Results 1,181-1,200 of 1,350 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (15 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State. I really appreciate that. The Minister of State did not respond to my issue about the housing needs assessment. It is not the Minister of State's remit but-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payment: Discussion (15 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the witnesses for the work they and their organisations do every day. I also thank them for attending the meeting today. My background is as a city councillor and I am from Dublin Central where the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is headquartered. Ms Stakem spoke about her work every day and the effect housing poverty has on people's lives. I share her concern and understand that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payment: Discussion (15 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank Ms O'Reilly. If we look in 2020 at a survey from back in 2019, Covid has had a dramatic impact. Our homes and living space have become more important to all of us. There has been a big change in Dublin, in particular. A year ago people could not get landlords to take the HAP or they could only do so with great difficulty. With the arrival of the Covid pandemic, foreign students...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I support Senator Flynn's comments about the deaths of homeless people. I raised the issue last week, having stood outside with Inner City Helping Homeless, who were protesting at the deaths of 56 homeless people this year in Dublin. It is far too many. I welcome the Minister's response to my request, which is that he has tasked the HSE and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, to...

Seanad: Annual Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015: Statements (9 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister for coming to the House and for all the work he and his Department are doing. I thank everybody on the Joint Committee on Climate Action, which is meeting daily. It is great to see such energy and cross-party consensus. Similar to how we all tried to suppress the virus, there is a political movement whereby collective energy is being applied to try to have the Seanad...

Seanad: Annual Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015: Statements (9 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I saw it.

Seanad: Annual Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015: Statements (9 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: The Minister was feeling the love.

Seanad: Combating Sexual, Domestic and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (Resumed) (8 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I will do all I can to keep my contribution within the six minutes allocated. I welcome the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and thank him for coming before the House. This is a really important issue. All the issues we talk about in this House are important, but the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and abuse is so insidious and corrosive. When I stop to think about the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and for the information they provided us in previous briefings. There is quite a lot going on in this Bill at this point. Talk about project creep. It is racing away from us a little, but we have had the benefit in the Seanad of having had the Bill come through, so I appreciate the time and support that the Department officials have given us in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is with the agreement of elected representatives.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: That is how it works in practice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is the pre-draft consultation.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I also ask the House to recognise that today is a day we should all be mindful those with challenges and who battle disabilities daily, and also their families and friends and the communities that support them. It is really important. We all have our challenges, visible and invisible, but today is a day for those with specific disabilities. We should all be mindful of them. A related...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: The more some people tweet, the more the veil slips. I draw the House's attention to the 56 black balloons that hang outside the railings of Leinster House today. They have been placed there by Inner City Helping Homeless, a volunteer organisation dedicated to supporting homeless people in our capital city. The Deputy Leader and I both know that one of the first actions of the new Minister...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (2 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I look forward to the Minister of State's response. It is a legitimate issue that has been raised. As I am not a lawyer, I will defer to the legal eagles. However, I ask that we would not lose the context of what we are legislating for. This is the statutory public consultation process. We have more than 31 city and county councils with more than 940 elected representatives. They are...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I thank the Minister for coming into the House. This is an important issue to my constituents, his constituents and survivors all over the world. When the Minister came into the House in October of this year, he brought forward legislation to prevent the destruction of the records and the database from the commission of investigation. My colleague and I...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I will be brief if I only have 30 seconds. I thank the Minister for his reply. It is welcome that the free phone telephone numbers are there and that supports are being put in place. I am going to move briefly to the final part of the Minister's statement which related to the information and tracing legislation. He flagged that when he came before the committee in October. It is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Assessments of Needs for Children with Disabilities: Engagement with Ombudsman for Children (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I apologise for being late. I thank Dr. Muldoon for his report and the important work he does on behalf of children and their families. Being a parent is probably the scariest thing that most of us can do as it brings enormous responsibilities and none of us knows what visible or invisible challenges our children will have. The report confirms the sad reality for many parents and children,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Assessments of Needs for Children with Disabilities: Engagement with Ombudsman for Children (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: A quiet space.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Defects: Discussion with Construction Defects Alliance (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and submissions. As the Chairman said, as new committee members, we were very keen to address this issue early in our work programme. It has to be every homeowner's worst nightmare to find, having finally bought a home, that the security of the property has been undermined, not knowing how badly it has been undermined or how much at risk it is....