Results 1,341-1,360 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Housing Policy: Motion (2 Mar 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I very much welcome the motion and congratulate the Civil Engagement Group for tabling it and giving us the opportunity to speak about the issue. I welcome our guests to the Chamber. I am very struck by the entirety of both Senator Ruane and Senator Flynn's contributions but especially by the line in Senator Flynn's contribution that referred to a message that people are failing. There is...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I would like to speak about Ukraine. I was really struck by the press release from the Auschwitz memorial at the weekend. It gave a great summary of what our disposition should be. It stated: This act of barbarity will be judged by history, and its perpetrators, it is to be hoped, also by the International Court of Justice. As we stand at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, it is...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is regrettable that Senator Ardagh could not find within her the graciousness to acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, because it is she who negotiated with the patron body for the opening of the school yesterday. No doubt the Minister, Deputy Foley, played her part, but the bulk of the work was carried out by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and not to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: In the past 48 hours there have been a number of muggings and an armed robbery within Dublin South-Central and its perimeters. There was one this morning. Fortunately, the cash box that was taken was empty and, more importantly, nobody was harmed. I am aware of the increasing levels of gardaí and the money that is being put into the justice area and observance, but at the same time...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Education with the UNCRPD (Resumed): Discussion (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank all our guests. In particular, I welcome Mr. Gilvarry, whom I had the great privilege of meeting last year at the graduation event for representatives at the Red Cow Inn. He was a very fine representative and I came away with a long list of tasks to do as an Oireachtas Member as a consequence of the great representation and advocacy I received that night. I note from his submission...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Education with the UNCRPD (Resumed): Discussion (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I had the privilege on that evening last year of meeting members of Mr. Gilvarry's family too, and family is very important. Everyone lives within a family who want to see and share in his or her success, and I know that Mr. Gilvarry's family want to share in his. My opening questions are for the NCSE. If I were to try to summarise what I have heard and read during this meeting, it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Education with the UNCRPD (Resumed): Discussion (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I appreciate the extent of Ms Prendeville's answer. I disagree that the NCSE cannot ask because of data protection. It is essential that the NCSE asks so that there can be proper planning for children. I welcome that Our Lady of Hope School was opened by the two Ministers. I acknowledge the ongoing incredible work by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan. I also acknowledge her drive....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Deputy Higgins has indicated that I can go first. I thank the witnesses for their opening statements, which I very much appreciate. I want to pose questions on two very distinct and separate issues I encounter. The first is that since the 1990s, there are two fantastic groups in the Chapelizod area, namely, the Chapelizod Tidy Towns group and the Chapelizod Heritage Society. The person...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: That may be my misunderstanding, but in the documentation and books on it that the group has written, it is seeking for the monument to be at the very least preserved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: My question is what this proposed legislation does for that. In terms of the monument not being cared for, there is a certain maintenance of it and a rather unsympathetic block of concrete underneath it that is not particularly sympathetic to the structure. My question is more about what this proposed Bill does. If we have anomalies in the context of different items of legislation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: That is great. I thank Ms Collier.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (17 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Yes, or to whoever wishes to comment.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will begin by addressing the remarks regarding the Leader and her interview this morning. I utterly reject the suggestion that any veiled threat was made and any suggestion that the Leader was doing anything of that kind. The fact is that the NWCI is a national body to represent the views, and advance the cause, of women throughout our country. It is not a partisan body or political...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Childcare Services (15 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement matter and the Cathaoirleach for choosing it. In the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, we stated we would support the establishment of a joint labour committee, JLC, in the childcare sector and the drawing up of an employment regulation order, ERO, which would determine minimum rates of pay for childcare workers, as well...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Childcare Services (15 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I appreciate that we are still in February and there is still much time. My request is that the Minister of State is poised and ready to respond as soon as he receives that report, so that it can be implemented urgently. Many contracts in this area run on a fixed-term basis. It would be lovely to issue long-term contracts from September this year and for them to be at the new rates, which...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Today is a happy day. Two children were born in Kyiv. Their Irish parents travelled there in recent days for the birth of their much-longed for babies. Other babies will be born later this week. They have been born into a context where our Government has advised people not to travel due to the impending possibilities that could occur in Kyiv. Often in this House we get up and give out...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I have held out great hope for this legislation. I am with Senator McGreehan all the way in that I have viewed it as being quite empowering legislation. I can see how, in an institutional setting, it very much is empowering when it is worked with a lot of staff. Perhaps it is designed with that in mind. I am very disappointed to hear the consultation implications. I find it horrifying....

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I can see the strengths in the legislation in the context of situations such as that.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Very much so. I hear that loud and clear. Mr. Lowndes made a very good point regarding people being in bad humour. There are implications for daily life and it needs to have a clear structure of empowerment and safety. I very much hear that. Before I ask Mr. Dunne a specific question, is there anything he wishes to contribute?

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Should there be some sort of an appeal or review mechanism? How would Mr. Dunne manage that situation? How does he think it should be managed in a way that is in the spirit of where the legislation wants to get to? It is a valid point.