Results 61-80 of 127 for long speaker:Sharon Keogan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...for ever. You are the mother of her children. How will that affect Ms Wheatley and her family going forward? How will it affect the children? How will it affect the surrogate mother in the long term? When Ms Wheatley looked at Ukraine, did she look at some of the issues in terms of what the Ombudsman for Children said about surrogacy there? Why Ukraine in particular?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (Resumed) (5 May 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...the meeting. One of the things that Ms Wheatley said is that she does not exist. Anyone who gives love to a child exists. Let me say that here and now. I know this because I fostered four children long term and perhaps 150 in total came through my door. Anyone who gives care and love to a child exists. They see Ms Wheatley as the parent. My only concern is that mother who gave birth...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...be availed of. If that happens and everything goes without a hitch, it will be wonderful. However, we have never had to look too far in this country to see short-term solutions that have lingered long past their due date. That, of course, is simply not an option here. The apprehension is that if things do not all go according to plan and long-term accommodation is not found for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (28 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...encourages with the surrogate mother and by how he agreed to allow the birth mother to be on the birth cert. I am heartened to hear he agrees with that. There are many roads to parenthood and, as long as children are loved, cared for and feel secure, that is all that matters. He heard my statement last week and, unfortunately, a lot of exploitation goes on in this road to parenthood....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (28 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: If the father cannot contact the surrogate mother or her potential husband, how long does that stay in place? Let us say she cannot for a couple of years, does that mean that the emergency travel certificate cannot be issued?

Seanad: Funding for Ukrainian Students in Irish Universities: Statements (27 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: .... Of course, when it comes to our higher and further education systems, they were not without issue even prior to the war in Ukraine. Universities, technological institutes and colleges have long raised the issue of lack of funding as a major stumbling block when it comes to the carrying out of their functions. I understand that the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Surrogacy in Ireland and in Irish and International Law: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...of children born through surrogacy? Ms Gamble noted in her statement that it can be difficult to find UK surrogates. There are four non-profit matching organisations that have considerably long waiting lists. Could she elaborate on the point that it is incredibly rare for the surrogate to change her mind? It does happen. What makes surrogacy ethical? That is the question we want to...

Seanad: Safe Access to Termination of Pregnancy Services Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (7 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...certainly were not made to run down the clock. I take my work very seriously. My only issue is to protect the right to assembly, the right to protest and our right to prayer in public places. As long as there is breath in me I will defend these rights.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Surrogacy in Ireland and in Irish and International Law: Discussion (7 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...bit of investigating into this and significant research over the past couple of months. Surrogacy is prohibited in many of our European countries. It is legal in the United Kingdom and Greece, as long as it is done on a non-commercial basis. Ukraine, along with Russia, is one of the few countries where commercial surrogacy is legal. The destination seems to be Ukraine. This is,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Surrogacy in Ireland and in Irish and International Law: Discussion (7 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...adoptions. I am quite astonished. We have not learned anything from the past, particularly on how we treated women in our mother and baby homes, that we are happy to stand over the behaviour as long as we do not see it and it is in another country. Commercial surrogacy does not sit right with me. I know it is a sensitive subject. Those are merely my concerns. Perhaps Professor...

Seanad: Tourism: Statements (5 Apr 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...the unique challenges facing the sector and that Government and stakeholders co-operate in addressing them. As we continue to take in refugees who are fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, the need for long-term housing solutions will only become more pressing. We must rehouse families in the interests of their mental health and physical well-being. At the moment, hundreds of Ukrainians are...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Mar 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...sex, but one can choose one’s gender. Such is the maxim of gender theology. I would have no problem with the CSO putting in a text box in a form where anyone could fill in a gender of their choosing, so long as the essential binary sex options were there. However, it did not think of that. Instead, it scrambled to conjure up some compromise after the forms were printed,...

Seanad: Support to Ukraine: Motion (30 Mar 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...work needs to be done and where the gaps in our system lie. The sheer volume of aid raised through donations of money and supplies and the time and effort spent volunteering to help refugees, along with the hospitality and generosity of people opening their homes, is a true testament to Irish people putting their hearts into helping their neighbours. Everyone who has helped should be...

Seanad: Mental Health and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Statements (24 Feb 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...the most precious because they are the ones who have not experienced love from day one. The care system has been very good. When it comes to getting a child into CAMHS they do not have to wait very long to get into the services. Sometimes the auxiliary forces for the counselling that they need are not available on tap. They are very often given pills to medicate the issue, putting a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Sport and Recreational Development (23 Feb 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...will be taken to preserve female sports, given the danger posed by self-ID legislation? Irish sportswomen are excelling but the support for that has not always been forthcoming. It was not that long ago our women's soccer team were forced to change in airport toilets and return their tracksuits to share with other teams. The spectre of humiliation is never far away. However, this latest...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Feb 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...report states: 2021 was far from a normal year and, to its credit, the Government made good progress in some areas. To reflect this, a ‘B’ grade was awarded on the commitment to create new pathways for long-term undocumented people and their children. There were three ‘B-’ grades for work to end the Direct Provision system, for reform of the childcare system...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (9 Feb 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...the operation of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board has been obstructed for almost 20 years by an unknown number of claims that incorporate falsified information. This Bill will bring about a long overdue rectification. I hope the Government will see the logic of the Bill and pass it quickly through both Houses.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...14-year-old child who died by suicide. We need to have a discussion on this issue and to put together some community crisis response teams and permanent councillors in schools. It has gone on too long. We are not dealing with the issues on the ground. It is left to community leaders like ourselves to come up with solutions. We cannot do that. There is a ripple effect and everybody...

Seanad: Search and Rescue Policy: Motion (2 Feb 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...to an invitation to appear on RTÉ. It is an unglamorous and serious issue that on the surface appears niche but is profoundly symptomatic of a broken system with which we have lived for far too long. This is not just about search and rescue. It is about public procurement as a whole and the structures in place that shape and decide it. It begs the question of what are the...

Seanad: Violence Against Women: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Sharon Keogan: ...so many people to be aware of it and started so many national conversations around the treatment and experiences of women in this country. The flipside of this, of course, is that so often the long-term issues and the constant problems do not make the headlines yet these too must be part of the conversation. I do not think that we are experiencing an epidemic of male violence and that...