Results 1,021-1,040 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Education and the UNCRPD: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Is that where the operational thinking happens?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Education and the UNCRPD: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I wish to raise one thing. When we come to looking at the old Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, levels – I apologise as the old name for it is still in my head – and what is a level 5, 6 and 7, that involves a certain element of measurement of contact hours. When it comes to the part-time, we need to have verifiable contact hours, not merely that we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Education and the UNCRPD: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is and it is fantastic, albeit slow.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I echo everything that has been said about secretarial assistants and wish everybody a good summer. I am very grateful for the words expressed by Senator Ruane. Likewise, it has been an honour to serve alongside her on the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy and the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. In honour of her words, I will be absolutely...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I regret that we are going into recess because I am terrified these situations will continue without our voices in here and people being able to daily apply pressure. By God, I promise that on our return in September, I will talk about this issue on a daily basis because I am tired of sitting in kitchens with broken women who are doing everything they can for their children. It enough that...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I want a task force headed up by the Department of Health.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am sorry but this is too important. We cannot trust the HSE. Its representatives have come before committee after committee. We are dealing with recruitment but that is no use to this child today or the many other children who are affected.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is time to deal with the issue. This House needs to start impassioning a task force to get to the bottom of this as a matter of urgency.

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I understand the sentiment of the amendment but I cannot support it. To be fair, the Minister of State has more than adequately articulated prior to now - it was one of her first announcements in the Department - that there will be wrap-around supports in schools and that we will have a child-centred focus with all the attending multidisciplinary supports around that. It is a matter of...

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: From my reading of them, the purpose of the provision in the 1998 Act and this amending provision is to set out a chain of responsibility and decision-making obligations. By stitching in the provision that the patron shall co-operate, it puts an obligation on the patron to ensure the school is complying. This will ensure there is nowhere in the chain of decision-making in which there can be...

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is there because some schools are not meeting their obligations.

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: The distinction is that the obligation is there and the "shall" is there all the way through, from day one, once this becomes law. The difference is that, prior to the section 37A process, there is discretion at school and patron level as to how it fulfils that obligation. It decides how it will meet the need for the places. Once the section 37A process is triggered, the school will be...

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I concur with the sentiments expressed by Senator Higgins. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. I consider that much of this is more within the province of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. I raised this with the HSE when HSE representatives were before the Joint Committee on Disability Matters when we had a joint sitting with the Joint Committee on Children,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: On "Morning Ireland" this morning, we heard of the release of the report from CARI, which is voluntary provider of counselling and therapy services to families and children affected by child sexual abuse. In that context, CARI spoke about the fact there are huge waiting lists for therapy arising out of child sexual abuse during the Covid period in particular. An awful lot of work has been...

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I wish to share time with Senator Carrigy.

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward this valuable Bill. I watched the full debate on the Stages of the Bill in the Dáil. I point out all of the Topical Issue matters, all of the parliamentary questions, all of the oral parliamentary questions and all of the Commencement matters the Minister of State does on top of all of the other work she does all of the time to advance...

Seanad: Education (Provision in Respect of Children with Special Educational Needs) Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Next Wednesday.

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I was young on that fateful day in 1981 and I remember it. It is beyond belief that we are here all these decades later and that we are only now reaching the truth of what occurred. Hopefully we will find it in a while. The devastation for the families and the lack of a sense of justice for their loved ones must be truly awful. I welcome this legislation and the work of the Minister,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Jul 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the launch of the report of the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy. Equality for all of our children, regardless of the manner of their birth, is something I have championed and I am very grateful for the extremely hard work of the committee, with cross-party support, that achieved an outcome that relies on two strands. First, for all future surrogacies, parents intending...