Results 201-220 of 2,107 for speaker:Sharon Keogan

Seanad: Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation Material (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: No.

Seanad: Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation Material (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I will speak on the amendment. I rise to speak in strong support for this amendment and to commend the Senators who have brought forward this Bill today and the amendment for its improvement. The work here of Senators Flynn, Higgins, Ruane and Black is not just legislative. It is moral, principled and necessary. For too long our laws have used the term “child pornography”,...

Seanad: Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation Material (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I support the amendment. Shockingly, a report released today by Missing Children Europe tells us a child disappears in Europe every two minutes. We need to think about that. There are many reasons children disappear, including that they run away, there is parent abduction or as a result of child migration. Indeed, Europe has seen 50,000 unaccompanied minors over the past year. There...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Jun 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I welcome my Independent colleague from Cork City Council, Councillor Albert Deasy, and his wife, Anne, this afternoon. To tell the God's honest truth, I am a little bit sick of Members coming in here asking for debates with the housing Minister when Sinn Féin Members' colleagues around the country are voting against housing developments. We had that this morning for 79 houses in...

Seanad: Ireland's Economic Outlook: Statements (28 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I seek permission to share my time with Senators McCarthy and Clonan.

Seanad: Ireland's Economic Outlook: Statements (28 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: The Minister is very welcome. I will jump right to the point. The most important issue facing our national economic outlook is the tariffs and the looming trade war between and decoupling of the US and the EU. However, first let us stand aside for a moment from specific governments, leaders and politicians shaping the relationship between the EU and the US. Let us stand aside from...

Seanad: Economic Competitiveness: Statements (28 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I am glad to have the Minister here this afternoon. I am glad we are holding these statements on our nation's economic outlook and our competitiveness in succession as it really allows us to continue on from the earlier conversation we had with the Minister for Finance. When it comes to the question of competitiveness, I am sure there will be as much said on the question of how we balance...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I call for a debate with the Minister for the environment, Deputy O’Brien, to come in to talk to us about the big problems we are seeing with the return scheme. It turns out that 90% of the plastics collected have been shipped overseas because it is just not worth processing them here. In 2024, it is estimated that we sold 1.7 billion cans and bottles, but only about 900 million have...

Seanad: Local Democracy Task Force: Statements (27 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Local Democracy Task Force: Statements (27 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Local Democracy Task Force: Statements (27 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: No, it is not agreed. This is a really important debate on the task force.

Seanad: Local Democracy Task Force: Statements (27 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: It is a pity we were only allocated an hour and a half for this debate. If it is agreed, it is agreed.

Seanad: Local Democracy Task Force: Statements (27 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I rise not just as a Senator but as someone who, like many Senators, has worked on the front lines of local government. I say without hesitation the treatment of our local government and the continued centralisation of power is a disgrace. Successive Governments, including on the other side of the House and the Green Party, stripped communities of their voices, representation and ability to...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021: Motion (27 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I support the motion to extend outdoor dining yet again, but let me be clear. This is not how we should be legislating in a modern state. This Act, introduced during the pandemic, gave legal clarity to something that was already happening – people enjoying a pint or a glass of wine in an outdoor seating area. It was a lifeline for small...

Committee on Children and Equality: Business of Joint Committee (22 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I congratulate the Cathaoirleach and welcome fellow members to this very important committee. I look forward to working with everyone. It is always encouraging to see more women in these Houses and in politics. The gender balance has been won by the women on this committee. The committee plays a vital role in shaping policies that affect the most vulnerable people - children, young...

Committee on Children and Equality: Business of Joint Committee (22 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I will come back in later.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I rise to speak on an issue our Government must urgently address, namely, the recent threats from the European Commission that Ireland must introduce new so-called hate speech legislation or face legal action from the EU. As of the time of speaking, we have only six weeks to respond to these infringement proceedings but, so far, we have heard nothing from the Government regarding its plan of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I express my deep concern about the Government's unwavering deference to Ursula von der Leyen and her Commission. Considering the recent Pfizer-gate scandal, where text messages between Dr. von der Leyen and the Pfizer CEO regarding vaccine procurement mysteriously vanished, it is high time the Government began to chart its own course within the EU. While the European court's ruling is...

Seanad: Driving Test Waiting Times: Statements (20 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I want to voice the frustration of tens of thousands of people across the country who have done everything right, paid their fees, booked their tests and now are stuck waiting. They are waiting not days or weeks, but months. For some, it can be almost a year. Let us call it what it is - a failure of Government planning and oversight and a failure to prioritise the needs of ordinary people....

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad: Electricity Generation (15 May 2025)

Sharon Keogan: The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, is very welcome. I congratulate him on his elevation into this role. I would like to ask the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications a simple question: where does nuclear power fit into Ireland's energy future? I ask this not in the abstract but with real urgency because the Celtic interconnector is due to come online in 2026. It is...