Results 1-20 of 289 for speaker:Patricia Stephenson

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I am here to speak about respite and care delivery. Respite is a crucial aspect of disability service provision and offers those with disabilities, elderly people and those who care for them critical and much-needed support. The role of respite service delivery within the disability policy has been labelled as a key priority for the Government and the HSE and improvements in this area in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I recognise there are recruitment challenges. The Minister of State might go into a bit more detail on the efforts being made. His remarks were quite general about how recruitment challenges would be addressed. The Minister of State might not be able to answer now on data and I might ask that the Department come back to me on this. Can we get a commitment for an audit of services and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I lend my support to the comments by Senator Comyn. We heard reports yesterday that 13 of the Oireachtas broadcast unit staff will be signing on the dole for the summer recess. This is appalling. They are our colleagues with whom we work every day. They are fundamental to the effectiveness of what we do. Their live streaming of the proceedings of the Seanad, Dáil and committees is...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister for coming in. I am also supporting Senator Ryan's amendment. I know we are not speaking about the amendments together but I have a similar amendment coming in after this. The amendments that both Senator Ryan and I tabled are effectively a fall-back position on the retention of jury trials, with some modification, as recommended by the Oireachtas joint committee on...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Recognising that the Minister feels there are implementation challenges with amendment No. 1, perhaps he will consider amendment No. 2 when we get to that stage, which has slightly different wording, or indeed, maybe he will commit to us that he will take on the essence of our amendments and bring forward his own amendment on Report Stage. We will be readily available to discuss the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I wish to raise the issue of the escalating violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, how these communities face escalating violence every day and how that has intensified dramatically over the last 21 months under the cover of war but, in reality, stems from a long-standing and deliberate campaign of displacement. Just a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting two...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: On Palestine and the West Bank.

Seanad: Draft Commission of Investigation (Handling of Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools) Order 2025: Motion (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Last week's announcement of a commission of investigation into historical abuse is welcome, but it is not enough. The scope of the inquiry is too narrow and by design it risks repeating the mistakes of the past. Sexual abuse is one part, a truly devastating part, of a much wider, darker history in our State. It is a history that includes physical violence, emotional cruelty, forced family...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank Mr. O’Brien. It is coming to the end of the meeting and I appreciate that this can be quite tiring. Mr. O’Brien has just spoken about the inability to quantify the services dimension. I am just a bit confused about that in the context of the EU–Israel trade agreement. It is true that companies are obliged to make a distinction between goods and services...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I would be deeply concerned about that. I am not saying anyone is in breach of anything but, basically, under the EU-Israel trade agreement as it stands, there is a specific distinction to be made between the occupied territories and Israel for all types of trade. It would be great to get a response to determine whether IBEC members are making the distinction, because it is required under...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: That is great.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I do not think the world has moved on so much in a decade that it would not still apply. Does Mr. O’Brien accept that prohibiting companies from providing services to occupied territories is in fact doable if it was done in the case of the 2014 legislation on Crimea? What would be the various contexts? Mr. O’Brien has pointed to different ways of working but I would love the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: My question is really on practical implementation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: What is the difference?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: In the recent past, services trade with occupied territories has been prohibited under Irish law.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Would Mr. O’Brien agree with that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I understand that, and that------

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I understand the point on struggling. That comes back to my first point, on companies’ obligation under the EU–Israel trade agreement. Clarity on this is desperately required, just to make sure companies operating in Ireland are currently meeting the obligation under the EU–Israel trade agreement to make a distinction between trade of all sorts in Israel and that in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Yes, but the context is that the companies should already be doing what is required, which should facilitate their doing so again under new legislation. That is the foundational aspect of my comment. I will move on from that point, having noted the Chair’s position. We have talked about risk for small companies under existing US law should this Bill be passed. Does O’Brien...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Would Mr. O’Brien hold that position in the context of the fact that we have legislation that we are beholden to, namely the Geneva Conventions Act and the International Criminal Court Act, that states we should not be trading with the illegal settlements?