Results 61-80 of 1,451 for speaker:Eileen Flynn

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Business of Joint Committee (22 May 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I would first like to address the elephant in the room. I am not a member of a political party; I am an Independent Senator. I happen to be from the Traveller community. I know this was not a committee that was fought for, if you will, in the conversations around committees. I am accountable to members of the Traveller community. While I wish the Cathaoirleach...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 May 2025)

Eileen Flynn: As Senator Stephenson said, this is Traveller Pride Week. Many members of the Traveller community and many children within the Traveller community have fewer opportunities to be successful within Irish society. Last week, a study showed that young Travellers start off on a very good footing and it is all positivity when they go into primary education. However, by the end of primary school,...

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Large-scale Capital Projects: Discussion (21 May 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I thank the witnesses for being here. This is a very new committee. It is great to have the Department in this evening. I am sure we will have it in many times over the next five years. I want to raise something that came up in the Seanad last year. It is different but still I think the Department does have a responsibility with the Planning and Development Act, which at more than 700...

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Large-scale Capital Projects: Discussion (21 May 2025)

Eileen Flynn: Any support is important to us, and we will give the best support we can.

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Large-scale Capital Projects: Discussion (21 May 2025)

Eileen Flynn: It is really important that it is inclusive. I thank Mr. Moloney.

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Business of Joint Committee (14 May 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I am privileged to be a member of the infrastructure committee. It is new for me. It gives me an opportunity, as a person who was seen as a one-trick pony, to bring my ideas here and to keep a focus on human rights and equality too. When we think of infrastructure, we rarely look at it through the lens of equality and what that means for communities and for people. One of my focuses on...

Seanad: Parole (Special Advocates) Bill 2024: Second Stage (13 May 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I second the motion. I thank Senator Ruane and her office for bringing forward this important legislation. As the Senator said, this issue does not impact on many people within Irish society but it will have an impact on people seeking parole. I support the Bill as it will bring fairness and justice. As a member of the Traveller community, a minority group, I know how unfair the justice...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Attendance (30 Apr 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning to address what I believe is a very important issue that was raised recently by the journalist Maria Delaney, a reporter with The Journal. Her report showed that the number of pupils on reduced timetables has increased to 1,275. This is something that is very close to my heart as someone from the Traveller community who came through...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Attendance (30 Apr 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Yesterday, I had a group of young Travellers with a youth service in here. It honestly broke my heart when a young man asked what Leinster House was. I tried to explain to him. He looked at the portrait of Michael D. Higgins on the wall and asked whether he was the Taoiseach. I told him no, that Micheál Martin is the Taoiseach - trying to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health Promotion (30 Apr 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I welcome the students from St. Cronan's Senior National School. Their visit will be the first time I can tell a group of students they do not have any homework today. It is absolutely brilliant to give them a day off from it. We hope that the students make the most of their visit. I hope that at least one of them will end up in here in the future as a politician, and maybe not in the...

Seanad: Diverting Young People from Criminal Activity: Statements (30 Apr 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I will come at this issue from the angle of poverty and ethnic minorities, and people on the margin of Irish society. I would not be where I am today if it was not for my local youth service in Ballyfermot and its youth workers, Gerry McCarthy and Janice McGarry. For years I was member of a youth forum and I was politicised through the work done by the youth forum. Even back then, youth...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Apr 2025)

Eileen Flynn: When I was appointed by the Taoiseach nearly five years ago, I spoke a lot about not wanting to be pigeonholed and not always wanting to just be the Traveller Senator. That is something that I am grateful for, especially in the past few months. I have proven my worth by getting elected on my own merit. I thank all of the people who voted for me. It is absolutely amazing. What I am...

Seanad: Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (8 Apr 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I second the amendment.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Mar 2025)

Eileen Flynn: Many Senators may not be aware that more than 1,275 students are not required to go to school in Ireland in 2025. Maria Delaney. a journalist working with The Journal Investigates, has published a concerning report about how 1,275 students are on a reduced timetable. These children are not expected to go to school. It is unfortunate that these are children who have autism, children from...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4(2)) (Scheme Termination Date) Order 2025: Motion (27 Mar 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I welcome the extension of the ARP scheme. As an activist, I think it is unjust how we treat one set of refugees, who are white and European, compared with how we treat people from the Middle East. It is a bit like years ago and even today with the gap between the rights of settled people and those of Travellers. More than anyone else here, I know exactly what it is like to be treated as...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4(2)) (Scheme Termination Date) Order 2025: Motion (27 Mar 2025)

Eileen Flynn: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (26 Mar 2025)

Eileen Flynn: While I welcome this important Bill, it ignores the most vulnerable people within our society. Nowhere does it refer to domestic violence or older people or people with disabilities being controlled. I might wait until I have the Minister of State's attention.

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (26 Mar 2025)

Eileen Flynn: With the leave of the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and my apologies, I will restart my contribution for the benefit of the Minister of State because this is very important. While I welcome this financial Bill, it is very important that we amend it. From my reading of how it stands, it leaves out many people in society, such as older people and victims of domestic violence who are...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Mar 2025)

Eileen Flynn: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach.