Results 1,641-1,660 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I very much support the Bill and everything it contains. It is time Ireland was no longer a laggard and that we become leaders in climate action, in the decisions we make at macro and micro levels. The strategy in the Bill brings together all the key players in the country and obliges them to take action, placing obligations on them with regard to their plans and targets, particularly the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Bill 2021: Second Stage (25 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is testament to the Minister's work rate that I have probably seen him more in this House than I have some Members. I thank him yet again for another innovation and provision of support and protections for tenants. I welcome the extension of the protections for tenants in respect of Covid-19 hardships. It is to be supported. To be fair, low-income families have been disproportionately...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Younger People in Nursing Homes: Discussion (24 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Mr. Tyndall for a fantastic report and for reflecting those voices so passionately and articulately. One thing that we missed from his opening statement not being read out which needs to be raised is the conclusion. He reflects the words of Charles, who felt like he is on a "scrapheap"; Francis, who feels forgotten about; Oliver, who contemplates suicide; and Liam, who describes his...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Mortality in Single Homeless Population 2020: Engagement with HSE (24 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Dr. O’Carroll for the report and for all of the work he has been doing throughout this, especially most recently. At the end of his presentation, he talked about a learning system. I would be keen to have him elaborate on that, looking at reflective analysis and decision-making. In particular, if we are putting in place a learning system, I would ask how quickly decisions...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Mortality in Single Homeless Population 2020: Engagement with HSE (24 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: If I can cut in, what are the impediments to learning being put in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Mortality in Single Homeless Population 2020: Engagement with HSE (24 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank Dr. O'Carroll for his response.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Experiences during COVID-19 Restrictions and Lockdowns: Engagement (22 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am in Leinster House. I thank the witnesses for their submissions and presentations. I was struck by their content, the description of loss and the personal experiences we heard about. Coming back to LilyRose, her statement that she is not a vector is a powerful one. With the evolving information, the news and so on, everything has changed. March of last year feels like a very long...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Experiences during COVID-19 Restrictions and Lockdowns: Engagement (22 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am hearing two things. First, we all need to stand still and remember those we have lost and perhaps we should do that together in some way because we were not able to have funerals as we may have expected. Second, we need to make sure that our learnings from this and its commemoration happens in schools. My other question is about rites of passage. This particularly applies to Olga....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Experiences during COVID-19 Restrictions and Lockdowns: Engagement (22 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Has The Ark considered the losses, restoration and commemoration of these things?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Experiences during COVID-19 Restrictions and Lockdowns: Engagement (22 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I was particularly struck by Olga's description. She said she has reached the age she is now before realising that life could change overnight and the world we live in can become very different. I wonder about the impact of experiencing that when a person is quite young, and how we restore and rebuild a confidence in being able to future plan when a person has had that big an experience....

Seanad: Aviation Sector: Statements (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for being here. While I missed some of the debate due to meeting commitments, I echo the calls for the increased use of antigen tests. I understand the caution and the nerves. When I first saw them advertised in a supermarket I was concerned that their cavalier use could facilitate more socialising and more people being out and about.If we get instructions and...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: The wording "as soon as is reasonably practicable" has to do with the fact that this provision is about putting the regulations in place. Thus far, the Minister has always delivered anything he has committed to within a timeline. The impetus in the programme for Government and so on is to put this legislation in place as quickly as possible. While I understand and agree with the urgency, I...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: My points related to the GDPR aspect of it. The collection of data such as these would be very well done by a body such as IBEC or the Department on a collective where there is pseudonymisation and where people cannot be identified. The proportion of part-time employees in many employments is considerably lower than the proportion of full-time employees, so there is a possibility of...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: In the principal Act the definition of remuneration covers any kind of remuneration, whether in cash or in kind, that an employee receives directly or indirectly from the employer in respect of that employment. It is a real catch-all. Having argued the point in the context of what basic pay and conditions means and whether it is the same as remuneration, there are times when the two are...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I will be brief. In an ideal world, this would apply everywhere in every company and would be administered appropriately in every company. I am mindful, however, of the advice that came through the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, which states: Given the experience that has been identified in the UK and other jurisdictions regarding the administrative burden that gender pay gap...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: The recourse to the Circuit and the High Court in and of itself is very powerful from the point of view that it is public. While larger companies may be able to buy their way out through paying fines and penalties, what is of greater value is the need to avoid potential reputational damage by not ending up in the Circuit or High Court. The very welcome decision by the Supreme Court in the...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: The point made by Senator Higgins is valid, to be fair. There is an idea that whoever is to tender for public contracts must show compliance but such compliance should be demonstrated across a number of areas and not just this. It is something that could be put into regulations without it being mandated here. In public procurement rules there is a requirement to comply with all sorts of...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I wish to refer to the very fact that access to the likes of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court can be had, and there is no threshold of payment or threats of fees or costs afterwards in the event of an unsuccessful claim to the WRC. The very fact that we have that avenue of redress and an ability to lodge a complaint will have the effect of throwing up where we have...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: The announcement is great because for years I advocated for a joint labour committee for childcare. Well done on all of that all around and hearts up.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: The Minister stole mine last week.