Results 1,081-1,100 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Antisocial Behaviour (22 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We will get my name right one of these days. I thank the Minister for that response. With the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, I visited the youth justice programme there which was extraordinarily creative through Covid when it had to go out to meet young people. It had to change how it engaged with young people who were used to either visiting the centre and then did not want people...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I ask the Leader to arrange a special debate on the experience of children and their families when they are in hospital. This morning on “Morning Ireland” we heard the experience of a woman whose child was in hospital with a long-term illness. She spoke of the cost of car parking and the costs when the child was being treated, for cancer in this instance. If the child felt...

Seanad: New Innovations for People with Disabilities (Digital Assistive Technology): Statements (22 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We will commence with statements on new innovations for people with disabilities - digital assistive technology. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, back to the House.

Seanad: New Innovations for People with Disabilities (Digital Assistive Technology): Statements (22 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Senator for his kind words and well done to him for his persistent campaigning.

Seanad: New Innovations for People with Disabilities (Digital Assistive Technology): Statements (22 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: This is a great opportunity to make statements and look at the innovative developments the Minister of State is leading on in the Department. I thank her most sincerely for the constant advocacy, work and dedication that she shows in this Department. I speak about it every week at my own parliamentary party meeting, as I said to the Minister of State before, also to ensure that she gets all...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Education and the UNCRPD: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister for her engagement. I appreciate that, this September, we have had record numbers of places in the schools that have come on board. However, to give a quote, a deputy principal in one of the schools says that clear training and planning for the opening of ASD classes is needed in schools, and that it is not enough to sanction one and then leave it to the principal to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Education and the UNCRPD: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I hear that the NCSE is committed, that progress has been made and that schools will receive the professional supports as soon as is practical, but I also think about the fact the July provision is voluntary. If teachers, SNAs and schools are being obliged to provide places, which is absolutely right - and every child deserves to be educated as close to their own home as possible and have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Private Rental Sector: Discussion (20 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I apologise. I have been at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. When it comes to landlords, I have experience of supporting a friend through the dispute resolution process to which Ms McCormick referred. The tenant involved was wrecking the house. The tenant had 44 fridges in the back garden, had broken the furniture and had done many...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Private Rental Sector: Discussion (20 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I had a reasonable expectation that I was being listened to. It is about the build-to-rent model and its effect on the housing market in Dublin. Will Mr. Davitt comment on that, please?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Private Rental Sector: Discussion (20 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: So Mr. Davitt is saying the thousands of build-to-rent properties in Dublin South-Central, where people do not have an opportunity to buy a property, will have no effect on the property prices?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Private Rental Sector: Discussion (20 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will give the rest of my time to Senator Cummins.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Local Government (Maternity Protection and Other Measures for Local Authority Elected Members) Bill 2022: Discussion (22 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for attending, for all of the work that has been done in the past few years, and especially for his role in this area. I reiterate the praise that he gave to Ms Mannion, in particular, and thank her for her constant work across many areas in the Minister of State's Department. I thank her, in particular, for her dedication to this work, as I thank the other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Local Government (Maternity Protection and Other Measures for Local Authority Elected Members) Bill 2022: Discussion (22 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I take the Minister of State's point that it is a very different type of relationship. It is not a straightforward employer-employee relationship and does not enjoy all of the attendant rights of that relationship. It needs careful monitoring and I know that See Her Elected will do that and I have no doubt that the Minister of State will as well. It must be ensured. It is about the subtle...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: There are many issues on which I would like to address the House; I am spoiled for choice. I thank Senator Ruane. What is needed in the incidents that hit the news last week is a conversation regarding the entirety of the community and the safety of young people in the community as well as the intergenerational trauma and the affects of that happening. I welcome the cost-of-living budget....

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Today has been a good news day for those in a family, including those in a lower-income or middle-income family. We saw the announcement of both universal and targeted measures to assist families as they face into this cost-of-living crisis. This crisis can be supported by reasonable and prudent measures. We still have a reserve in case the situation gets worse and that is important....

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Public Expenditure and Reform): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I congratulate the Minister of State for arguing for the increased budget for the Data Protection Commission. The increased provisions are very good. We are the supervisory authority for many multinational companies and it is very important that we are on our game in the Data Protection Commission. I love this budget because those with babies in arms have provision for childcare and...

Seanad: Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (28 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I echo those concerns. I have received phone calls which upset me and I am not the better for. The idea that a document that is legally binding in many circumstances and is put together when the person has absolute capacity could be suspended in any circumstances is appalling. Has the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, been consulted on this? I expected these amendments to...

Seanad: Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (28 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: The Minister did not indicate whether IHREC has had a role in this. There is also the question of where we stand in regard to the ratification of the optional protocol to the UNCRPD and whether these amendments will be acceptable in that regard. Do people have a right to take litigation outside the State when there is a cultural bias against people with mental ill-health? That bias is a...

Seanad: Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (28 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We have a difficulty where we apply a directive in one instance and not in another. We currently have a situation whereby people who need the support of the system, with all its good aspects and its flaws, rather than volunteer themselves for full transparency to get a fully comprehensive treatment, will pay lip service just enough to get by, because to volunteer the truth of what is really...

Seanad: Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (28 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I agree with the Minister that this legislation is about far more than one particular group of people. Anyone who is subjected to the ward of court system desperately needs this Bill to pass. From that perspective, I am fully behind the legislation. However, the fact is that there is a community of people in our State who are being left behind and left without a voice. The threshold...