Results 621-640 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I reject the very pointed version of that when actually I have been consistent. Had the Senator been here present earlier on, she would have actually heard me be very supportive of survivors on this. I have been consistent on that throughout recent years. I reject the very pointed nature of that comment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: There is no need.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: Those were very interesting and pertinent questions. I thank the witnesses for the frankness shown in their responses. It is much appreciated. The acknowledgment of the fact there is a reputational issue with behaviour analysis needs to be front and centre. Each of us has heard of very abusive situations where individuals' right to dignity has been fundamentally undermined. While that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: That almost points towards a need for a systemic change.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: There needs to be a change in the language used from one of "challenging behaviour" to "distress response". The term "challenging behaviour" sends me into a red zone.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: Yes, exactly. It is so disrespectful.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: On operant conditioning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I have seen it with South Dublin County Council, which creates its playgrounds to ensure they are completely inclusive. The design considers not just the physical challenges for child, such as ensuring swings are appropriate and inclusive for everyone, but also the environment of the child so that he or she is able to slowly enter that play space without being overwhelmed. The level of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: Should there be training in colleges? Should it be a module in teacher training and human resources training? There are issues that we should be mainstreaming in training.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: Who does Mr. Tennyson think should be providing the regulation? I have worked as a counsellor and psychologist as a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland and professional entities within that. They subscribe to a code of conduct, a code of practice and adherence to ethics. All witnesses have cited the lack of regulation. I appreciate that CORU needs a role. In the interim,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is important to say that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Rights-Based Behaviour Analysis and Support: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: -----because otherwise it sounds like the wild west, particularly when we are having a meeting about the fact that there have been abuses. It is important to address those and say that bona fide practitioners put themselves in an environment where they go to great lengths to ensure that they have ethical standards, supervision, etc. It is important to emphasise that.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Cash-for-Gold Outlets (3 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Cathaoirleach for picking this matter. The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, is very welcome. Cash-for-gold are outlets where an individual can go in, present gold for sale, get it valued and get the cash there and then. There is no question asked of the bona fides of the person who is selling, and where they got the gold from. I appreciate there has been a huge fall in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Cash-for-Gold Outlets (3 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State. We do not appear to have specific licensing. I do not quite know how to respectfully refer to it but while provisions have been cited, none of them reflect what was committed to by the Minister for Justice in 2019, which was a licensing of these specific outlets. With due respect to whoever wrote the Minster of State's notes, the idea the Department of the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Cash-for-Gold Outlets (3 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: Exactly. We clearly need a very bespoke response to this because it is an open goal for criminality that we need to close down. It is a gap in our law that needs to be rectified.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I congratulate the Leader on her wedding. I am also delighted by Senator Higgins's news, on which I congratulate her. On several occasions, I have asked for a special debate on apartment defects. Such a debate must happen as a matter of urgency. The remediation scheme, and the money allocated for it, was a positive decision by the Government. I do not understand the delay in the Minister...

Seanad: EU Regulations: Motion (26 Apr 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I speak on behalf of the Fine Gael party when I express my support for this in its entirety. I thank the Minister of State for bringing it before the House today. Apropos of the points made by Senator Higgins, Ireland is very much aware of the rights of those seeking asylum and operates thoroughly and comprehensively to vindicate to those rights. If further measures are needed to ensure...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Possible Enhancement of Child Protection Powers of Tusla: Discussion (25 Apr 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee today. I want to acknowledge that Dr. Shannon is a very much respected person in our State. He is now a member of the Judiciary, having been a children's ombudsman, practising solicitor and noted author on a lot of child protection matters and children in this country. The report he produced has been published and there has been a...