Results 1,621-1,640 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Autonomy and Assessing Decision-making Capacity: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses. We are coming to the nub of the issue of whether someone truly chooses assisted dying and has the ability and supports to reach that point. I will focus on two areas. First, I valued the discussion on depression, the implications of depression, the experience of people with depression of their own emotions and their perceptions while they have it. I appreciate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Autonomy and Assessing Decision-making Capacity: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: There you have it. Most people who access it are white and well educated. There then appears to be inverted discrimination in access. I would like to read that article. I would value a link or reference being sent to us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Autonomy and Assessing Decision-making Capacity: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Dr. Duckworth very much. I really appreciate that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Autonomy and Assessing Decision-making Capacity: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will follow on from that. Is there any danger that, if we start considering autonomy in terms of the range of choices people can make, we would end up with discrimination based on socioeconomic circumstances? How do we make sure that does not arise if we are assessing autonomy?

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I confirm I am on the grounds of Leinster House. I thank the witnesses for their contributions. I completely support the idea of a five-year plan. Early years providers need to know what is coming. They need a roadmap for how funding is going to be increased and how their services are going to be supported. They need to be able to predict what is able to happen, in the same way any...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: There is a reputational implication.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: There should be at the very least an appeals mechanism on that-----

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: -----to demonstrate the fact that there have been inspections over those 18 years. The failure of that and the lack of accountability for inspectors is one of my personal bugbears, to be honest.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: Certainly, baby places are critical across the country-----

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: -----because it is just not the straightforward 1:3 ratio. It is the fact that that staff member for the three babies has to get breaks and go on holidays or may get sick, so there have to be additional floating staff who always have to be available to swap in, and those people have to be paid. I do not think that gets said and highlighted often enough. It is not even the basic ratio. It...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: No, you cannot.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Ms Heeney very much.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Ms Byrne. I was very taken aback by the low figure for the capital grant and thought it was woefully inadequate. My colleague and I here in the office built a crèche together back in 1999. A person could put in his or her application and establish and build a service and make forward plans. We seem to have stepped backwards, or there is a presumption of asking who will do it...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: Yes, we will certainly do that.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: And get core funding. That is unsustainable.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals from Coercion: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: At this moment in time we could be obliged to discriminate between who could access the choice to end their life based on their diagnosis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals from Coercion: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: A narrative is emerging from this meeting and last week's meeting that seems to suggest that mental health is a determinant and that safeguards need to be imposed. This concerns me in some ways. While I welcome it and understand it, it also concerns me that people who are already vulnerable because of diagnosis or their particular level of health may be put through having to prove their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals from Coercion: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am not talking about mental health as a reason to choose end of life. I am talking about proving mental well-being in order to have a presumption of capacity to make the decision to access whatever method of assisted dying we would put in place.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals from Coercion: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I do not want a narrative to start creeping in that just because someone wants the option of assisted dying, that assumes the person has to be treated or considered as having mental health issues.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Protecting Vulnerable Individuals from Coercion: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: That narrative started creeping in at last week's meeting and it is here again this morning. I am not comfortable with it.