Results 1,461-1,480 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Okay. I will end my questioning there because I cannot be sure I will not duplicate what has already been said.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: My point is exactly the same. People are listening to these sessions of the committee who have lived their lives very vulnerably and very hurt. To trivialise or in any way be disrespectful and use terminology such that they might show up to murder their parents is unacceptable. There are people who gave birth who were minors and if they were members of particular communities, it was later...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Apologise for it.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank our witnesses for coming in yet again. They are very good to do so. On a quick “Yes” or “No” question, is this legislation necessary?

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is our absolute desire that individuals have access to all of their birth information, to their identities and to identifying information. That is everyone's objective but in that there is obviously the person who gave birth and the person who has an entitlement to information. When we look at the other rights under the GDPR, not the subject access right but the right of restriction, can...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: My concern when I read Article 15.4 is that if it is left to the discretion of an individual controller and it is not codified, then the balancing of complex issues becomes more difficult. Article 15.4 will then become a defence to non-disclosure where disclosure is being pursued by an individual entitled to that information. In that context, we need legislation to take it out of the hands...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Would the recommendation be that code of conduct guidelines would be beneficial to ensure absolute clarity in the context of the restrictions and how they would be deployed?

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: That is great. I thank Mr. Sunderland.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: -----and that is necessary to take it out of the hands of officials.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Nobody is saying that. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure people have the right to their identities. The fact is there are other rights involved here and there are other exposures.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I echo Senator Byrne's remarks with regard to the Quinn family and their need for justice. I want to read into the record a small part of an email that I received this morning. It is similar to many emails I get all of the time. I will read just a couple of lines: My son has low vision and is registered with the NCBI. I have fought so hard over the last eight weeks and yesterday got the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I stand in solidarity with the Leader's remarks and support her in them. Last Sunday, Daniel Murray published an article in the Business Post with the headline "Government to defer legislating for international surrogacy services". I appreciate that there is momentum and that hard work is going on behind the scenes. I probably know more than most about just how much is going on and how...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome this Bill and commend the Labour Party, particularly Senator Moynihan who has been passionate on this subject. There is no question but that there has been a tremendous shortage of student accommodation. None of us has been untouched by parents contacting us. As there are Members of the Seanad from all over the country, we get a good flavour of the demands and the needs in the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Funding (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State, as always. I really appreciate his great commitment to us in the Seanad. I really welcomed the announcement in the budget of an additional €6 million for the Minister of State’s Department. I have submitted this matter because we really need to understand how much of the funding is being apportioned to the drugs and alcohol tasks forces under the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Funding (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I acknowledge the Minister of State’s personal commitment from the moment he took on this responsibility. He has shown an extraordinary commitment and openness in the context of listening to the sector. I welcome the breakdown of the funding allocated. I will be delighted to share that information with the chairs and co-ordinators of the drug and alcohol task forces when I go back...

Seanad: Sláintecare Implementation: Statements (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will try.

Seanad: Sláintecare Implementation: Statements (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am particularly delighted for reasons that will become apparent that it is the Minister of State who is here, although I would have also welcomed the Minister. I will skip all the plaudits for Sláintecare. We are all behind it. There is not any lack of political will in respect of it. There never has been. That is not an issue. The issue is not a lack of money because successive...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: What Ms Mac Manus said shows that it is a lifelong need that has to be fulfilled. I will leave this meeting impacted by that. When this Bill was presented and as we have gone through it, we have seen it and hoped to report on it as being the right of adults and children to know who they are and to be able to trace who they are. To be honest, I was very pleased with where we were going with...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: They are not to anybody. It is me taking notes from everybody, to be honest. I apologise as it is not even a question. It is more that I am summing up for myself and for the purposes of our pre-legislative scrutiny report to make sure we capture what is being said here because it appears that there is a missing step.