Results 141-160 of 1,301 for speaker:Pauline O'Reilly

Seanad: Provision of Free HRT Treatment: Motion [Private Members] (18 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I move: “That Seanad Éireann: recognises that: - menopause is known to be a challenging period in the lifetime of every woman, no matter when, during that lifetime, it occurs; - it is a turning point for women, not just reproductively, but also can come with a range of biological and psychological symptoms that can lead to vasomotor conditions, cardiometabolic disease,...

Seanad: Provision of Free HRT Treatment: Motion [Private Members] (18 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I will say at the outset how lovely it is to see the Minister of State in the Chamber for this really important day. This is World Menopause Day and it is kind of coincidental that I am bringing forward this motion, which is about free hormone replacement therapy, HRT. However, it is also a really good opportunity for us in this House to speak about the importance of women's lives and the...

Seanad: Provision of Free HRT Treatment: Motion [Private Members] (18 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: The Minister of State has given me huge confidence that we were not far off, when we came to our conclusions that this would cost the State very little. All the things she pointed out indicate this is only a little more than what is already being done, but would be something that would have a deep impact. The Minister of State spoke about the women's health task force. It has been set up...

Seanad: Final Report of the Independent Scoping Exercise into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Mr. Shane O'Farrell: Statements (17 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister. I thank the O'Farrell family for meeting with us last week and I thank Senator Doherty for organising that and for inviting me as a representative of the Green Party. I know the family have also met with my colleague, Tate Donnelly, in Monaghan, and we have sat down and had a meeting so that I understand the full details. As many others have said, I offer our deep...

Seanad: Budget 2024 (Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform): Statements (10 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: The Minister of State is very welcome. It is great to see him here. Overall, this is a very positive budget. It is no surprise that we were all a bit concerned and worried, as we would be, because we meet constituents all the time who are worried about their futures, their families, and about the cost of living. This budget very much aligns with Green Party policies and principles, which...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Textbooks (5 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State. I raise the issue because we are at the start of a school year. I raised the issue last year as well and said I was absolutely delighted that costs for school books in primary school have been taken away from parents. It should be the same across the entire school system. However, my major concern is that an industry developed around school books and the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Textbooks (5 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State. Her response highlighted the issue, which is that a system was put in place without a policy backing up what would happen for these individual schools. An overall system is needed. There is no skin off the nose of an individual school bringing on board a new school book but it is a cost for the State and for the environment. It is the job of the Government...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the witnesses for coming in. The fact that we have such a full membership today and that we have other members waiting shows that people are very frustrated with the system. The first thing I want to bring up is the issue of solar panels. It is the Department’s responsibility to roll out solar panels across all schools. As the witnesses know, the climate action fund has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: With all due respect, the initiative was also announced by the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. She undertook to take that on. Responsibility for the initiative is with Mr. Loftus's Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I am sorry to interrupt Mr. Loftus but I have no idea what he just said. What was the pilot scheme? What is the roll-out? Is it for multidenominational schools? Will the Department take an approach whereby it will look to roll out multidenominational schools in advance of the need arising?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: This has not been terribly successful, so do we have a timeline on new school buildings?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I am conscious of my time. I am sure my colleague, Deputy Costello, will come in on this point as well. I want to raise the issue of the school at Oranmore.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Current and Future Plans of the School Building Unit: Department of Education (3 Oct 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: Is there a timeline on it?

Seanad: Rights-Based Care Economy: Motion (27 Sep 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: The Minister of State is very welcome today. I am delighted to have her in the Chamber, and I wanted to thank the caucus for putting care to the forefront of the activities of our parliamentarians. It is really important and as we have said many times in this Chamber, the Seanad being made up of 40% women, and having women at the table, makes a difference. That is the first thing I wanted...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Impact on Carbon Budgets of Trend Towards Heavier and Larger Vehicles: Discussion (26 Sep 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the Chair and thank all of the witnesses. Putting it simply, it is quite clear from all of the evidence that more people die, more people are injured and our emissions are going in the wrong direction from these heavier vehicles and also from the height and structure of the vehicles themselves. The question is what to do about that because all the evidence is quite clear. The ramp...

Seanad: Care Payments: Motion [Private Members] (12 Jul 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the Minister for attending and the Labour Party Senators for tabling the motion. Ireland is unusual when it comes to the type of care we have when compared with other European countries. We have a high number of family carers, which is unusual. A lot of countries have moved to institutional care, and we are the richer for not having done so. With that, however, comes a huge...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jul 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I raise last night's "RTÉ Investigates" programme. There is a group of people who are vilified, sidelined, silenced and at times ridiculed, namely, those advocating for animal welfare. What the programme showed is the resilience that this group has in pursuing better standards for the animals in our care. I thank Fran McNulty and "RTÉ Investigates" but it is also important to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Forestry Sector (4 Jul 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the Senator once again. I share his frustration and that of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and stakeholders across the country regarding the protracted nature of this state aid approval process. I reassure people that we are making every effort to make sure this is right. We need to get it right. We are coming off the back of decades of legacy issues and...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by H.E. Maura Healey, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (27 Jun 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I welcome Governor Healey. It is a mutually emotional moment any time we have somebody here with us to speak about their connection to our country. As the Governor outlined, it is the same in return. In September next, I will have members of my family, my own mini-diaspora, coming back to Ireland, from Australia, Canada and the US. This will give us an opportunity to visit places I have...