Results 1,261-1,280 of 2,038 for speaker:Máire Devine

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Future of Mental Health Care: Community Health Care Organisations: Discussion (18 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: I commend the HSE on its new community initiatives. We must get community ownership of mental well-being. I refer not to the serious end of what we need in terms of wrap-around mental health services but to community well-being, in particular SafeTALK, Assist and all the other initiatives. We need to promote them to empower communities to look after each other.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: Hear, hear. Following on from Senator Craughwell raising the issue of social media, he is a big guy and is well able to deal with social media. I wish to address the seeming U-turn in the proposed appointment, the first of its kind for Ireland, of a digital safety commissioner to oversee and hold Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and so on to account in respect of our vulnerable...

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (17 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (17 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: I want to take us back to the Ireland of the 1980s. I was quite a young adult then and obviously a young female. It was a dismissive society with rules legislating for the very patriarchal manner in which it was run. Women and girls were controlled by the State and the church. We were intimidated and bullied. The State reigned over half its population. On the surface, it was venerating...

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (17 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (17 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: Not yet.

Seanad: Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (17 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: It was about punishing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Annual Report of Ombudsman for Children 2016: Discussion (16 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: That is very interesting. Snapchat and Instagram are going to be invited to the committee and we will, hopefully, get to put a lot of questions to them. On awareness, I regularly point out that school journals are under-used to provide children with an idea of their rights. One does not want them all marching up and down on strike over everything that might be listed in the journal, but it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Annual Report of Ombudsman for Children 2016: Discussion (16 Jan 2018)

Máire Devine: It is to be hoped that the continuity of care for children would also include their seeing the same person but that is not happening. That was also a major cause of complaint .

Seanad: Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: Land ownership and landlords are an emotive issue for Irish people. It is in our hearts. It is not just the past history of centuries of landlords but it continues today and will affect our lives tomorrow. Michael Davitt was guided by the motto, "Let justice be done tho the heavens fall." I doubt he would be impressed by the propensity of successive Governments to prostrate themselves in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Future of Mental Health Care: Mental Health Services: Discussion (14 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: I thank the witnesses for their presentations which informed me a bit more. Going back to the IT debacle, the national children's hospital is due to open in Rialto. At its core, it will have IT. Another submission from the hospital would be important. That will be the benchmark for the future and will not involve retrofitting. I cannot believe there is not a WhatsApp group, for...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: I move amendment No. 5:In page 14, after line 18, to insert the following: “Report on fuel poverty in Ireland 20. The Minister shall prepare and lay a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas on the impact of cuts to the fuel allowance given, the increase in fuel costs and examine the impact that partial restoration of the fuel allowance would have on fuel poverty and that the...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: I do not think it is rocket science to appreciate that research and reports tend to improve outcomes. I do not think it is a big ask to propose that these things should be done in a proper manner. I am disappointed that this amendment is not being accepted.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: I move amendment No. 6:In page 14, after line 18, to insert the following:“Report on jobseeker’s allowance 20. Within 6 months of the passing of this Act, the Minister will lay a report before the House on the impacts on young people under 26 years of age of the reduced levels of jobseeker's allowance applicable to them and report further on reversing these reduced...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2017: Committee Stage (13 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: We will be supporting this amendment. It is a pity Fianna Fáil Members did not think it worth voting in favour of the review of under-26 jobseeker's allowance and fuel poverty allowance.

Seanad: Special Needs Assistants: Motion (13 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: Céad míle fáilte to the representatives of the IMPACT trade union who are in the Visitors Gallery. The ongoing work and commitment which IMPACT and its members have vested in this sector is second to none. If they had been treated with any respect at all by this Government we would not be here this evening. We have a dysfunctional relationship between the Department of...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (12 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: I welcome the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, to the Chamber. She has been here on several occasions at my request for which I thank her. I would like to extend a welcome to the survivors who are seated in the Visitors' Gallery today and I believe the others are watching online. Last week, a somewhat surprise third interim report was published by the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (12 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: Go raibh maith agat. I welcome the Government's invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Mr. Pablo de Greiff, to guide us on the years, if not centuries, of mistreatment of our very vulnerable citizens. This is a prudent and very important step. I welcome most of what the Minister, Deputy Zappone, said but I...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: The Minister's report on a vacant home tax should be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and I do not see why it would not be. This morning, along with members of the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, I visited a recently established family hub in Crumlin.I cannot help but wonder how many fewer hubs we would need if a vacant home tax was implemented? While the hubs are an...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2017)

Máire Devine: I am disappointed that the recommendation on tax relief for trade union subscriptions has been ruled out of order. The ruling is unfortunate as trade unions are the only bodies which defend workers' rights across the globe. I support the recommendation on gender and equality proofing and recognise that significant progress has been made on this front. I note the equality budgeting campaign...