Results 1,141-1,160 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

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

Mary Seery Kearney: That sounds excellent. I was involved in teaching therapy skills to community leaders in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide there. The small skills of active listening and protection, in terms of self-care, for those who are working on the front line and meeting people are very important. That is good to hear.

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

Mary Seery Kearney: These clearly are already well under way, including the idea of professional entities and bodies coming together and supporting it, such as the auctioneers we spoke of earlier. That is fantastic. They are great people to go and visit houses. They would size them up perfectly and use their skill set in a really beneficial and helpful way. The witnesses have really answered many of the...

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

Mary Seery Kearney: I reiterate the Minister's advice, which is to connect with the authorities first before families come in, to ensure that adequate supports are there.

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

Mary Seery Kearney: As Mr. O'Dwyer has just alluded to, there are some situations in shared accommodation that do not work out. That is not unique to this situation and has happened before, as Mr. O'Dwyer shared in a Fine Gael forum when we talked about it previously. That is okay. We are human and sometimes it just does not work out. An important message to communicate to people is that it is okay to try it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2022: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: My addition on that has to do with enforcement. I fully support these measures, the extension of them and their possibly being made permanent. It has led to a resurgence of the hospitality industry and to a very positive public space and amenity. However, at the same time during Covid we have seen a proliferation of coffee bars popping up in former car showrooms, car parks and areas that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Rights of Children: Discussion (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank our guests for the opening statements. Ms Nic Dhomhnaill referred to the longitudinal studies and stated that disclosure may not happen where there is a lack of education or understanding of why it should, or where there is a fear of othering the child, yet best-practice experience in psychology suggests and strongly supports the idea that full disclosure from the very beginning is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Rights of Children: Discussion (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: In that regard, the reason for surrogacy, certainly for heterosexual couples, is generally because the woman cannot carry a child to full term. In a second relationship, the father may go on to have other children. In that regard, I have seen the role and access of the mother diminishing as siblings are born and that where there is a very strong bond and attachment between the mother and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Rights of Children: Discussion (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We cannot emphasise enough that children are independent rights holders all by themselves. These rights are not granted by their parents, or obtained by their parents and dispensed to them, but in fact something they hold in their own persons from before they are born all the way through. That is important and, consequently, it is particularly important their identity is preserved. I read...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Rights of Children: Discussion (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I want to follow up on one point. At this time intending parents do not have a right to the equivalent of maternity leave. While some employers are good on that point, there is no right for same in domestic legislation, so this is something we need to address. In an international context there is also a need to place that responsibility on the state of the intending parents, but from a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Rights of Children: Discussion (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I was going to come back in on the retrospective question but the Vice Chairman asked eloquently about that issue and received eloquent answers. The spectre of commercial surrogacy arises. I know what I mean when I use that term. I know where I draw the line between commercial and compensated surrogacy. Domestic surrogacy is a compensated surrogacy because there is provision for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Rights of Children: Discussion (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Rights of Children: Discussion (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We come back to the fact that by focusing on the best interests of the child, we recognise that there are cases such as the one we heard about from Dr. Gamble, where even in altruistic situations - it is referenced in the submission - there can be coercion and exploitation, such as, for example, an obligation on a sibling to carry a child. We need to be alive to that possibility. Parents...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Dr. O'Mahony. I am glad he has an opportunity to respond to the issues paper. It is only fair given that it comments on his comprehensive report. It is important to begin by stating Dr. O'Mahony office is on a statutory basis. He has a statutory responsibility to report to the Government on legislative effects that impact child protection. He was commissioned to engage on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: It would have been okay for Professor O'Mahony to continue given the meeting is emptying out. In the first round of questions I asked Professor O'Mahony about a sequence of events because, in my mind, they anticipate some of the complex issues that arise. My fear from his response to the issues paper and from his opening statement is that by having the application via a virtual hearing,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: To be clear, I do not see these as mutually exclusive.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: We could have a green light and a presumption that an emergency travel certificate for the baby would be issued and an interim parentage order to cover any issues that would arise once the child leaves the jurisdiction in which he or she is born. In that jurisdiction, if the parents are on the birth certificate, those parents have all the rights that flow from it. The minute they step on a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: That brings the prospect, I suppose, of parents having to stay in that jurisdiction in that time as a deterrent from entering into less than satisfactory arrangements.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Analysis of the Issues Paper (12 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: There is one issue I wish to raise. There is a misunderstanding in some of the questioning that has been going on that we need to talk about in regard to the birth certificate. Where a child is born in a country, their birth is registered in that country and they receive a birth certificate which is a legal document. When the person applies for a passport, and when all of the legal issues...