Results 1-20 of 53 for speaker:Patricia Stephenson

Seanad: Cathaoirleach a Thoghadh - Election of Cathaoirleach (12 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Congratulations to the Cathaoirleach and all my colleagues in this room, including people who have been here previously and new Senators like myself. It is such an honour and a privilege to be in this space. It is very humbling to hear everyone speaking and to be here with them. I look forward to serving people throughout this country very diligently in this role for however long it may...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I welcome Senator O'Loughlin referring to gender-based violence in her contribution. It is an important issue that we as a House should be addressing. We have issues in Ireland in relation to how we respond to gender-based violence. Across December and January, eight women on the island of Ireland were killed: Malika Noor Al Katib, Vanessa O'Callaghan, Searon Naughton, Karen Cummings,...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (13 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I really appreciate the complexities around government and running a country. I do not believe we should shy away from that but we need to make sure that evolution is happening in a way that is meaningfully considered. Senator Craughwell said it might make for better management. I would like us to make this decision on evidence. I will introduce an amendment later that requests a report...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: As I said, we should not be pursuing what is outlined in this section without having the report, on which I have introduced an amendment under the next section. I will speak to my points again. We should not be pursuing this. We have no evidence that having additional Ministers will bring value for money. We have instances of misuse of public spending. It is no one's fault, but we now...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 3A of Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act 1998 2. The Minister shall lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas within 3 months of the passing of this Act on the need and appropriateness of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: There has been significant discussion in the media recently regarding the lifting of the triple lock mechanism and it is within this context that I ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to come to the Chamber for a debate on the proposed Bill to remove the triple lock, which is included in the Government's spring legislative agenda. This is not just a technical change in...

Seanad: Community Safety: Statements (25 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister of State for coming to speak to us today about this issue, which has obviously been in the public psyche. As all the other speakers have already said, people across cities, towns and rural areas are feeling a greater sense of threat. I live on the Carlow-Kilkenny border and rural communities are concerned for their safety, as we have heard from others. We heard that...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I will speak today to overseas development assistance, ODA. In recent weeks, in the early days of the Trump Administration, we have seen a cutting of USAID funding by approximately 50%, which has consisted of a complete cutting of staff overnight and a complete embargo on the implementation of humanitarian projects across the world. This week in the UK, Keir Starmer has brought the ODA of...

Seanad: Response to Storm Éowyn: Statements (26 Feb 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister of State for attending. We have heard the phrases "once in a lifetime storm" and "unprecedented extreme weather event" so many times in recent years. We know these are not isolated incidents. For children growing up today, this is just the norm and their new reality. What was once considered rare is now a frequent weather event. All of us in this room acknowledge...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Overseas Development Aid (5 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, for coming to the Chamber. I am delighted to see him because it is fantastic to have this dialogue with the responsible Minister. I have asked to talk about overseas development assistance, an issue I know is close to the Minister of State’s heart. The international development sector, which has been absolutely decimated by the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Overseas Development Aid (5 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate his commitment to human rights and humanitarian aid, and I know it has always been on the Irish Government's agenda. However, it is so important that we really use the power that we have with the US and in the EU to reinforce just how abhorrent what we are about to see is. It also goes to the survival of many Irish organisations that live in the...

Seanad: International Women's Day - Women's Health: Statements (5 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister for coming to the House for this debate. We have already heard about medical gaslighting this afternoon. I suspect most, it not all, of the women in the Chamber can speak about experiences they have had when they have not been believed. Perhaps they have had really severe migraines and been told to try yoga or drink herbal tea. I once turned up in such severe pain to...

Seanad: Care, Supports and Enhanced Provision of Services for Older People: Motion (5 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister of State for coming today and thank the Fine Gael Senators for bringing forward this motion. We are talking about older people and sometimes we do so as though they are a homogenous group. However, I am sure we all know lots of older people who are living their best lives, hiking and skydiving. We need to think about them as individuals and the different supports we...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I will speak about something that has already come from this side of the Chamber today. It relates to what we saw this week. On Monday night, when we were all out enjoying St. Patrick's Day or returning from our celebrations, we heard that Israel had broken the fragile ceasefire in Gaza. Once again, we saw images of the complete horror of these bombings on our social media and newsfeeds....

Seanad: Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: We are talking about healthcare but it is important that we remember that this is very much a children's rights issue which was recognised by the Ombudsman for Children. As Senator Clonan explicitly pointed out in his intervention, it is a disability rights issue as well. I hope in this debate and in the eventual implementation of this Bill that there will be a framework of disability and...

Seanad: Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Not all parents have the time to get elected to the Oireachtas to advocate for their children. They do not have the capacity. They might have multiple children. They might be working several jobs. Those kids, because they do not have parents who can fight and shout for them, are falling through the gaps. When healthcare systems receive pressure from parents, and rightly so, it is the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (25 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I wish to speak today about gender-based violence, the prevalence of which is still shockingly high in Ireland, where we are still very much facing an epidemic of gender-based violence. How we respond to gender-based violence needs to be strengthened, but to truly address GBV, we need to look at the prevention angle. The online sphere is a major contributing factor to GBV.Young people are...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (25 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I am delighted that the Minister of State feels this is an important issue and that it requires cross-party support, a cross-departmental response and an holistic response.I agree with the message behind that. However, I push back on the idea that the content reporting systems Coimisiún na Meán is implementing work; they do not. We have heard from civil society bodies such as...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Tomorrow my party colleagues in the Lower Chamber will bring forward a Private Members' motion that calls for a people's vote on the retention of the triple lock, which we believe is fundamental to protecting Ireland's neutrality. The triple lock is a system that has long ensured any deployment of Irish Defence Forces overseas is based on multilateralism and peacekeeping. We in the Social...

Seanad: Special Education Provision: Motion (26 Mar 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I am sharing time. I thank Sinn Féin for raising this issue in the Chamber today. We all know that no child should be denied their fundamental right to education, but across Ireland we see children with additional needs who are left without school places and we are forcing families into an endless battle with the system. It is not just a failure; it is a complete disgrace. All of us...