Results 301-320 of 725 for speaker:Tom Clonan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Third Level Education (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I move: That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges that: - Ireland has promised to fully ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as per the Programme for Government; - the National Disability Authority and the Disability Stakeholder Group have recently published reports that show Irish Government Departments are failing to make sufficient progress to meet the...

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: Yes, with Senator Craughwell. I will do 12 or 13 minutes and he will take up the balance. I thank the Minister for coming here. It is very much appreciated. I want to talk about the Green Paper on disability reform. I have it here with me and I have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb. It is an extraordinary document. I want to give the context in which it has been published....

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: -----during the day, Chair, if I may continue uninterrupted.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: No. Excuse me. Chair?

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: Senator McGreehan does not understand. This has nothing to do with the Committee on Disability Matters; it has to do with the people I invited. They are the people who should be front and centre. How ironic, in a discussion about employment for disabled citizens, that this debate is rescheduled to a time when many disabled citizens cannot attend because they are in the workplace or their...

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I will speak for another 30 seconds.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I will respond to the amendments I believe will be brought forward, and which I have had sight of, when we come to the closing remarks. I ask the Minister not to proceed with the proposal as set out. I know it is a consultation and this debate is part of that. I am rebutting it. I am elected to the House and have a right to speak on it. I ask her to instead make disability allowance a...

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: On a point of order, that is inaccurate.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: That is not factually correct.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: The Acting Chairperson allowed points of order earlier, and should allow my point.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I will address it but that is factually inaccurate.

Seanad: Disability Allowance: Motion (11 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister for her response. This is not an attempt to close down the conversation. It is the beginning of opening that conversation and having it in the clear light of day. I want to address a point the Minister made. She said that, based on current CSO figures, giving everybody with a disability a weekly universal payment of €350 would cost €18 billion a year....

Seanad: Access to Third Level Places and Student Accommodation: Statements (4 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister for coming in. I recognise the significant contribution he, as Minister, has made to special needs education, particularly for students with disabilities in higher education institutions, HEIs, including those participating in the publicly funded university sector and those in the so-called private sector, for example, Griffith College and Dublin Business School, DBS....

Seanad: Children's University Hospital Temple Street: Motion (4 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: It is Clonan, not Cloonan.

Seanad: Children's University Hospital Temple Street: Motion (4 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. I spoke at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Health last week and asked questions of the chief medical officer, CMO, and the CEO of CHI. I am a parent of an adult son who had surgery in Temple Street hospital. Like so many children on that list, he had his surgery way too late. He was on that waiting list for years. This is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Enhanced Transport and Mobility Support Options for People with Disabilities: Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (4 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister of State and her officials for coming in. I apologise I was not here earlier. I was at the CHI, Temple Street, debate in the Seanad with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. I share the sentiments that have been expressed here about the Minister of State's absolute commitment to the portfolio and her attempts to try to bring that cohesion and co-ordination into things. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Enhanced Transport and Mobility Support Options for People with Disabilities: Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (4 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister of State for addressing that point. On the point raised by Deputy Ellis, there are issues with electric vehicles and the way in which the battery and floor of the vehicle cannot be interfered with. It is not just about the tax incentives and the refunds-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Enhanced Transport and Mobility Support Options for People with Disabilities: Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (4 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: -----because there are also structural issues with electric vehicles that make it difficult. That is something we will have to look at. I was very heartened to see how the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, responded to Leigh Gath and the issue she had in importing a vehicle which could only be modified in London. I had the opportunity at the national commemoration in Cork to thank the...