Results 3,741-3,747 of 3,747 for speaker:Lynn Ruane

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Jun 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I apologise before I start speaking because I am extremely angry and disheartened at the legislation's short-sighted vision for tackling gangs. The legislation is an attack on the addict and does nothing to dismantle the drug trade at a high level. If one went out onto the street right now one will meet people with benzos in their pockets. It is dealing with the person lying in the...

Seanad: Mental Health: Statements (22 Jun 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I wish to speak about dual diagnosis which is not raised too often in debate. Working in the homeless sector I have become increasingly worried, especially in the past decade, that having made the transition from institution and asylum type treatment, a large proportion of people who were being cared for within that structure ended up on our streets due to a big gap in services. They were...

Seanad: Waste Management: Motion (22 Jun 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I have been listening to this conversation. Changing consumer behaviour has been mentioned. I am of the view it is positive reinforcement, not attaching charges to recycling, that will change behaviour, for example, a weight related monetary incentive at the end of the year. Something must be done to incentivise people. This situation is being handled the wrong way round. The Journal of...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2016)

Lynn Ruane: As we approach the end of the 2015-16 academic year, the Cassells report which was due for publication eight months ago has still not been published. The higher education sector is at crisis point. Students are being charged a steadily increasing fee to attend college under the guise of a contribution charge. These increases and the corresponding decrease in State funding for higher...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Misuse of Drugs (15 Jun 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I congratulate you on your election to the Chair, a Chathaoirligh. I thank the graduates of Trinity College for giving me the mandate to be here today. I also thank the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, for his time. To give a bit of background, I spent the past 15 years developing addiction programmes on local drugs task forces. I have been involved in drug research on drug trends and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Misuse of Drugs (15 Jun 2016)

Lynn Ruane: I reiterate how the focus is on possession, which again mostly targets people who will be selling for their own use. As for N-bomb and clockwork orange, if one looked further into those cases, polydrug use is usually more the issue there than simply the use of N-bomb. Many of the recent deaths have been due to a toxic mix of alcohol, other drugs and this substance. It has not been proven...

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Lynn Ruane: A couple of Senators referred to the hidden homeless. Last year I was with a young man in hospital when he died. We tried to encourage him to undergo treatment for cirrhosis of the liver. The man was aged in his early 30s and lived in a hostel. He chose to die in a hospital bed rather than have to live on the streets again. His fear was that if he went into treatment he would lose his...