Results 21-40 of 87 for speaker:Laura Harmon

Seanad: Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill 2024: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (1 Jul 2025)

Laura Harmon: I I wanted to put on the record why I oppose the Bill. While it contains good measures, from my perspective and that of the Labour Party, we believe that anyone who spent so much as a minute in one of these institutions should be able to access redress, and those who were boarded out should be included as part of this as well. In terms of other jurisdictions, we saw mass trafficking of...

Seanad: Disability (Personalised Budgets) Bill 2024: Second Stage (25 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister for engaging with us on this. I commend the Bill and support my colleague, Senator Clonan. He has been more than reasonable and fair in requesting that the delay not be 18 months but that we could look to December of this year. That should be ample time to get this in order. I do not think anyone in the Chamber should apologise for showing emotion. I think the public...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the witnesses for the opening remarks. It is great to have them here today for this engagement. I will talk about employment first. It is quite stark that Ireland has the lowest levels of employment for people with disabilities in the European Union. The figures I have here show we are currently at 32.6%, which is nearly 20% below the EU average of 51.3%. I would like to get the...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: As a follow-up query, case studies were mentioned. Is there international best practice we should be looking to in terms of employment best practice? Do the witnesses believe the National Disability Authority should be better supported and have more enforcement powers? Is this something they would take a view on?

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Review of Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025: Discussion (25 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank all of the witnesses for being here today. I thank them for the important work they are all doing. It is great to have this discussion. I have a number of questions, the first of which relates to pay and the witnesses' views on that. The Labour Party has been very clear that apprentices should not be paid below the minimum wage. We need to have a living wage in place for...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Review of Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025: Discussion (25 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: Do I have some time left? The clock has disappeared.

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Review of Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025: Discussion (25 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: As a follow-up, would the witnesses welcome an increase in the pay rates while people are still apprentices and before they fully qualify? Is this a barrier or is it contributing to non-completion rates? Do they agree that is the case?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: The changes proposed by the US Administration regarding visas, including J1 one visas, are concerning. There is a proposal that authorities would potentially check back over five years of people's social media handles before they can be accepted onto the J1 visa programme. This is an unwelcome measure. It is intrusive and will have a chilling effect on people's freedom of expression. It...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (19 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: The Minister is welcome to the House. The way these measures have been communicated has been extremely confusing. Things were said at press conferences and in press releases. There were messages from the Minister and Taoiseach. This has been confusing for the public in general. The whole country should be a rent pressure zone in the long term. There is a huge missed opportunity in these...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the witnesses for attending. I look forward to engaging with them. It is good to have this discussion. I am sure the committee will be engaging with the HSE throughout the course of its work over a number of years. I thank Mr. Gloster for his opening statement. I wish to focus on assessments of need. I am from Cork. Recent figures show that there are more than 1,200...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: We heard from campaigner Cara Darmody and her dad last week regarding this. They were concerned about potential changes to the legislation. That is why I wanted to get Mr. Gloster's view on it. Moving on to the issue around waiting lists in terms of therapies, the figures nationally are concerning. Locally, the waiting lists in Cork for psychology, speech and language therapy and...

Seanad: Balanced Regional Development: Statements (17 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister. It is great to have him here. I want to focus on Cork. The national planning framework 2040 anticipates that Cork will become the fastest growing city region in Ireland, with a projected 50% to 60% increase in its population by 2040. This increased demand must be supported by travel infrastructure. In order to decarbonise and create a more connected city, the...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (11 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank all the guests for attending. It was illuminating hearing their contributions and having this discussion. I thank Cara for all of her advocacy and campaigning. Her protest highlighted this to many people in the corridors of power in Leinster House. It is important that action be taken and that there are not just empty words. I wholeheartedly agree with her that what is happening...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (11 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: As a follow-up from that question, what are Ms Darmody's next steps in her own advocacy? She has made clear her asks today. I suppose one of them is, as she mentioned, a task force. In terms of this committee here and us as public representatives, what does Ms Darmody want us to do after today in relation to this? I think they have already outlined that, but for the record, what is Ms...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: The Minister is very welcome and I look forward to working constructively with him and the committee over the coming years. I will start with student housing. I was president of the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, ten years ago and student housing was an issue then. The scale of the issue has increased tenfold since then. This is a symptom and consequence of the wider housing crisis....

Seanad: Breast Cancer Services: Statements (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister for being here for this important discussion. I thank my fellow Senators, especially Senator Costello for all of her advocacy and awareness raising. I am learning so much being part of these discussions in the Seanad. Like many others here, I did not receive any education through school on breast cancer, checking our breasts and what we need to do in terms of minding...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the witnesses for being here at our inaugural session. This is very much going to be an ongoing conversation that we will have with many experts like the witnesses before us. I thank Dr. Seoighe for the very detailed and informative presentation. I am still very much learning about this area, as a lot of us are. It is evolving at a rapid pace. I have a number of questions....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the witnesses. I only have 20 seconds but as a short follow up, can the witnesses recommend international examples of countries that Ireland should look towards for best practice? If you take mitigating the risks around elections, are there particular countries that have done work on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: I wish the Chair well in his role and I look forward to working with everybody on this committee. I also welcome the witnesses. This is a very exciting committee to be a part of. Every aspect of humanity is going to be affected by artificial intelligence in the future. It is going to affect how our societies operate and function in everything, from our education and health systems to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Research Ireland (10 Jun 2025)

Laura Harmon: On AI literacy and the general population, I am conscious that in Ireland, over 20% of the population have low literacy rates in terms of reading and writing. Where do we start with AI literacy to ensure there is a level playing field in education?