Results 81-100 of 1,343 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation of Drugs: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Sep 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Go raibh maith agat.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Will we hear from the Minister?

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I am wondering if there will be an opportunity for that on the basis of the time remaining.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I want to give most of my time to those Senators who felt they had little time and then abused all the time they had. First, as Senators Seery Kearney, Garvey and others have outlined, the Bill has been more than two years in the making. Senator Boyhan knows this because he participated in it when we received the heads of the Bill. We considered not only them but the wider Bill extensively...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I am speaking to Sinn Féin's amendment No. 185, in the names of Senators Warfield, Boylan and Gavan. Before I was elected to this House, as the Minister will know, when I was a city councillor, I worked with my colleagues on the council - ours was not a Government party at the time - to drive the Oireachtas and the Ministry and to enable the city council to take action to preserve Moore...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Go raibh maith agat.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I did not personalise my comments or my contributions at any point to any Member of this House. I do not see why I should become the target of any other Senator's contributions.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Thank you. In my contribution, I encouraged all Senators to inform themselves and not to make contributions in this House that are ignorant of the facts. The contributions that were made earlier were ignorant of the facts and I pointed that out. My track record in helping people of abilities of all levels and none is my track record and I stand on it. I do not need the judgment of any...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is entirely different.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: The Senator is reminding me of members of my own party.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Having had the privilege of serving on the country's largest local authority from when I was first elected in 2004, I take a particular interest in this section. As Senator Moynihan said, the pains and frustrations of the planning system are ones I am all too familiar with. When we apply ourselves to the exercise we are engaged in, in scrutinising this legislation, we would be well served...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Can Members keep to the group?

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I commend Senator Currie’s amendment. I hope that we all recognise that we live in a world of instant communication. Everyone recognises the essential nature of telecommunications infrastructure. Like much infrastructure, though, it is planned by engineers in an abstract way based on the optimal performance of the technology. Where the tension arises is where that infrastructure...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for joining us. He does not have the benefit of having been here yesterday evening when Senator McDowell raised what are very serious concerns. I utterly reject the insinuation that anyone who votes for this section is in some way endorsing it. It is wrong to present it as a fait accompli when we are on Committee Stage and every Member of the House understands...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I welcome our guests from San Francisco. I also welcome our new colleague, Senator Bradley, a champion of people of all abilities. I look forward to working with her. I call for a debate with the Minister for Justice on crime and antisocial behaviour in Dublin. Last week, I and some Fianna Fáil colleagues from Dublin released the results of a public sentiment survey which we...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Second and Subsequent Stages (11 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for bringing this legislation to the Seanad. I do not know who needs to know this but it is totally unacceptable that students would be asked to pay for accommodation they are not occupying. Students paying for accommodation they are not availing of is beyond perverse. We encourage students of all ages to invest in themselves, their education and in being...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the commander for his time and this is really helpful for the committee. What I hear from him is that the decriminalisation of drugs in Portugal has saved lives and policing, court and jail time. Drug use has increased but drug overdoses and deaths have decreased. Mr. Leitão da Silva mentioned individuals, drug users and identification and I am not sure if I understood him...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: My question was quite specific about this requirement to have an ID in Portugal and if the ID requires people to self-identify as being a drug user. There is no requirement.

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: That is fine. I thought that and I was concerned I was missing something and picked it up wrong. It was a specific question. The Irish police - we call them the Garda-----

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: We have a very strong culture of alcohol and alcohol abuse. It is largely socially accepted as part of our culture. The way drugs are in other cultures is in many ways how alcohol has been in Ireland for far too long. I hear what Mr. Leitão da Silva is saying about an attitudinal change. It requires an investment in attitude and the police force being required to adopt a humane...