Results 221-240 of 801 for speaker:Catherine Ardagh

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

Catherine Ardagh: I raise the lacuna in the national childcare scheme. This issue may have been raised before but thousands of children, especially in the inner city of Dublin, are going to lose out on after-school places because of the October 2019 changes. Many childcare providers are still staying afloat because of the current wage subsidy schemes, which will end in September. Those schemes have given...

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Stalking) Bill 2021: Second Stage (22 Sep 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I congratulate Senator Chambers for bringing this legislation to the House. We were fortunate enough to meet the protagonists, Una and Eve, today. I understand the Senator heard them on the radio, contacted them and was able to support them in their mission to get to this stage. They must be thanked. The women of Ireland owe them huge gratitude for being so brave. We are also grateful to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister for returning to our committee. It would be remiss not to commend the Chair and the members of the committee. We know that, today, there is a lot more information in the public domain on this matter than there was the last time we met, so I think we are going through a very valid exercise in regard to this questioning and this type of interrogation today. I have a few...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister for attending. From reading the statement he provided and listening to his testimony, I refer to the major role that former Minister Zappone played in securing the seat at the UN Security Council. Was it the case that the Minister felt compelled to give her a job to thank her for that role? Did he feel like he owed her for all her hard work? I ask that because from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: -----with this committee from the date the Department was considering this post to the date when former Minister Zappone decided not to take it up?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: The Minister did not answer two questions I asked on when he got the text and sent the text.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I also asked whether any of his staff went the Merrion event.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I know I am being very pedantic but the Minister did not clarify exactly when he got the text message. He said he was in Africa when the event was going on, but he did not say when he received the text message. The reason I am being so pedantic is we are looking for a complete timeline and we may not get access. The Minister has agreed to share the correspondence with the committee. I do...

Seanad: CervicalCheck Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (15 Jul 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I support the points raised by Senator Seery Kearney, who is a great advocate for families going through surrogacy. It is important that the Minister listens to her point that there must be a pathway found between his Department and the Department of Justice in regard to international surrogacy. I have heard anecdotally that there is an impasse on the issue. The Minister needs to find the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Situation in Belarus: Discussion with Ms Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (15 Jul 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I warmly welcome our distinguished guest to the country and to our committee. She is a frequent visitor. I saw the video of the moment when she was reunited with her host family and I was crying while watching it. It showed that there was a great deal of love and respect and that Ms Tsikhanouskaya had a wonderful time here as a child. I am going to keep my contribution short. I do not...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I congratulate our former colleague, Senator, now Deputy, Ivana Bacik. I got to know her in 2016 when I became a Member of this House and she has been a pleasure to work with. She is always very kind to new Members and is a terrific role model for women of all parties and none who wish to enter politics, so I wish to put my congratulations on the record. Today, I will raise the issue of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Jul 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I support my colleague, Senator Flynn, with regard to her call that a high-tech, state-of-the-art school be built in the new amalgamated school in Ballyfermot and for that to specifically include a canteen and sports hall. We know Ballyfermot is a very working-class area. The children there need every advantage to level the playing field in order that they have every opportunity, like the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Jun 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: Today I would like to raise the Miami building collapse. I send my thoughts and prayers to the survivors, the families of survivors, the families of the victims, and the families of those missing. There are still 156 people missing. It is a tragedy of a huge scale, where a building collapsed during the middle of the night. There are terrifying, heart-breaking images of bunk beds hanging...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: First Annual Report of the Oversight Group on Women, Peace and Security: Discussion (22 Jun 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank Nora for her presentation. It feels wrong to call her by her name as Ms Owen was Minister for Justice when I was growing up. I thank her for making the presentation and everybody involved with the group. It is doing incredible work. I am glad Ms Owen touched on the fact that we are seeing much gender-based violence in Ireland so it is not just happening in conflict areas. She...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Jun 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I wish everyone a happy Pride Month. We need clarity on our licensing laws. It is basic legislation. Perhaps it can be done by some sort of order from the Department. If legislation is required in this case, then bring it on.It is unfair to those attending premises, as well as to restaurants and bars throughout the country, and it needs to be rectified. I also want to speak about the...

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

Catherine Ardagh: I will start by commending my colleague, Senator Clifford-Lee, for highlighting the online survey commissioned by the Department of Justice. I also encourage everyone to participate. It is open from 18 June and five workshops will be online. It is really important that we develop an up-to-date, modern strategy to combat domestic and gender-based violence. We learned so much from Covid-19...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 May 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I commend my colleague, Senator O'Donovan, on telling his personal story. It is National Epilepsy Week and 40,000 people in this country suffer from epilepsy. As such, I support his request for a debate on this important matter and I hope the Deputy Leader takes it on board. I wish to raise the issue of antigen testing, which I also raised last week. On Thursday, the European Parliament...

Seanad: Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 May 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: Like Senator Higgins, I had the privilege of being a Member of the Twenty-fifth Seanad and discussing the legislation. Not in our wildest nightmares did we think that we would still be here still discussing it and extending sunset clauses. I am on the record as saying that the legislation was draconian at the time, and it is still. No one is happy that our lives are being micromanaged at a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 May 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I join other Senators in welcoming the revision of the schedule to discuss issues in Palestine and thank Senator Black for sharing such a poignant poem. We have a seat on the UN Security Council and it has been recognised that we are doing good work on promoting de-escalation. As we know, however, words are not as strong as actions and much more needs to be done by the United Nations. I...

Seanad: Future of Banking in Ireland: Statements (10 May 2021)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber to address us on the future of banking in Ireland. We all know there has been a flurry of activity in the Irish banking market and in the world banking market in regard to the development of cryptocurrency. As legislators, we have to ensure that we put consumers first and that we have the consumer's back, not the bank's back. It is our job to...