Results 1,941-1,960 of 2,145 for speaker:Emer Currie

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Dec 2021)

Emer Currie: I am out of breath from running down the stairs. I welcome the extension of the temporary Covid-19 waiver for Republic of Ireland cross-border workers in the context of the transborder workers' relief. If it were not for that extension, Republic of Ireland workers were going to be facing a cliff edge in terms of double taxation. They were being told that from a public health advice...

Seanad: Maternity-Paternity Leave for County and City Councillors: Motion (7 Dec 2021)

Emer Currie: I commend my colleague, Senator O'Loughlin, on bringing forward the motion, not just in her role on the administrative panel but also as chair of the women's caucus. She does a fabulous job. Politics, as we know, is not a normal job. Public service does not start at nine, finish at six and come with leave entitlements. Our families know and accept that, all too often, politics comes...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Justice for the Forgotten (2 Dec 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome Mr. Brecknell and Ms Urwin for coming before the committee. I note from the outset that I am completely against any impediment to victims and families having access to truth and justice. The command paper from July is hugely offensive and represents a lockdown on the rule of law because it is not just about prosecutions but is also about all investigations, all civil cases and any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Justice for the Forgotten (2 Dec 2021)

Emer Currie: Can I come back in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Justice for the Forgotten (2 Dec 2021)

Emer Currie: Deputy Carroll MacNeill has probed on questions that I was going to ask in order to try to understand this. We definitely need to follow up to make sure there are not barriers for Justice for the Forgotten and that Jon Boutcher is getting the information that he requires. I want to go back to what Mr. Brecknell said about who is affected by the command paper. He rightly points out that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Justice for the Forgotten (2 Dec 2021)

Emer Currie: There can be a route to justice if people are allowed to take it.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (4 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on the budget and her securing of investment in special education in addition to that of last year. I thank her for her support to date in Dublin West. She came out to visit Rath Dara Community College, as it is now known, in Dublin 15. She understands the building issue concerning Danu Community Special School. I thank the Government...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (4 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: It is great to know NEPS is to visit the school in the next week. I have been raising this issue for nearly a year and I am not getting around the full-time behavioural therapist requirement. The school community feels that it is not being heard on this. They need the full-time behavioural therapist. The Minister of State said that they get access to more resources but when I speak to the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (4 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Shared Island Unit: Department of the Taoiseach (4 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: That is okay. It is nice to see Ms O'Donoghue and Mr. Duffy again. I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity. The Cathaoirleach has made good points about how we can improve communication and work closely with the shared island unit as a committee. It is great to see the revised NDP and to hear about the €3.5 billion that we can be spending. We are coming across...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: I have been contacted quite a lot by Ongar Chasers Basketball Club in the past 24 hours, because of the guidelines issued by Sport Ireland which relate to basketball, volleyball and squash.This is a club, like so many other clubs around the country, that has kept going throughout Covid. Even in the deepest, darkest winter last year, they were playing outside, rallying around the community...

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: I am sharing time with Senator Dolan. It is great to see the Minister of State here. I support the motion. Since I was elected as a councillor, there have been many public consultations, which is fantastic. There was one for BusConnects. There have been two for DART+ West although they have been conducted during the pandemic. There have been two consultations on the Royal Canal urban...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: I wish to raise the issue of antigen tests and five to 12-year-olds, who are without the protection of vaccines. Cases are rising at a worrying rate for parents and teachers. This is affecting teachers and the need for substitute teachers in schools as well. As we read in the newspapers today, there is concern about people at home who are vulnerable who have children at school. Parents...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament (2 Nov 2021)

Emer Currie: It is great to see the MEPs here. As a Senator based in Dublin, I welcome this access, especially after the past couple of years. Ms Daly mentioned how difficult it is to get what they are doing into the media. That is true. The media here are absolutely dominated by Brexit. It is good, therefore, to hear about everything else. At the same time, I am Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Core Working Group for the All-Island Cancer Research Institute (21 Oct 2021)

Emer Currie: It is more time for us. It is fantastic to have all the witnesses here, not just to reflect on the success of the consortium since 1999 but for us to assist them in their realistic ambitions for the future. I thank them for that. The more they talk, the more we learn. My questions are probably more about prompting them to share more rather than being prescriptive. This engagement is a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Oct 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank Senator O'Sullivan. That is a hard one to follow. I wish to raise Circular 0050/2021 on teacher substitution. We need to take the word of principals on this issue. There has been a chronic crisis regarding substitute teachers, or a chronic shortage of them, over the past few years, not just as a result of the pandemic. I have spoken to principals about this, and the panel system...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Oct 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank Senator Boyhan for referencing the Private Members' motion on British Government proposals on legacy issues, which we will debate later. I know he is very invested in discussing and debating legacy issues. I thank all those who will, hopefully, take part in that debate this evening. Today, I want to raise the issue of obesity. We saw in the media the worrying projection that 90%...

Seanad: British Government Legacy Proposals: Motion (13 Oct 2021)

Emer Currie: I move: That Seanad Éireann totally rejects the British Government’s proposals for ‘dealing with the past’ including amnesties for those who committed murder. No individual, group, organisation or State forces/agents can be immune from prosecution. Investigations, prosecutions, inquests and civil actions cannot be abolished and due process must take place. I am...

Seanad: British Government Legacy Proposals: Motion (13 Oct 2021)

Emer Currie: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I also thank the Minister for his words of comfort and reassurance and the compassion he has shown on this issue. It matters a great deal to victims, as does his commitment not to let this go, not to give up on reaching a consensus on legacy and if there are issues with the Stormont House Agreement, to try to reach consensus on something else. Some weeks ago, I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Oct 2021)

Emer Currie: I too want to raise the heart-wrenching interview that I heard on "Today with Claire Byrne" this morning. Any parent who heard that interview could feel the pain that family is in.My wee girl underwent an operation in Crumlin children's hospital some years ago. Everything went smoothly, but I remember waiting for the date. It is terrible that a child who has been on the urgent list since...