Results 41-60 of 1,697 for speaker:Margaret Murphy O'Mahony

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for coming in. I also thank them for their fantastic work. I welcome the focus they put on interdepartmental co-operation. I am a big believer that every law, motion and suggestion should be disability-proofed. The work of the National Disability Authority goes towards that. I also welcome the children's disability network team review for which the...

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I thank Dr. Hartney. Can I get the witnesses' thoughts on decongregation? What could be done to speed it up? I am very conscious that it is not for everybody to move into independent living. For a lot of these people this has been their home and they do not know anything else. They might not want anything else. This is a kind of a double-barrelled question. What can be done to quicken...

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: That is interesting. It is important to focus and to bring the person along with the idea rather than turfing them out, or whatever. How could we better co-ordinate cross-agency staffing efforts, particularly as we are all very aware of recruitment and retention within the disability sector? How could we better co-ordinate the cross-agency effort?

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: There has been a lot of talk about the whole area of assessment of need. How does the NDA see itself supporting a new, modernised and more family-centred assessment of need?

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: How news is imparted is critical. We have all heard horror stories. It is never good news but how it is handled or imparted is important, as is advice being provided straight away. How can it be ensured that the person with the disability, his or her family and organisations will remain central in the co-creation of any disability policy, not only in consultation, but also in...

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I raise the ongoing problem with allowing people to drive for Bus Éireann beyond the age of 70. By today or tomorrow, every secondary school child and nearly every primary school child will be on their holidays. Every level of public representative - councillor, Senator and TD - knows what is coming around the corner. We will be inundated with people who have been refused school bus...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Children's Rights Alliance (19 Jun 2025)

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I welcome Ms Ward, Dr. Corbett and Dr. Feely and thank them for coming in. When I knew they were coming in, I did some research and was very struck by their vision to make Ireland one of the best places in the world to be a child. I was very touched by that, so I say "well done". It is a great vision. I am a big believer in and advocate of the idea that every child deserves a childhood...

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Children's Rights Alliance (19 Jun 2025)

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: It is very targeted at the start. Regarding the shortage of care placements, what role do the witnesses see for the community and voluntary providers in bridging the gap that is there? How do they suggest that the Government might support their involvement?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Children's Rights Alliance (19 Jun 2025)

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: Regarding the public childcare model, what reforms could we consider that would ease the financial pressures on providers while moving towards proper structural change?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Children's Rights Alliance (19 Jun 2025)

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: Is there an example from another jurisdiction, maybe within the EU so that we could identify with them, that we could draw inspiration from in developing a national play policy?

Committee on Children and Equality: Engagement with Children's Rights Alliance (19 Jun 2025)

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I admire the work the Children's Rights Alliance does. What can we, as a committee, do to help it in terms of oversight and follow-through or to implement its recommendations in legislation? What role does the alliance see the committee playing in that regard?

Seanad: Report of the Farrelly Commission: Statements (18 Jun 2025)

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: The Minister is very welcome to the Upper House, and fair play to her, she is always available to us, a sign of a great Minister. Gabhaim buíochas léi. I would like to take a moment to think of the woman we know only as Grace. Grace was let down. There is no doubt about that. She was a non-verbal girl whose dental hygiene and dental health were allowed to deteriorate and who...

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I thank Mr. Gloster, Ms Queally, Dr. O'Donohue, Ms Doran, Ms Stone and Ms Maxwell for coming in. I know they are busy people, so I appreciate that and look forward to working with them. I acknowledge Mr. Gloster's comprehensive opening statement in which the HSE's plans, priorities and challenges are acknowledged. I thank him for that. I also acknowledge that Mr. Gloster met families,...

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: Well done to him for that. I hope he continues to do so. I acknowledge the front-line staff who are keeping all of our centres, etc., going every day. They are the powerhouse of the whole system. I would also like all of us to remember that behind every statistic and plan is a person with a disability and his or her family. They are navigating a life they had not planned on and did not...

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: There is obviously a plan in place, so well done. The pay and numbers strategy was flagged as a priority. When can we expect to see this strategy completed and how will it support the multi-annual planning that reflects the real-life service demands, particularly in the high pressure regions?

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I thank Mr. Gloster. As regards the administrative burdens, there is a reference to reducing non-therapy admin tasks for therapists, subject to the public service agreement. We all agree that an awful lot of time is taken up in admin work and, obviously, that time would be better allocated elsewhere. Can I get clarity on how this will be actioned and whether support staff or maybe digital...

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: Good idea. I thank Mr. Gloster.

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I will touch again on the single referral point and key work co-ordinators. Will the HSE be able to ensure a postcode lottery does not occur in this and that it will be consistently spread out across the country?

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: We are talking a lot about outputs this morning, but outcomes are the most important thing. Does the HSE have any plan for a reporting mechanism once a year or so to tell us and the public what is working and what is not?

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

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony: I thank the witnesses again.