Results 101-120 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Nithe i dTosach Suíonna - Commencement Matters: Legal Aid (9 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The criminal legal Bar has a greater proportion of women working in it than any other area of law. It is the most poorly paid of the legal sectors. There is a fundamental injustice in that and that women are left to the side to tolerate and take on whatever is going. The criminal Bar is fundamental to our Constitution. It is the place where heinous crimes and the standards of society and...

Seanad: Nithe i dTosach Suíonna - Commencement Matters: Legal Aid (9 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The fact needs to be emphasised that there is a public perception that barristers are extremely well paid. A very small minority are extremely well paid; the vast majority are not. They struggle in the same way and, in fact, are in a life, no more than ourselves in politics but even to a greater extent, of precariousness. Barristers can work extremely hard unpaid hours on a case but by the...

Seanad: Nithe i dTosach Suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Advocacy Service (9 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Let the Minister of State continue.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I want to be associated with the sympathies for our former colleague, John O'Mahony. I concur with the statement by Senator Kyne regarding childcare. We need statements on the order of this House. The fact is childcare facilities are pulling out of the core funding scheme, regardless of the Department's assertion that it is so effective. This time last year and the year before, I sought...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The debate will follow the normal pattern with ten minutes for the Minister, ten minutes each for the groups spokespersons and five minutes for all other Senators. The Minister will then be called to reply not later than 2.05 p.m and will be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate. The Minister is welcome.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am loath to interrupt the Minister but I need to greet our visitors. I apologise to the Minister, but he will get whatever time he needs. I welcome the members of the Ballyduff Lower bridge club, who are guests of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. We also have two private guests who are here as guests of Deputy McDonald. I thank the Minister. He has the floor.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I know from tabling Commencement Matters on this issue that the Minister has been working on the legislation for a very long time. Well done to him on delivering it.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the Enniscorthy active retirement group, whose members are here as guests of the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne.

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Before we move on to the next speaker, I welcome the guests of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and Deputy Martin Browne to the Seanad. As naloxone has been mentioned, I note that the members of both the Joint Committee on Drugs Use and the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will all undertake training here in the coming weeks on the administration of...

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Seanad: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (3 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Omudsman for Children Annual Report 2023: Ombudsman for Children (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: First, I sincerely thank the ombudsman's office for being an extraordinary voice for children all of the time. I had cause in recent weeks to defend its honour in the context of the AHR Bill, but I noted that it is well able to speak up for itself. There needs to be a context. Of course, the ombudsman's office sees the worst of everything. There are many children who live very happy lives...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Omudsman for Children Annual Report 2023: Ombudsman for Children (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: If the ombudsman's office has a complaint and it is dealing with it through a CHO or something like that, is it so siloed? If we are looking at systemic learning, is it reliant on a venue like this or the publication of a report? How does the ombudsman's office influence that?

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Omudsman for Children Annual Report 2023: Ombudsman for Children (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Very good.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The Minister of State is very welcome, as always. I am raising this Commencement matter on behalf of Fatima Groups United, which operates in the F2 Centre in Dublin 8. It has the most magnificent facility as part of the whole redevelopment of Fatima. In it, every room is chock-a-block with services to the community. It really lives up to what it does. The group ran a pilot programme for...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: The Minister of State made a good point. I do a legal support clinic at the F2 Centre every fortnight and I am always amazed by the sheer use of it by the local community and the creativity of the support. People identify needs in the local community and then they do their best to professionally meet those needs. A professional was recruited there previously and paid a salary to provide...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: Good.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: How dare the Acting Chair cast aspersions on us what we have to say?

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: We are wasting time talking about rubbish instead of getting on with what we should be doing.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 Jul 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: This is important legislation to children who need care and parents who want to access the workplace and other places and need their children cared for. I welcome this legislation. It is important we extend our funding model for childcare to the extent that we ensure childminding is recognised for the professional service it is. Childminding has come an awfully long way in the past 30...