bill 30 years ago. The then Leader of the House had trouble physically holding the Bill on contraception in his hand so we have improved since then. Senator Norris showed great restraint when he spoke about his disappointment on this matter, but I am also disappointed. It is not just the two people within a...

Seanad: Order of Business. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: Seven years after it was established by the Minister for Health and Children, the commission has not issued a report.

Seanad: Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I second the amendment. It is important to try to ensure that parental leave is paid because those parents who most need to be able to deal with problems concerning their children will not be able to take leave under the current provision. Senator Terry raised the important issue of lone parents, which I also raised on Committee Stage. Lone parents depend either on one income or social...

Seanad: Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I second the amendment. I refer the Minister of State to pages 88 to 94 in Contemporary Family Policy in Ireland and Europe which clearly shows how parental leave can support the family especially in cases where both parents are working and find it difficult to take unpaid leave. As Senator Tuffy said, while having a splendid economy is one matter, it is more important to consider what it...

Seanad: Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I second the amendment. Senator Tuffy has made a good point. Why is there a need to provide for a period of ten weeks? As a doctor, I approach issues of this kind by considering the problems faced by a parent who needs time off because of a child's illness. It is pretty hard to say that a child will be sick from a certain date until another date and the employee will be able to return to work...

Seanad: Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I note Senator Jim Walsh's point, but the Taoiseach is a socialist and said so himself. If he were here, I am sure he would support us in this matter.

Seanad: Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I am also fairly realistic. Most businesses that are well run will be flexible but those that are not so well run will not be as flexible as one would like them to be. It is well worth taking account of the amendment. I have always contended that while this Bill concerns parental leave and looking after children, children are the responsibility of society as a whole and not just their...

Seanad: Civil Partnership Bill 2004: Second Stage. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I hope the Senator was not talking about me.

Seanad: Civil Partnership Bill 2004: Second Stage. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I thank Senator Quinn for sharing time. I thank Senator Norris for all the hard work he has put into this Bill. I thank the Leader for ensuring this debate took place this evening and for her judicious use of "horsetrading"— that is probably not the right word — to ensure the debate would proceed. I also thank the Minister for his extremely thoughtful and useful speech.

Seanad: Civil Partnership Bill 2004: Second Stage. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: It carefully teased out much of what is in the Bill. While we support Senator Norris's proposition some of us have concerns such as those raised by Senator Quinn. Section 6 is very difficult. It provides that heterosexual relationships will be the same as marriage. They will have the same rights but not the duties as was pointed out. I, probably more than any one in the House, have had...

Seanad: Civil Partnership Bill 2004: Second Stage. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: ——which is the subject of the first part of the Government amendment. I do not like the Legislature being totally influenced by the courts. I like us to have a fair amount of influence on it and was looking forward to Committee Stage. We need to be careful that in protecting marriage we are not letting the family down. There are an enormous number of different family types in Ireland. I...

Seanad: Civil Partnership Bill 2004: Second Stage. (16 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: Some public cases have been in the press but there are others and I have raised this matter here previously. We will have a messy case in the courts one day and regret it very much. For the stability of society, the rights of children and the happiness of those in same sex relationships I hope we can make progress on this issue as rapidly and comfortably as we can. The stability of society,...

Seanad: Order of Business. (17 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: Like Senator Ross I agree with Senator Minihan regarding what he said about the McCartney family and their great courage in looking for justice following the death of their brother. It is important to note they are looking for justice through the courts and not at the hands of some self-appointed executioner as seems to be suggested by some in Northern Ireland. The Leader has kindly put the...

Seanad: Mental Health Commission Annual Report 2003: Statements. (17 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and his speech on this issue. I am grateful to the Leader of the House for acceding to my request to debate the 2003 annual report of the Mental Health Commission. I wish such a debate was held automatically. When I was first elected to the Seanad 12 years ago, the report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals was never debated in the Oireachtas. I...

Seanad: Order of Business. (22 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I am sure Senators will be aware of the dreadful event which occurred in Mayo at the weekend where the body of a newborn baby was found by children. Some very ill-informed comment was made in the press by people who should have known better about single mothers and their children. Many Senators deplore what was said. The Leader of the House has been very good in providing time for debates...

Seanad: Higher Education Review: Statements. (22 Feb 2005)

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

Seanad: Higher Education Review: Statements. (22 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister to the House. She will certainly go home with food for thought, having had this report ripped apart. I also take issue with a fair amount of it. The first point with which I took issue was that the humanities and social sciences were totally disregarded, apart from subsuming the Irish Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences into Science Foundation Ireland, which...

Seanad: Child Care Services: Statements. (22 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: Senator Cox's excellent contribution was very interesting because it reminded me of the situation of 30 years ago. Sadly, no progress whatsoever seems to have been made in the area of child care. It is depressing that I have been in this House for 12 years and that one of the first things I did was to look, with Deputy Mary Wallace, for a site which would be suitable for child care within the...

Seanad: Nursing Home Charges: Statements. (23 Feb 2005)

Mary Henry: This is the most astonishing piece of bureaucratic bungling by the Department of Health and Children which there is no point discussing. However, these issues seem to recur and I ask the Minister of State to address the issue in his reply. For example, I was amazed to find a Department of Health and Children estimate of 35,000 extra people being in need of medical cards was, in fact, only 50%...