Results 2,061-2,080 of 2,145 for speaker:Emer Currie

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The EU and Irish Unity - Planning and Preparing for Constitutional Change: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: That is okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The EU and Irish Unity - Planning and Preparing for Constitutional Change: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I am sure others will also cover the questions I had.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I agree with Senators' remarks on that matter. The Covid numbers at the moment are worrying, and it is natural that the Government will feel it could send mixed messages by lifting some restrictions. We are all familiar with the expression "if you give them an inch, they will take a mile", but I think we are at the stage that if we do not try to give people an inch, they will run a mile. I...

Seanad: National Development Plan: Statements (22 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: It is lovely to see the Minister in the House again. Even though the cost of the Covid crisis, financially, economically and socially, has been monumental, I am still optimistic about the future. We have the same raw ingredients that pulled us out of the last recession, including one of the most educated workforces in the world and the youngest population in Europe. Our cost of borrowing...

Seanad: Family Leave Bill 2021: Second Stage (12 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome the Minister. It has been so long since I have seen him. There are many positives to focus on in this Bill and there are areas to build on as well. On the positive side, it extends parental leave from two to five weeks' paid leave, and that will include the first two years of the child's life in order to cover the parents who had children during Covid lockdown and restrictions....

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (8 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I wish everybody a happy International Women's Day. Lá fhéile na mban sona daoibh. I have received notice from Senators Aisling Dolan and Sharon Keogan that, on the motion for the Commencement of the House today, they propose to raise the following matter: The need for the Minister for Higher Education, Innovation and Science to make a statement on the measures proposed to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: Happy International Women's Day 2021, or is it 2017?According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers women in work index, progress for women in work could be back to 2017 levels by the end of this year. Some are rightly calling the effect of Covid-19 a global "shecession". The index measures 33 OECD countries across the gender pay gap, labour force participation, women's unemployment and full-time...

Seanad: International Women's Day: Statements (8 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: It will be hard for me to squeeze my five-minute speech into two and half minutes.

Seanad: International Women's Day: Statements (8 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: We cannot help but focus on Covid today and the inequitable effect that it has had on women. What are we going to do about it? We cannot allow for these experiences and insights to merely become ink on reports or for us to sleepwalk into a global she-session going back on progress that we have made in women's economic participation. The structural inequalities that exist are staring us in...

Seanad: Local Government (Use of CCTV in Prosecution of Offences) Bill 2021: Second Stage (5 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome the opportunity to speak on illegal dumping and this Bill which aims to ensure that CCTV can be used to prevent it. As I dropped my children to school today, I went down Tinkers Hill and along the Lower Road through Strawberry Beds and noticed the rubbish. I made a mental note that when I came in today I had to ring the council about the rubbish on Clonee Road, Clonsilla Road and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The Irish Language and the New Decade New Approach Agreement: Conradh na Gaeilge (2 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: Could the Chairman come back to me or is the order strict?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The Irish Language and the New Decade New Approach Agreement: Conradh na Gaeilge (2 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I arrived late so I would not mind waiting until others have spoken.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The Irish Language and the New Decade New Approach Agreement: Conradh na Gaeilge (2 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: It is a source of embarrassment to me that my Irish is not better. I grew up in County Tyrone until the age of 12 years and did my first year of Irish at grammar school in the convent at Donaghmore. When I moved to Dublin, I fell between two stools. I have been saying for years that I need to find the time to brush up on my Irish. Even if it were basic that would be better. It is...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I condemn the protests and attacks on gardaí in the city centre at the weekend. As my colleagues said, it is devastating for front-line workers everywhere. I understand debate around approaches to Covid-19, which we have in this House. However, I do not understand how anyone can justify an erosion of trust in democracy or attack the media and gardaí as part of that. We need to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Parental Leave (26 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: The reason to raise this Commencement matter is to call on the Government to deliver wholly on the purpose of the Parent's Leave and Benefit Act to facilitate working parents to balance paid employment and responsibilities to their children in a fair and equitable way. At present, each parent is entitled to two weeks' paid leave for children born from November 2019.The amendment extends this...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Parental Leave (26 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State. From his answer it is not looking like this amendment is going to happen at this time. In his response the Minister of State stated "It is important to note that entitlement to parents' leave is for the individual parent, it is not an allocation per family." In these instances, however, such parents are doing the job of two parents. They are under a lot of...

Seanad: Covid-19 (Transport): Statements (26 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: We have seen the dramatic effects of Covid on transport and mobility patterns. To what extent can long-term changes be made regarding those patterns? I am thinking, in particular, about the changes to transport in the Phoenix Park proposed by the Office of Public Works, OPW, which are currently subject to public consultation.It is acknowledged in the report and research that the park plays...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: It is looking like the schools might reopen in some fashion on 1 March, maybe for junior infants, senior infants and up to second class, and leaving certificate and fifth-year students. There are positive signs from the Cabinet subcommittee but nothing has been set in stone. The reopening of schools is the single most important action that we can take for students' physical movement,...

Seanad: Report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation: Statements (Resumed) (19 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: It is a month since the report of the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes was launched and since the State apologised for how our most vulnerable were failed, shamed and traumatised, institutionally, systematically and holistically. The report could have offered survivors some ownership or empathy but disappointed many because of its detached and legalistic tone. We as a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The EU and Irish Unity - Planning and Preparing for Constitutional Change in Ireland: Discussion (16 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome Professor Harvey and Mr. Bassett. I know Professor Harvey is based at Queen's University Belfast, which I attended. It is nice to engage with him. I have watched his presentations in the past and I have heard him speak a number of times. It is nice to get the opportunity to connect virtually. My worst nightmare is that we would have a border poll and we would lose. My worst...