Results 661-680 of 911 for speaker:Tom Clonan

Seanad: Independent Review of the Handling of Past Complaints of Abuse in St John Ambulance Ireland: Motion (29 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister for coming in here today. I thank my colleagues in the Seanad for proposing this motion and for the work that they have done, notably Senator Seery Kearney, who has done great work in this area, and Senator Ward. I have seen Mr. Mick Finnegan. I live not far from where I have often seen him standing on the footpath.I salute him and commend him on his bravery and moral...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (28 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I am seeking a statement from him on Department of Education Circular 0038/2007. The circular applies to primary school children who have a specific speech and language disorder. I raise this matter because the circular, which dates from 2007, needs to be updated. It is 16 years old. It consists of three paragraphs. The introductory...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (28 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I appreciate that the Minister of State has not heard my four-minute contribution until this morning. However, I know that he has heard me. As parents and carers in Ireland we are confronted with a situation where progressing disabilities in the community has failed. I received an on the record statement to that effect from the former CEO of the HSE, Mr. Paul Reid. For children like...

Seanad: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (22 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I echo what Senators Boyhan and Higgins have said in support of the amendment and ask the Minister of State to consider them. The Valletta Convention and the Malta Convention contain some comprehensive definitions of what constitutes archaeological, cultural and architectural heritage. While there is a task in the context of transposing and transcribing that into the Bill, it is worth doing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: A dhaoine uaisle, tá fáilte romhaibh go léir go dtí Teach Laighean. It is a very special moment for me to meet the general staff, having served myself as an officer in the Defence Forces. I will try to be brief. A lot of questions have been asked. My primary interest is in the culture of the Defence Forces. Women of Honour was referenced. As the general staff...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: A Chathaoirligh, I asked the Chief of Staff a specific question regarding an apology to me and my family for the reprisal that was visited upon us. All I did was engage in leadership in holding the organisation to account, as instructed by the Chief of Staff. This committee and these Houses are all about holding powerful institutions of the State to account. Several of my questions were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: It has been on the public record for more than 20 years and the Chief of Staff is well aware of it, as are all others present.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: An apology would be the opportunity to show the leadership that indicates there is a cultural change. The absence of such an apology sends a clear signal that these matters have not changed and there is still-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: With respect, this is my lived experience-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: It is a missed opportunity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I appreciate that and I await the Chief of Staff's invitation, but it is on the public record and has been so for some time. I appreciate the Chief of Staff's bona fides in that regard, however, and-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Work and Priorities of the Defence Forces: Engagement with Chief of Staff (21 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I would be delighted to meet him at any time. In the context of all these issues, I have never been approached in the past 23 years by anybody in the organisation despite the fact that I am the person who set out in great detail the causes, patterns and outcomes of this violence, as well as the solutions. All the Defence Forces have to do is talk to me. That is why I take great comfort in...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I wish a happy International Women’s Day to everybody, and particularly to my female colleagues here in the Seanad and throughout the Oireachtas. I was away at the Scottish Parliament last week at meetings and I did not get a chance to congratulate Deputy Holly Cairns on her appointment as leader of the Social Democrats. That is a great development. Equally, I am delighted to see...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: Yes, very soon, and also in Fine Gael and in the Green Party. I firmly believe that our very survival and everything that confronts us, including awful global conflict and climate change, are the very expressions of patriarchy, and our survival and the survival of the planet is really at this point a matter of the empowerment of women and girls all around the world. It is a better way to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: Well said.

Seanad: Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 7 of Principal Act 7.Section 7 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2): “(3) A person convicted by court-martial in a military court should be subject to all of the same notification requirements outlined in...

Seanad: Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (8 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: The Secretary General of the Department of Defence, Ms Jacqui McCrum, is a person of considerable ability and of the upmost integrity who has come to the Department and the role from a background in international finance and banking. I know that she would not mind my saying that she cut her teeth in international finance and banking in the city in London during the 1990s. I imagine, from a...

Seanad: Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Bill 2019: Second Stage (7 Mar 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I came here to listen to the contributions because it is an historic moment. On the day before International Women's Day, I, like my colleagues, remember Vicky Phelan and the contribution she made. As an observer of this process, it is great to see the collaboration between different parties in our Parliament - those in opposition and those in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Disability Proofing and Data: Discussion (16 Feb 2023)

Tom Clonan: I thank our fellow public servants from the CSO for attending. The CSO is independent and impartial and the data it gathers are crucial to how we evolve policy and move forward in this republic. I echo Ms Gibney's call, which was reiterated by Nem, Ms Hassett and others, for the full ratification of the UNCRPD and to empower IHREC further to hold the Government to account and to report on...

Seanad: Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (15 Feb 2023)

Tom Clonan: I commend this amendment Bill. In my experience of dealing with gender-based violence over the last 23 years, I have learned that one of the significant features of it is the chilling effect the offence has on its reporting. Further to that, it is also my experience that prior to the advent of the terms "cancellation" and "cancel culture", in many cases where a person reports domestic or...