Results 281-300 of 994 for speaker:Emer Currie

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Oct 2024)

Emer Currie: I also want to convey my deepest sympathies to the O'Rourke and Naughten families. Mary O'Rourke had a long and established career while John Naughten had so much more to give. It is an incredibly sad time. I also raise national dyslexia week, which gives us an opportunity to shine a light on the barriers that still exist for dyslexic students in the classroom. One in ten students has...

Seanad: Budget 2025 (Finance): Statements (1 Oct 2024)

Emer Currie: The Minister of State is welcome. I congratulate him on today's budget and the hard work that has obviously been done in recent months. When I look at the budget in terms of priorities, I feel more money in people's pockets is very important at the end of the month. As the Minister of State said, there are many families out there who feel they are doing everything right but do not have...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2024)

Emer Currie: I raise the unmitigated disaster that has been the change in Irish Rail timetables for Dublin. There has been a lot of focus on the northern routes and not so much on the western routes. We on those routes have been very affected. Yesterday, I put up a post on social media stating that I wanted to raise the issue in the Seanad. I got 93 responses in 24 hours. We know that if one gets...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Report Stage (24 Sep 2024)

Emer Currie: The Minister of State is very welcome. I am only going to speak to one amendment, Government amendment No. 46. I am looking for clarity about the implications of this amendment and I feel optimistic. It states: In page 58, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “(b) Applicants for licences under this section for appliances, apparatuses or structures of such class or...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: Amendment No. 190 is in relation to public rights of way. Public rights of way, permissive rights, are topical at present. They have really come to the fore since Covid. We encouraged people to enjoy what was right under their nose and they could. They were able to appreciate, in their 5 km and their 2 km, the outdoors. I am a big believer in ensuring people can appreciate the natural...

Seanad: Better Planning for Local Childcare Provision: Motion (17 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: I move: "That Seanad Éireann: welcomes: - the extensive commitments by the Government to address long-standing challenges in the early learning and childcare sector and to improve access, affordability, and quality of provision; - the increase to over €1 billion per annum in State funding for the sector this year, including Core Funding, a new model which aims to improve...

Seanad: Better Planning for Local Childcare Provision: Motion (17 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: It does.

Seanad: Better Planning for Local Childcare Provision: Motion (17 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: It is open to both.

Seanad: Better Planning for Local Childcare Provision: Motion (17 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. You always leave something out whenever you make your initial contribution. I should have been clearer that when I spoke about leasing back to providers, I was not saying this should involve only private providers, but I do feel they are under financial pressure and this would alleviate that. Core funding is working to increase stability...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State very much. Knowing that he is going to examine the spirit of the amendment, I am happy to withdraw it. I thank everyone for their support. I do not believe there were any dissenting voices. However, I want to be upfront with people and to say that, in the case of telecommunications masts, proximity to schools and impacts on health have been removed from the...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: I move amendment No. 49: In page 58, to delete line 38, and in page 59, to delete lines 1 to 14 and substitute the following: “(5) A planning authority shall, in relation to an application in respect of— (a) overground electronic communications infrastructure, (b) any associated physical infrastructure under this section, (c) require the applicant concerned: (i) to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Crime Prevention (10 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: I welcome the Minister of State. We have a very strong track record with regard to the youth justice strategy and youth diversion projects. They make absolute sense. It is proven that people are more likely to take risks when they are younger and more likely to want to please their peers. Neurologically that is proven. When they get older that likelihood drops steeply. We want to avoid...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Crime Prevention (10 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State and appreciate him agreeing with me that these figures are worrying. They are startling. I completely support youth diversion programmes, the work of expanding them and measures on the ground in terms of access at the weekends, the strategies with hard-to-reach children and the widening of the age eligibility. We have a question to answer around how that...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: I too give my sympathies to the O'Mahony family. He was such a huge figure in Irish sport and politics. His death is a terrible loss for their family. I hope they can feel proud of him and all of his achievements at this time. I raise the approximately 30 children with additional needs across Dublin 15 who urgently need school places for September. It is July, we are in the midst of...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 Jul 2024)

Emer Currie: The Minister is very welcome. I am very pleased to see this Bill in the House to provide enhanced enforcement tools for Tusla, but also to remove the exemptions under the Act that relate to childminders, to facilitate the extension of regulation to all paid, non-relative childminders and to pave the way for subsidies under the national childcare scheme to apply to childminders. It is a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Jun 2024)

Emer Currie: I congratulate the Deputy Leader on his new post. I wish him all the best and thank him sincerely for all the assistance and support he gave to people like me and Senators Dolan and Seery Kearney when we started as Senators. I have not forgotten it. I refer to the article in The Irish Times today that states there could be a €2,000 incentive for new teachers to take up full-time...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Second Stage (27 Jun 2024)

Emer Currie: I congratulate the Minister of State on bringing this colossal Bill to the House today. I thank all of the spokespeople for housing and planning for their work on getting it this far, particularly my colleagues, Senators Cummins and Seery Kearney. I will leave the topline issues to them. I am here to speak on more tactical elements of the legislation. It is very important that An Bord...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Jun 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank Irish Business Against Litter for telling us what we already know, namely, that Dublin city has become more littered and dirty. The capital was the fourth most littered area surveyed and is less clean than it was last year. It is the fourth survey in a row in which Dublin city has grown worse. To be honest, there are days when I cannot believe my eyes when I pass streets and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society: Department of Education (25 Jun 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State for coming before the committee. I also thank her officials. I very much like the Minister of State's analogy of the jigsaw puzzle. There is a job to be done in the context of looking at every piece of the puzzle and taking it apart in places and putting it back together to create a truly inclusive school system. I certainly cannot complain about the time the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society: Department of Education (25 Jun 2024)

Emer Currie: Can I clarify an issue? The Minister of State has identified 12 primary school children who need a place for September. She believes at this point that there are 15 available places. Is that correct?