Results 1,901-1,920 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Ábhair Ghnó an tSeanaid – Matters on the Business of the Seanad (22 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: We heard calls over the weekend for better working terms and conditions for Deliveroo riders. I have been campaigning and working on this for a number of months. No one expects a Deliveroo rider to take risks with his or her life or personal safety. However, because areas are being red-zoned by riders, communities and businesses in them are being left without delivery services. We have...

Seanad: Councillors' Pay: Motion (22 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: The next speaker is Senator Hoey and she is sharing time with Senator Wall.

Seanad: Councillors' Pay: Motion (22 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: That concludes the contributions of Senators. It is over to the Minister of State. We can sum up the debate in saying that pay and powers need to be addressed. I thank him most sincerely for all the work he has done since he came into office. Naturally, I would have liked to have tacked maternity leave on to the debate, but it has been withdrawn lest it be construed as a delay in what is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (19 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for coming before the House so quickly again. I very much appreciate that she was only here last week listening to us speak about exactly the same topics. As she will be aware, a group of parents have mounted a valiant campaign in Dublin 12 to see the opening of a school locally for the provision of autism-specific classes and supports. Very early in the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (19 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I very much appreciate the Minister of State's response. From the moment she took office, nobody could doubt the priority she placed on this issue or her passion. I recall that within a couple of weeks she had facilitated a number of meetings for me. I really appreciate it. I acknowledge the considerable work done, particularly by Ms Margaret Lowndes of the D12 autism-specific school...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth (16 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister for being here. I find it hard to fathom how the commission of investigation arrived at some of the statements and findings of fact that it did, as well as the language it used. Given the commission members' qualifications, experience and knowledge, I cannot comprehend how they made some of their statements at all and in some cases without qualifying or contextualising...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I would like to explore the wider context and the impact within it. I refer to the ESRI conclusions that, given current supply shortages, it is likely that benefits will be outweighed by inflationary pressures. I read with interest the report on mortgage credit access and State intervention. It concludes by stating that: [P]ublic policy mechanisms to subsidise rents, such as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I refer to the point made by Deputy Higgins. I suggest that the opening statement from the ESRI needs to be updated because it confined itself to two factors rather than the wider context, all of which needs to be acknowledged. There may be a very short-term inflationary element, but that can be augmented by all of the other wider context interplay. It is necessary, given today's media...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I call for the Minister for Education to come to the House and facilitate a debate on the arrangements being put in place for the applied leaving certificate. We have had a lot of talk about leaving certificate students, and rightly so. They deserve certainty in what is already a very nerve wracking year within the context of Covid. I have been involved in the introduction and...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (15 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I acknowledge the considerable work done by the Independent Senators, including Senator McDowell, and Deputy Jim O'Callaghan in rectifying what is a patently unjust situation arising out of the court's interpretation. I thank the Minister for not standing on ceremony. She has a sense of urgency about rectifying this situation for families who have experienced great hurt as a consequence of...

Seanad: Mental Health and Covid-19: Statements (12 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I really appreciate the energy the Minister of State brings to her role and her office is fantastic to deal with. I thank her very much. There are many schemes and they are all to be truly welcomed throughout this. If there is any silver lining to this Covid situation, it is that mental health is being spoken about and there is a destigmatising of it. We see the supports across all...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Primary Care Centres (8 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for being here to take this Commencement Matter. The Dáil constituency of Dublin South Central is my home constituency. It has a population of nearly 136,000 people, according to the most recent census. When those constituents were asked their views regarding their state of health, fewer than the national average reported being in good...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Primary Care Centres (8 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: My thanks to the Minister of State for the accuracy of the numbers. I really appreciate the investigation that went into that. From next Monday we are going to see a major uplift throughout the country. People, including the likes of my father, would be queueing up already if they could with their deckchairs. My father is hoping for and looking forward to his vaccination. As we see...

Seanad: Special Education Provision: Statements (8 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for being here today and for the considerable work she has done in bringing us to this stage of phased reopening. On Thursday, children with special educational needs will return to school on a shared basis. They will be afforded the opportunity to experience school life and in the current environment we can iron out the emerging issues before we go into the...

Seanad: Free Provision of Period Products Bill 2021: Second Stage (8 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Any initiative that alleviates period poverty is to be applauded. Menstruation is an absolute necessity to the very existence of our species and yet we hesitate in speaking about it. Ridiculously, an advertisement that spoke directly and usefully about how to use a tampon was complained about and discontinued - too shocking and too blunt for our moral sensitivities. It speaks of a huge...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of Electoral Reform Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses for their contributions. My concern comes from a focus on digital identity, the manipulation of digital presence and what happens to that in the context of democracy as a much wider subject. I am quite influenced by the writings of people such as Dr. Shoshana Zuboff on the age of surveillance capitalism and looking at what is happening on social media and with those...

Seanad: Response to Covid-19 (Housing, Local Government and Heritage): Statements (1 Feb 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister for being here today and taking the time with us. I echo the thanks expressed by my fellow Senators today for all of the front-line workers, particularly in this area. Last Friday, Mr. Brendan Kenny made a presentation to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. He showed that figures for homelessness are, hearteningly, going in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homelessness: Discussion (29 Jan 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank our guests for their contributions and statements, and most of all for the extraordinary work they carry out all of the time. It is really quite remarkable. People are cared for in the State due to the extraordinary work that is ongoing. Early this morning the Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network ran a forum on sexual abuse and trauma. One of the contributors there spoke...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homelessness: Discussion (29 Jan 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Mr. Kenny and perhaps Dr. Burns are probably best placed to answer them, and also Ms Leahy. Mr. Kenny is probably best placed to answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homelessness: Discussion (29 Jan 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Do we give these people packs? If somebody is being sent back home, do we pay his or her train fare?