Results 1,001-1,020 of 1,073 for speaker:Emer Currie

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...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Dec 2020)

Emer Currie: I wish everybody a happy Christmas. I want to come back to the public health situation in the North, which I raised on Wednesday. I want to express my gratitude to the national ambulance service crews who will travel to Lurgan, Belfast and Craigavon hospitals this weekend to support the front line. I repeat that whatever help is needed we should give it. The Executive yesterday took on...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Dec 2020)

Emer Currie: I want to state how concerned I am about the Covid numbers, hospital capacity in the North and the ability of its health system to cope. This is not new. Covid numbers, in the main, are higher in the North and have been more worrying during the past six months. During the second wave the virus was running at four times that in the South. Two weeks ago, according to the Northern Ireland...

Seanad: Access to Contraception: Motion (15 Dec 2020)

Emer Currie: I lend my support to the motion and I commend my Green Party Seanad colleagues for bringing it forward. The programme for Government commitment is to expand access to free contraception to those aged between 17 and 25 as a starting point. This is €20 million that will be very well spent. I was at university in Queens in Belfast 20 years ago. We were entitled to GP access and...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Dec 2020)

Emer Currie: I welcome the €25 billion social welfare budget. It is of a size and scale that is only right for the year it is. The Department of Social Protection responded accordingly from a supports and an efforts point of view and I want to thank the Minister, her predecessor, the former Minister, Senator Doherty, and the Department. It is the year of Covid-19 and of Brexit and the priority...