Results 641-660 of 994 for speaker:Emer Currie

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Educational Disadvantage (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State for stepping in on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. I am here on behalf of St. Luke's National School in Tyrrelstown which was hoping that it would be awarded DEIS - Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools - status in the review of DEIS. It put a great deal of effort into the appeal. I have to say I am scratching my head to see this school not being...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Educational Disadvantage (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State and reiterate I appreciate he is in a difficult position in standing in for the Minister, Deputy Foley. I understand the next phase will explore the allocation of resources and that there will be an updated Pobal HP deprivation index in quarter 3 of 2023, but I do not understand why that could not have been done concurrently. Missing this school means there is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Job Creation (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: I concur with that.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Passport Services (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State. I thank the Senator for raising the issue. I concur with him about opening the helpline to MLAs and MPs. I know a communications campaign was run in the North. There have been calls in this House for a passport office in Belfast and the north west. That would be helpful too.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Passport Services (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: Perhaps the Minister of State might bring that back to the House as well. That concludes the Commencement matters.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: The price tag for the sale of a Dublin Airport car park is €70 million. That is how profitable a Dublin Airport car park could be. That is how locked into car dependency our airport is and how vulnerable travellers are to airport car charges. MetroLink is on the way. Planning for it will be launched in September but it could take 12 years to complete. Why are we not prioritising...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: -----or to burn the posters and symbols of your neighbours. If people celebrate their religion by threatening another, or if they use it to promote sectarianism or misogyny, we need to see outright rejection of this behaviour. We need political and community leadership and action. It is not that long ago that we witnessed an abhorrent video that was shared during Queen Elizabeth's jubilee....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: If we are stamping it out, we need a zero tolerance approach.

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: I am sharing time with Senator Maria Byrne. I welcome the Minister of State and commend her on her commitment to special educational needs. Her office is always available, as is she, and we are very grateful for that. I hope her legacy will include the reorientation of this system that puts the weight on parents and families to secure appropriate accommodation for their children instead of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: The relationships across these islands are experiencing turbulent times. Nowhere else is the impact of the policy of brinkmanship pursued by the British Government and Conservative Party more clear than in Northern Ireland where the principles that brought communities and opposing philosophies together 25 years ago have been completely undermined and disregarded. People should never have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: British Government Legacy Proposals: Discussion (7 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: I agree with everything the witnesses have said. I thank Mr. Holder for coming before the committee again under different headings. My questions are similar to those of Senator McGahon. We have seen the Third Reading of the Bill. It has been said that we could challenge the UK through the ECHR. I want to acknowledge what the witnesses have said, namely, that it is through no fault of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: British Government Legacy Proposals: Discussion (7 Jul 2022)

Emer Currie: Just before I hand over to my colleague, how quickly can this be referred to the European Court of Human Rights?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. Jonathan Powell (30 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: It is nice to meet Mr. Powell virtually. I thank him for his contribution to the Good Friday Agreement. We in the committee very much want to find our way back to the principles of the Good Friday Agreement regarding consensus and compromise. I follow Mr. Powell on Twitter and he had an interesting thread a couple of weeks ago about the principle of consensus and community consent. Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. Jonathan Powell (30 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: I mean that in the context of what is happening in respect of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. Jonathan Powell (30 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: Would that position continue even if Boris Johnson were not at the helm?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. Jonathan Powell (30 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: Mr. Powell has been vocal about the need to reach out to loyalists and for them to engage in political solutions and not to go down the paramilitary route. He was involved with the launch of the Loyalist Communities Council. How does he feel about that now? Does he regret it? What does he think about the recent hoax bomb in Belfast at the Pat and John Hume event attended by the Minister...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. Jonathan Powell (30 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: Following on from my question earlier, I am interested to hear how Mr. Powell feels we should be engaging with the Protestant, unionist and loyalist community. I very much feel there is no role for paramilitarism. It should have left the stage a long time ago and in fact the problems we talk about in terms of cycles of poverty, drugs, coercive control of communities, prosperity and hope are...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: We have had quite a black and white view of entitlements for workers. In recent years we have seen how we do not have to be so black and white about things. With regard to the trust issue, in recent years we have also seen that employees can be trusted to work, and to manage their work, remotely and that sometimes the fears are greater than the reality. In saying that, it is all about...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: This legislation is groundbreaking, as has been said frequently. It is about supporting people who cannot afford to be sick at present. We have heard personal examples of that. I have sympathy for the Minister of State in this scenario. It is easy to talk about employers all in the one bracket but we are talking about employers who, in this scenario, will have to pay 70% and then may also...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Emer Currie: In section 7, we were discussing the understandable reasons employees would want 100% pay cover, as well as the understandable burden on small employers who are already very concerned about having to pay 70% of the statutory sick pay in addition to the replacement cover. This was brought to my attention by the Local Jobs Alliance that consists of small, local and family-run businesses,...