Results 41-60 of 338 for speaker:Patricia Stephenson

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Priorities and Provisions in the Review of the National Development Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (24 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: -----but how it overlaps in the context of the holistic approach is really important.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I read that MSF report which, I think, came out in July. It was really bleak reading about the Gaza Humanitarian Fund sites. That speaks to a point a Senator made earlier around Israel using the GHF as a cover for this notion of providing aid. I know Mr. Whyte has spoken about the importance of UNRWA for the Palestinian people. It would be helpful, for the purposes of the record, to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: On getting in supplies, is UNRWA impacted by the lack of cash in the Gaza Strip?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Are there any international staff on the ground from UNRWA since Mr. Whyte left in March? Has that option and accessibility been closed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: If we have more time at the end, I might get Mr. Whyte to speak a bit more about the reregistration that is going on and the risk to national staff.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Engagement with UNRWA Deputy Director John Whyte (23 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I have a quick few questions about the re-registration and the impact that is having on UNRWA and maybe other international NGOs, including Irish Aid-funded NGOs. It is also worth putting on the record that the US sanctions on Palestinian human rights organisations like the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq and Al Mezan are basically causing them to close down. It would be good to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Shared Island Initiative: Department of the Taoiseach (23 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the witnesses for their presentation. The work the shared island fund has been doing is great. I think Deputy Maxwell spoke about the importance of building trust and how beyond these spaces and those of policymakers, we can get the general public, and particularly people who are not living in areas impacted and improved by the infrastructure projects, to understand what the fund is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Shared Island Initiative: Department of the Taoiseach (23 Sep 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I will ask about another matter in my last few seconds. We talked about language. We have seen incidents of the Executive in the North blocking funding for the Irish language. What are the engagements with the shared island unit like regarding those trickier issues where it is committed to funding a certain thing but it is not being seen? Casement Park was another high-profile example of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I am here to speak about respite and care delivery. Respite is a crucial aspect of disability service provision and offers those with disabilities, elderly people and those who care for them critical and much-needed support. The role of respite service delivery within the disability policy has been labelled as a key priority for the Government and the HSE and improvements in this area in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I recognise there are recruitment challenges. The Minister of State might go into a bit more detail on the efforts being made. His remarks were quite general about how recruitment challenges would be addressed. The Minister of State might not be able to answer now on data and I might ask that the Department come back to me on this. Can we get a commitment for an audit of services and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I lend my support to the comments by Senator Comyn. We heard reports yesterday that 13 of the Oireachtas broadcast unit staff will be signing on the dole for the summer recess. This is appalling. They are our colleagues with whom we work every day. They are fundamental to the effectiveness of what we do. Their live streaming of the proceedings of the Seanad, Dáil and committees is...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Minister for coming in. I am also supporting Senator Ryan's amendment. I know we are not speaking about the amendments together but I have a similar amendment coming in after this. The amendments that both Senator Ryan and I tabled are effectively a fall-back position on the retention of jury trials, with some modification, as recommended by the Oireachtas joint committee on...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Recognising that the Minister feels there are implementation challenges with amendment No. 1, perhaps he will consider amendment No. 2 when we get to that stage, which has slightly different wording, or indeed, maybe he will commit to us that he will take on the essence of our amendments and bring forward his own amendment on Report Stage. We will be readily available to discuss the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I wish to raise the issue of the escalating violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank, how these communities face escalating violence every day and how that has intensified dramatically over the last 21 months under the cover of war but, in reality, stems from a long-standing and deliberate campaign of displacement. Just a few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting two...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: On Palestine and the West Bank.

Seanad: Draft Commission of Investigation (Handling of Historical Child Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools) Order 2025: Motion (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Last week's announcement of a commission of investigation into historical abuse is welcome, but it is not enough. The scope of the inquiry is too narrow and by design it risks repeating the mistakes of the past. Sexual abuse is one part, a truly devastating part, of a much wider, darker history in our State. It is a history that includes physical violence, emotional cruelty, forced family...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank Mr. O’Brien. It is coming to the end of the meeting and I appreciate that this can be quite tiring. Mr. O’Brien has just spoken about the inability to quantify the services dimension. I am just a bit confused about that in the context of the EU–Israel trade agreement. It is true that companies are obliged to make a distinction between goods and services...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I would be deeply concerned about that. I am not saying anyone is in breach of anything but, basically, under the EU-Israel trade agreement as it stands, there is a specific distinction to be made between the occupied territories and Israel for all types of trade. It would be great to get a response to determine whether IBEC members are making the distinction, because it is required under...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: That is great.