Results 1,001-1,020 of 1,451 for speaker:Eileen Flynn

Seanad: Social Welfare (Surviving Cohabitant’s Pension) Bill 2021: Second Stage (26 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: No, it is absolutely fine. I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: White Papers (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: I thank the Minister for coming here himself. I hope to receive an update about the White Paper on the end of direct provision. I understand there are additional pressures on the system this year. I am aware the Department stated this week that it is accommodating more than 58,000 people who arrived in Ireland this year, including 42,000 Ukrainians and 16,000 people seeking international...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: White Papers (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: I thank the Minister for his honesty. We are looking for clarity and, most important, people living in direct provision are looking for clarity. We are discussing HIQA and integration, which are critical for people living in direct provision, but for people who have been living in direct provision centres for three to four years, or even ten years in the odd case, having a home after...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: Last week we had the HSE and the Department before the committee and it was a daunting session. There was a sense of people giving pats on the back. I mean no disrespect about all the great work that is being done but then listening to parents and the experience on the ground it is different. I would encourage the Department to look over what people have said in the committee today. Last...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: There are similar cases in Donegal where children have to travel the whole way around the county to get to school, and they can be travelling for up to two hours with all the stopping and so on. That is an issue we will have to look at. I thank our guests for their responses. I appreciate they are under great pressure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: Sharing the Vision is just this nightmare in my head at the minute. Anyway, moving on. It is always important for people who have experience, even as a politician or whatever, to draw on that experience and say that they know what they are speaking about. When I was just 11, I was in a very bad accident. I lost my mother a few days before that accident. There were no supports around...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Enforcement of Court Orders relating to Child Maintenance, Access and Custody: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: Not at the moment, thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Enforcement of Court Orders relating to Child Maintenance, Access and Custody: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: When talking about children's access to parents, the delegates put the child at the heart of the conversation, and rightly so, but my question is about married people from mixed communities. I have been speaking to a woman whose partner has reported her three times to Tusla. She is from the Traveller community. She feels absolutely powerless because her husband is a member of the settled...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Enforcement of Court Orders relating to Child Maintenance, Access and Custody: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: To be clear, I am aware of some of the recommendations to date but I was seeking an opportunity to raise the matter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Enforcement of Court Orders relating to Child Maintenance, Access and Custody: Discussion (25 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: We need more judges who understand poor people and those from ethnic minority groups, and some of the real issues on the ground for ordinary people. That is not to mean any disrespect but it would be a great starting point for judges to be educated on what is going on in communities and with children.

Seanad: Poverty and Social Exclusion: Motion (19 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: As the other Senators were speaking, I was thinking about my own life experience in poverty. My mother was 22 years dead last Wednesday due to pneumonia and bad living conditions. I remember growing up on a halting site in a three bedroom house where five of us used to sleep in the one room and where my mother would light a candle. I remember one time a producer asking me in RTÉ was I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: Over the past few weeks, I have called for the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to come to the House to debate ending direct provision. I again thank the Leader for writing in and for supporting it. Unfortunately, I will need to submit a Commencement matter for next two or three weeks until I can get him in the House. It has come to my attention and to the attention of many other Senators that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy and Health: Health Service Executive (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: It is critical that children with autism have supports in school. In rural locations like Ardara in County Donegal, there is little or no support for autistic children. Parents have resorted to setting up groups in these areas so that all special needs children can meet once a week. It is very tough to secure supports in rural communities. The people seated around this table are not to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy and Health: Health Service Executive (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: I am sorry for interrupting, while I do not mean to be in any way disrespectful, having been on the ground and spoken to parents, it is not evident that this model is working. Again, I do not mean to sound in any way disrespectful to Professor MacLachlan as a professional. I am just pointing out that, unfortunately, people with autism and their families in today's Ireland are still...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy and Health: Health Service Executive (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: Perhaps I am a bit backward when it comes to this but I do not see this model working on the ground.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy and Health: Health Service Executive (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: Is this the same model where people have had to go to the High Court?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy and Health: Health Service Executive (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: I was just asking the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism: Autism Policy and Health: Health Service Executive (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: We have a two-tier system. I have spoken a great deal about this lately. Regarding access and getting equal access, how can this be called a good model when parents have to go to the Four Courts to fight for their children? I end my remarks on that point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: It is very nice to have people before the committee with solutions. I just came from the Joint Committee on Autism where we discussed mental health and other services for people who are autistic. It is important people come to the committee with some solutions. I apologise that I did not get to hear everyone's input but I read the submissions. I have done some work on the ground with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Mental Health Supports in Schools and Tertiary Education: Discussion (18 Oct 2022)

Eileen Flynn: We need the access, the services and the professionals because we cannot expect our teachers to be counsellors and bereavement counsellors. We cannot expect too much of our teachers. We need to work hand in hand with and listen to the teachers as that is important. However, our young people from all walks of life are crying out for mental health supports. It is an investment. How does...