Results 921-940 of 997 for speaker:Emer Currie

Seanad: International Women's Day: Statements (8 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: We cannot help but focus on Covid today and the inequitable effect that it has had on women. What are we going to do about it? We cannot allow for these experiences and insights to merely become ink on reports or for us to sleepwalk into a global she-session going back on progress that we have made in women's economic participation. The structural inequalities that exist are staring us in...

Seanad: Local Government (Use of CCTV in Prosecution of Offences) Bill 2021: Second Stage (5 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome the opportunity to speak on illegal dumping and this Bill which aims to ensure that CCTV can be used to prevent it. As I dropped my children to school today, I went down Tinkers Hill and along the Lower Road through Strawberry Beds and noticed the rubbish. I made a mental note that when I came in today I had to ring the council about the rubbish on Clonee Road, Clonsilla Road and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The Irish Language and the New Decade New Approach Agreement: Conradh na Gaeilge (2 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: Could the Chairman come back to me or is the order strict?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The Irish Language and the New Decade New Approach Agreement: Conradh na Gaeilge (2 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I arrived late so I would not mind waiting until others have spoken.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The Irish Language and the New Decade New Approach Agreement: Conradh na Gaeilge (2 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: It is a source of embarrassment to me that my Irish is not better. I grew up in County Tyrone until the age of 12 years and did my first year of Irish at grammar school in the convent at Donaghmore. When I moved to Dublin, I fell between two stools. I have been saying for years that I need to find the time to brush up on my Irish. Even if it were basic that would be better. It is...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2021)

Emer Currie: I condemn the protests and attacks on gardaí in the city centre at the weekend. As my colleagues said, it is devastating for front-line workers everywhere. I understand debate around approaches to Covid-19, which we have in this House. However, I do not understand how anyone can justify an erosion of trust in democracy or attack the media and gardaí as part of that. We need to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Parental Leave (26 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: The reason to raise this Commencement matter is to call on the Government to deliver wholly on the purpose of the Parent's Leave and Benefit Act to facilitate working parents to balance paid employment and responsibilities to their children in a fair and equitable way. At present, each parent is entitled to two weeks' paid leave for children born from November 2019.The amendment extends this...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Parental Leave (26 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State. From his answer it is not looking like this amendment is going to happen at this time. In his response the Minister of State stated "It is important to note that entitlement to parents' leave is for the individual parent, it is not an allocation per family." In these instances, however, such parents are doing the job of two parents. They are under a lot of...

Seanad: Covid-19 (Transport): Statements (26 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: We have seen the dramatic effects of Covid on transport and mobility patterns. To what extent can long-term changes be made regarding those patterns? I am thinking, in particular, about the changes to transport in the Phoenix Park proposed by the Office of Public Works, OPW, which are currently subject to public consultation.It is acknowledged in the report and research that the park plays...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: It is looking like the schools might reopen in some fashion on 1 March, maybe for junior infants, senior infants and up to second class, and leaving certificate and fifth-year students. There are positive signs from the Cabinet subcommittee but nothing has been set in stone. The reopening of schools is the single most important action that we can take for students' physical movement,...

Seanad: Report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation: Statements (Resumed) (19 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: It is a month since the report of the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes was launched and since the State apologised for how our most vulnerable were failed, shamed and traumatised, institutionally, systematically and holistically. The report could have offered survivors some ownership or empathy but disappointed many because of its detached and legalistic tone. We as a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: The EU and Irish Unity - Planning and Preparing for Constitutional Change in Ireland: Discussion (16 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome Professor Harvey and Mr. Bassett. I know Professor Harvey is based at Queen's University Belfast, which I attended. It is nice to engage with him. I have watched his presentations in the past and I have heard him speak a number of times. It is nice to get the opportunity to connect virtually. My worst nightmare is that we would have a border poll and we would lose. My worst...

Seanad: Remote Working Strategy: Motion (15 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I move: “That Seanad Éireann: - supports the recent Government launch of the National Remote Work Strategy by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; acknowledges: - the transformative impact remote working can have on the workforce and communities; - the difficulties people have faced working from home under emergency Covid-19 restrictions; - the progress...

Seanad: Remote Working Strategy: Motion (15 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: The remote work strategy marks a significant move towards changing how we work for good. It is a framework for long-term change, and we need it. For over 100 years, we have used the same traditional model of work for office workers, a version of 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. that is office-based and location-based. For approximately one third of the population, this involves leaving home early in...

Seanad: Remote Working Strategy: Motion (15 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State and everybody for their comments and contributions. There is so much work to do with this and it is important that we recognise the challenges because only by recognising the challenges can we come up with solutions. That is what I ultimately want to do and the people who are invested in this want to do that as well. We have had so many naysayers about remote...

Seanad: Remote Working Strategy: Motion (15 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: At 10.30 a.m. on Friday next.

Seanad: Mental Health and Covid-19: Statements (12 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I want to acknowledge the amazing work of our front-line staff in our mental health services, and all the organisations supporting people at the moment. They are thinking outside of the box and pivoting in how they connect with groups, such as school classes and sports teams. In Dublin 15, we are blessed with a network of community centres. In places like Huntstown and Castleknock, when...

Seanad: Free Provision of Period Products Bill 2021: Second Stage (8 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank everyone who has led on this issue over the years. As I have only two and a half minutes, I cannot name everyone. This Bill and the Labour Party Bill relate to the provision of free period products, but they are also about social change in a country that will no longer accept the stigmatisation of menstruation, taboos around women's health or their bodies. Bodies and what they do...

Seanad: Response to Covid-19 (Social Protection): Statements (1 Feb 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome the Minister, or Arthur's grandmother, to the House. Families are in the midst of peak stress and anxiety because of level 5 restrictions and schools being shut. The stress today is palpable when people are going back to work. The enthusiasm for homeschooling, for instance, is waning. Speaking for myself, we have not made it out for our 100 days of walking over the past two...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Jan 2021)

Emer Currie: For somebody like me, the question is not whether I want a united Ireland but what kind of united Ireland I want. It is a question of what kind of united Ireland I have wanted since I was old enough to understand my Irishness was different from that of somebody who lived in a neighbouring county and that this could never be taken for granted. It is very difficult to explain how one can feel...