Results 421-440 of 720 for speaker:Tom Clonan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disabled People's Organisations and the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (1 Jun 2023)

Tom Clonan: Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe go léir chuig an gcoiste. I know Leo and Peter. Last year, shortly after I was elected, they came to visit me. The first thing that struck me was their energy and the anger they expressed in regard to the status of our disabled citizens. During our meeting in the visitors' bar, Peter and his daughter informed me they were going for a walk,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disabled People's Organisations and the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (1 Jun 2023)

Tom Clonan: Unfortunately, I have to leave the meeting, but I really appreciate the witnesses' feedback. I took such comfort from Mr. O'Dea's words about not always having an inferiority complex. My hope is we will become the best country in the European Union in which to have a disability, and that is through the DPOs’ community and our community.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I echo Senator O'Loughlin's remarks about Private Seán Rooney. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. I am thinking of his family at the moment. It is a very tough time for them. I would also like to remind the House of Private Billy Kedian who was killed in Lebanon on this day 24 years ago. I was there that year as a staff officer bringing journalists out. I am always...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: The four consultative forums are scheduled to take place in a number of weeks but we have no idea who will be speaking at them. We know there is a Chair, someone who has been very a vocal proponent of US foreign policy and who would be very supportive of Ireland becoming a member of NATO. While this is not problematic in and of itself, it does lead to the perception of an inherent bias...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: Hear, hear.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Integration and Refugee Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (30 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the witnesses. If there is an opportunity to do so, I suggest that the Department liaise with one of our universities. It would be very useful if there was a PhD student who tried to track where people who are unsuccessful go. If people are prepared to talk to Connect the Dots, they would be prepared to talk in confidence to a researcher or a team of researchers. If we find out...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Integration and Refugee Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (30 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: Not at all.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Integration and Refugee Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (30 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I have a very good friend who came through the full system very successfully. She is working as a teacher in a secondary school. I asked her why she picked Ireland and she laughed at me saying that she did not pick Ireland; she just ended up here. I am conscious that people who come here, whether it is for economic reasons or due to fear of persecution or whatever, they are all in...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Integration and Refugee Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (30 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank our guests for coming in. I can imagine how busy they are at the moment. I will make the general observation that we would not be where we are were it not for the actions of Vladimir Putin. This is an unprecedented situation. I would consider it an emergency. We can look back to crises we have confronted in the past. In 2010, there was a period of intense flooding followed by a...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Integration and Refugee Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (30 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I am conscious of the time. I will try to get my questions out as quickly as I can. I am familiar with the mental health tribunals for reviewing persons involuntary detention, and in that process, the detained person, or the involuntary patient, has representation at the tribunal. They have somebody to advocate for them, that is, a solicitor. It is not a patient advocate, but it is...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Integration and Refugee Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (30 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank Ms Rooney for that. As a layperson who is outside the loop, I wondered whether she felt it had got to the point where it should be called an emergency. From her response it seems she does not consider it to be. This situation or crisis - I would call it an emergency - is being exploited by people on the far right and people who have other agendas. It is an intended consequence...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank Deputy Ellis for allowing me to step in. Unfortunately, I have to leave at 10.40 a.m. and I just want to ask a couple of questions before then. I thank the witnesses for coming in. They will know the saying “When gardaí start to look young”, but when assistant secretaries general start to look young, I come to the depressing conclusion that I am just getting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: Could the Department ensure, if possible, that a person in receipt of a disability allowance does not have that curtailed or abated because they are in receipt of something else? Really, as I was saying it should not be the case. I do not know whether the Department has any discretion or control over that, but it would be very interesting to know if that is the case. Apologies for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: If you get a grant from the Arts Council----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: Similarly, I am not talking about a payment for disability per se. For example, if you get a grant to help your hedgerows, does that impact on your disability allowance in the way that a grant from the Arts Council would? If that is the case, it should not be the case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: It is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I appreciate the answer and the detail. Philosophically we saw with the payments during the Covid-19 pandemic, which were much more generous than disability allowance, that every cent of that €2 billion would be spent in the real economy. Disabled people do not hoard the money. It does not disappear. It is like Newton's Law. It is just transferred from one activity to another....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Inclusive Social Protection: Discussion (Resumed) (18 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I understand the semantics in the difference between crisis and emergency. For Mr. O'Sullivan and I, they are interchangeable terms, but legally, if the Cabinet declares an emergency, which it should have done a long time ago, the State would be authorised to mobilise resources in a more co-ordinated way. I heard the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on "Morning Ireland" recently. He was under...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 May 2023)

Tom Clonan: I refer to the distressing images of rows of tents on Sandwith Street and around Mount Street. The practice of giving refugees, asylum seekers and people seeking international protection a voucher and then leaving them effectively homeless leaves them subject to hostile scrutiny. They are in a public space and gathering together for safety. It plays into the hands of xenophobic and...