Results 281-300 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: Senator Cummins has made a good point. There are plenty of ways whereby those parts of the report which are considered sensitive can be excluded.

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I support amendment No. 25. I cannot understand why a member of a visiting committee was excluded in the provision. I am also concerned that with regard to health care, and the person can be kept in this situation for two months, the Minister has only mentioned a doctor. What if the person is in agony with an impacted wisdom tooth? Is a dentist permitted? It is cruel and inhumane...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I ask the Minister to consider my suggestions on health care workers.

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: Senator Cummins makes a valid point, since a practising barrister or solicitor may have very little experience of conditions in prison or what happens there. Someone with experience of life in prison might be far better suited to deal with an appeal. One can scrutinise the legal process carefully, but the humanity of prisons is of great importance in such cases, and that should not be...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: Tonight, I will telephone my relations who live in Kilworth to find out their views on this for Report Stage. It is important to remember that Castlerea prison replaced a psychiatric institution. At the time, an individual informed me that his father and grandfather had supplied victuals to the asylum and were looking forward to continuing to supply victuals to the prison. There was a...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I was concerned it was the same territory. I would like the term "environmental impact study" to be used in the provision as it includes established criteria. While it is the same territory, it is better to have the territory we know from the EPA legislation. I will table an amendment on this on Report Stage.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I support the suggestion that we have a debate on the National Children's Hospital. It is a national hospital not a constituency hospital.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I congratulate Senator Brian Hayes on having discovered there was no scoring of the various tenders that were put forward for the hospital. Since becoming a Member of the House I have asked five times about the situation regarding children born with spina bifida and anencephaly. For genetic reasons we have the highest incidence of these conditions in the world. The only possible way of...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I support the amendment because there are several women governors in our prisons.

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: Will the Bill cater for people in designated centres, as described under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act? If the answer is "Yes", we would need to include an amendment in respect of the definition of "prisoner". It is important to ensure people who may be brought to court from the Central Mental Hospital or from court to that institution or another designated centre be catered for under the...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I assure the Senator this is not being done to stigmatise those who are mentally ill but to ensure absolute clarity. While a criminal act may have been carried out by such people when they suffered from hallucinations, delusions and so on, by the time they are dealt with, they could be perfectly rational because of treatment. I am trying to establish whether the Minister proposes to...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I cannot make an amendment on the floor of the House but I would be grateful if the Minister examined this issue, which I will also consider again.

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: While the Minister can apply any rules he wants, I refer him again to the my concern about people who may be mentally ill at the time they are transferred by the prison escort service. Will the custody officers receive psychiatric nursing training?

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I did not suggest that.

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: The Tánaiste could not make the measure obligatory because such a prison officer cannot be supplied in every case, but could we not make it a recommendation? I would not like to be asked to take from one place to another someone who is experiencing an acute schizophrenic episode.

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Committee Stage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: We need officers who are trained to deal with such people. The amendment asks that the people transporting prisoners be trained.

Seanad: Drug Misuse: Statements (16 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister of State. He is correct that this is a difficult problem, internationally and domestically. We must keep a close eye on what effective initiatives are being taken in other countries to combat drug abuse as we try to put our own solutions together. I have always been fascinated by people who are keen to legalise drugs, which is a road I would not follow. A number of...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I support Senator Brian Hayes's call for a debate on the lack of provision of sexual assault units throughout the country. Having been involved in the establishment of the first such unit in the Rotunda Hospital more than 20 years ago, I know how important it is to make facilities available as near at hand as possible. If we really want to do something about the conviction rates on foot of...

Seanad: Homelessness: Motion (15 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I am very surprised the Government amendment does not mention the organisations which have put so much work into the area of homelessness. I would like to include others such as the Salvation Army, Los Angeles Society for homeless boys and Ruhama. One group not mentioned in connection with homelessness is that of prisoners leaving prison, some of whom have nowhere to go when they come out....

Seanad: UN Committee Report on Children in Ireland: Statements (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Mary Henry: I must ask the Minister of State to conclude.