Results 1,581-1,600 of 1,888 for speaker:Sharon Keogan

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: I call on the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, to create a formal public consultation process on emergency refugee accommodation across the country. Recent national and international documentaries have addressed the ongoing issue of migration in Ireland and its impact on local communities. Our Government fails to cope with our...

Seanad: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I am fine.

Seanad: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: Amendment No. 6 would ensure that silent prayer is protected. In England, several people were interrogated, arrested and fined for simply standing in the vicinity of abortion providers' premises and silently praying without holding any signs or making any statements. One man, Mr. Adam Smith-Connor, was asked by a police officer "What is the nature of your prayer?" When Mr. Smith-Connor...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Textbooks (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: I welcome the Minister of State. The junior cycle book scheme was published on 5 March 2024. It provides free books to second level students up to junior certificate, excluding fee-paying schools. Under Article 42.4 of the Constitution, the State has a duty to supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational initiatives. To the extent that reasonable aid is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Textbooks (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive answer. While parents send their children to private schools, they continue to pay taxes that support the overall education system. No child should be discriminated against, as far as I am concerned. The allocation of public funds for education reflects the Government's priorities, societal values and the need to balance the complete...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: This morning, the national conservatism event in Brussels resumes after a tumultuous attempt to cancel it yesterday. It is deplorable that the mayors of several districts in Brussels cancelled the event, citing concerns over what they pathetically deemed public safety. Today, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the Hungarian President, Viktor Orbán, are expected to speak....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: I thought I had three minutes.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: The EU migration pact will have a paltry two and a half weeks of debate in this House in the coming week. The public concern is that we are losing control of our borders, our checks and balances and our safety. A set of legislative instruments such as a pact should rightly be a matter for a referendum to the people but we will not get that because we do not have a Government or a leadership...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: The events in Brussels yesterday were an attack on free and peaceful assembly. It is a bad look for a city proud of its role in the European project. If the EU was a proper democratic institution, we would call it hypercritical, but it is not democratic in its law-making. The hate speech Bill and the EU migration pact show us the threat it poses when it does not act on its democratic mandate.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: This is the document.

Seanad: Cost of Doing Business: Statements (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: The Minister is very welcome. I congratulate him on his elevation to the office.

Seanad: Cost of Doing Business: Statements (17 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: I welcome this timely opportunity to make statements on the cost of doing business. This is a year in which the costs across the nation are increasing. Businesses in particular suffer not just as a result of increased business costs, but also due to the costs imposed and initiatives created by this Government.The Government's increased cost of business grant offers €257 million for...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: Today I address the EU migration pact, which comprises five separate regulations. The Eurodac regulation aims to create a central database for biometric data to help member states determine responsibility for asylum applications and to aid law enforcement in preventing criminal activities. However, concerns about potential expansion of surveillance on all citizens should be noted. Second,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: A few weeks ago, I hosted an information afternoon in Leinster House on the World Health Organization, WHO, pandemic treaty. Attendees included an international panel of speakers comprising doctors, lawyers and politicians, some of whom have given evidence before the US Congress and Senate regarding the WHO's rule in the last pandemic. This treaty will have a significant impact on future...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: The Minister referred to a 50% GDP and 50% population calculation. Will she clarify this is the calculation in Article 44k of the asylum and migration management regulation, which states that "The share of solidarity contributions to be provided by each Member State referred to in Article 44b(2) shall be calculated in accordance with the formula set out" in annexe 3? In 2022, 5.1 million...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: What are the numbers? Does the Minister know how many people we would have been required to take in 2022 if this were the law?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: They are migration numbers, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: Can she base her figure on that? Wars happen all of the time. Crises will happen all of the time. Based on something that might happen in the future and the fact that 5.1 million migrants came to the EU from outside in 2022, has somebody in the Department run calculations of what our figure would be based on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Sharon Keogan: I have run the figure, and it is just over 100,000. How could we possibly handle a minimum of 100,000 migrants at any point in the coming years?