Results 361-380 of 794 for speaker:Tom Clonan

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Tom Clonan: I am sorry I was delayed coming in, but I was watched the contributions from my office. As a parent of four children who are now adults and teenagers, I remember how in the early noughties we had four children in Dublin 4 who were under the age of six. Childcare cost €900 per month at that time. Like many of our contemporaries, we both had to work in order to pay the mortgage. That...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Issues Facing the Early Childhood Sector: Discussion (7 Nov 2023)

Tom Clonan: One of my children when in creche, was diagnosed with a neuro-muscular disease at 18 months and has additional needs. The wonderful people who are providing the childcare, Liz and Lena, innovated and wrapped everything around him so he was included in everything. It was a powerful endorsement of his rights as a child to participate fully in the cultural and educational life of the Republic....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I wish to talk about, and put on the record of the House, the situation that confronts the people of Gaza this morning. The Israel Defense Forces, IDF, has assembled a force of 300,000 troops on the border with Gaza and Gaza is 360 sq. km. To put that in context, the United States invaded Iraq, a country the size of France, with just over 120,000 troops. Israel is proposing to saturate the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Ensuring Inclusive Local and EU Elections: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank everybody for coming in. What can I say to Ms Carthy about the wheelchair people on the plane? My son, who is a wheelchair user, and I have flown on different airlines and have had different experiences but I remember once being in Dublin Airport, intending to fly to Barcelona. I wheeled him up to the door of the aircraft and there was a bit of a kerfuffle. They had not arranged...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Ensuring Inclusive Local and EU Elections: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank Mr. O'Leary and I wish him the very best of luck in the work.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Ensuring Inclusive Local and EU Elections: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: That is fantastic.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Oct 2023)

Tom Clonan: I wish to raise, by way of update, the situation in respect of Children's Hospital Ireland, CHI, as it impacts on disabled children with scoliosis and other complications arising from having been left on waiting lists for catastrophically long periods of time. I reiterate that the medical device directive at European Union level came into effect around 2018 or 2019, and was then translated...

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

Tom Clonan: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. I wish to raise the shortfall in funding for our higher institutes of education and third level sector, which is at €307 million. I welcome the additional allocation of €60 million in the budget yesterday. That is a very welcome development. Last year, it was only €40 million. If we are to continue at...

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

Tom Clonan: I welcome Sally-Anne Fisher from the senior leadership team in Trinity College and Zaid Al-Barghouthi and Ahlan Wa Sahlan from the Union of Students in Ireland. They are very welcome. It is an issue that impacts not just the institutions themselves but also the student population, as the Minister of State alluded to. As she is aware, I have three adult children myself, who are attending...

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.