Results 1,121-1,140 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am Senator Mary Seery Kearney but just "Mary" will do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I, too, am in the same place as Ms de Boer-Buquicchio regarding sheer prohibition. It will not address the best interests of the child. In Ms de Boer-Buquicchio’s reports, she has set out clearly when a sale occurs and when it does not. I think that is a very important distinction for intending parents to understand, because I think that people approaching surrogacy are coming from a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Ms Ward for her patience in waiting. We appreciate that. Her submission is comprehensive, which helpfully sets out a framework for us. I agree with her latter comments. We have had prohibition by stealth and if we fail to act on the recommendations of this committee, presuming that they are in line with what Ms Ward and many others have suggested, we will likely end up with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: My conclusion is that we must legislate for the best interests of the child. The Verona principles seem to incorporate everything we need. I am a bit disturbed by the latter end of the Ms de Boer-Buquicchio's contribution. I would appreciate Ms Ward’s comments on that. Children who have been born abroad generally have a birth certificate from there. We cannot legislate in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I want to say categorically that I have no desire for the surrogate mother’s name, or her existence, or a relationship with her, to be obliterated under any circumstances. However, a child has to produce a birth certificate when going to school. There are many instances in our lives when we have to produce our birth certificates. The birth certificate may be produced in a different...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: It would be remiss of me not to point that in the 2019 report, the second report by the former special rapporteur, she notes that she identified three main responses to her conclusions in the 2018 report. Several states and civil society organisations rejected the premise of sale outright in the context of surrogacy, arguing that at no point is there a transaction for the child. A...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses for being so open and prepared to speak. It is a courageous thing to share one's own story, particularly where we are trying to navigate a way through a legislative quagmire. Hearing from the witnesses about their experiences has been helpful. The purpose of this committee is to discuss international surrogacy. In many instances, the surrogate mother does not live...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Preventing the Sale, Exploitation and Trafficking of Children: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank our guests.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will speak to amendments Nos. 58 and 59. These relate to the proposal to delete "may" in section 12, to the extent it is practicable to do so, and replace it with "shall". I agree with what Senator Boyhan has said and I thought he would say what I am going to say but I realise that perhaps we disagree. We need to be careful that the language in the statute does not promise material that...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I disagree with the amendments for the following reasons. In the apology the Minister gave to those affected, in this House, I did speak about the fact that illegality has an implication of criminality and that there needs to be a mechanism for assessment of that. On that basis, and following other discussions I have had around this, when the file is reviewed by the specialist entities that...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We need to be careful not to suggest that empathy is the preserve of any one individual. The fact is that the Minister stood up and apologised on behalf of the State and while I might have given out to him about bits of that apology, the fact of it should not be lessened. The fact is that he acknowledged the illegality of what happened to individuals and that is now on the record of this...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I believe Senator Higgins is next.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will let Senator Higgins speak in my slot.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: While the suggested amendments are certainly an extensive list of information to be provided, I do not believe it is necessary. It is dangerous to be prescriptive. Once we start getting into prescriptive categories to this extent, we run the risk of not including information that needs to be disclosed. The reason we need specific legislation with regard to a GDPR right is that GDPR is the...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: -----it should also include those the Senator is specifically addressing. There is no reason that a good barrister or arguer would not advocate for that to include those and the intention that we are including them, and rightly so. That information absolutely should be disclosed.

Seanad: Childcare Provision: Statements (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the Minister to the House and I thank him for taking these statements on childcare. We have long since moved on from the concept of childcare as childminding. We see it now as the vital, wrap-around care of children, entailing the provision of and support for their early development. Childcare is pivotal to the functioning of our society. That was never driven home more at any...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: That is great. I thank the Minister and his officials for attending. Of the people present today, I have no doubt but that the Minister has done extraordinary work. Behind him are the people who do not get to appear at committees. They also do extraordinary work. We have had and are continuing to have an unprecedented experience. I will begin by considering how we ensure that Irish...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I agree with that.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Lest there be any confusion of any sort, none of the organisations I deal with has moved children under any circumstances, although they do work with families. Organisations such as AsIAm have been providing fantastic resources with respect to autism services. How do you communicate a war to children who have profound disabilities, who are living with their families and who have to go to a...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Ukrainian Crisis: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses. Their work is extraordinary. Throughout this crisis we have begun to see at home how experienced the Red Cross is and that the past experiences of the Red Cross and the Irish Red Cross have crystallised for the Irish people. We get to see it first-hand because instead of doing work abroad, we have seen all the Red Cross is doing in Ireland. People are very proud of...