Results 1,961-1,980 of 2,078 for speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Second Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the Minister to the Seanad. This is not his first time to be here since we have been open, engaged and in this term but it is my first time to address him. I begin by thanking him most sincerely for the exceptional work he has carried out on behalf of our country over the last term and this term in bringing us to this point. We are in his safe hands in terms of leadership on this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Assessments of Needs for Children with Disabilities: Engagement with Ombudsman for Children (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses for the documentation that they sent. I have read it. I was delayed in the Seanad so I have missed much, and I apologise if I ask anything that has already been said. I am quite transfixed by the line in Dr. Muldoon's report about children which states: They are instead ‘reduced’ to their impairments. In contrast, the rights-based model of disability...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Assessments of Needs for Children with Disabilities: Engagement with Ombudsman for Children (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: My impression is that the recommendations for data collection would arrest a lot of that because there would be a central pool where one would have access to information and a multidisciplinary and multidepartmental approach.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Defects: Discussion with Construction Defects Alliance (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: My contribution will follow on from that of the previous contributor. I completely support the principle of funding homeowners. I have heard the absolute pain and annoyance of Mr. Nugent and Mr. Mulhern and I stand in complete sympathy with them. I have experience of trying to get a group of owners to pony up for engineering costs to establish fault in an estate of houses, one of which was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Defects: Discussion with Construction Defects Alliance (1 Dec 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: Does Ms Ní Fhloinn believe there has been a failure of prosecutions in this because there is a chain of liability where there is a lack of inspection? I see Deputy Ó Broin nodding. Is the deficit because the chain of liability means, in legal terms, it is not the beginning and end of attributing liability to any one party? Is that why there is a failure of prosecutions?

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am not without sympathy for Senator Boyhan's position. I have some reservations with regard to the restrictions or potential for restrictions contained in the Bill. I recognise 100% that we need progress and we need to move with the times but we also need to recognise that online is not accessible to everyone. This is a fact. When I raised this with the Minister last week, the answer...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I agree with Senator Fitzpatrick. We need to be constructive and I am not sure this debate has been particularly constructive. I had sympathy with regard to how discretion will be exercised. However, while we are amending the wording of the legislation to state that a planning authority "shall consult with members of the public in such manner", we do not make it mandatory to hold public...

Seanad: Reopening Ireland (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment): Statements (26 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: The Minister of State is welcome. It is always good to see him and the optimism that he brings. I am happy and anxious at the same time. We stand at the end of a lockdown period that has been, largely, a great success, whether we agree with it or not. It would appear that we have had a second wave of infection, experienced a peak and are managing the case numbers and caseloads that are...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Second Stage (25 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: For the information of Senators, a copy of the Minister's speech is available outside the Chamber. I was not aware of that until it was brought to my attention by a colleague. Copies of speeches are normally distributed in the Chamber. There are amendments being referenced that we may wish to address. It is beneficial to have the speech so all Members need to know that it is available outside.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Second Stage (25 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I appreciate that but we were not aware of it. We made the assumption we were not being given a copy of the speech but it is available outside. I thank the Cathaoirleach.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Second Stage (25 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister for being here today and for initiating this legislation in the Seanad. I am also a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and I want to acknowledge the Minister's wholesome and fulsome letter to the committee and his apology for any sleight that may have been experienced by some members who would doubt for a moment his bona...

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2020: Motion (25 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is really important to note that our colleague, Councillor David McManus, was called a liar in the Dáil today and the record must be corrected. The figures given by the Minister are correct and our colleague indicated those exact figures on employment.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is shocking to hear the news of the 10,000 images, on which the Leader has also spoken. That the images were gathered in the first place is really sinister and suggests an orchestrated facility to exchange images of women and underage girls. While some of the photographs and images were taken unbeknown to the victims, many of the images were conveyed in a trusting relationship where the...

Seanad: Combating Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I am happy to wait until we adjourn.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care and Complaints Process: Tusla (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the witnesses for their opening remarks and their answers so far. We missed slightly the explanation Mr. Gloster was providing for the funding increase, because the signal went at the beginning of that piece. He was telling us about the €30 million available next year for the DSGPV sector. I ask him to clarify this. He was giving us a breakdown about how that is going to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care and Complaints Process: Tusla (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: My next questions concern the general data protection regulation, GDPR. On the issue of the mother and baby homes commission database, has the data privacy impact assessment, DPIA, on that been published?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care and Complaints Process: Tusla (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I appreciate that excellent clarification. My final question is on the training around GDPR. On 4 November, the Data Protection Commissioner published a finding against Tusla in relation to three breaches. Two of them related to giving the details of foster carers. The third was very serious, although I acknowledge that it was inadvertent, and involved someone giving the address and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill: Discussion (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I confess that I have learned a lot while preparing for our scrutiny of this Bill. I greatly appreciate the briefing documents, opening statements, presentations and I have also read documentation from law firms that have put out a view on this matter. I find myself very excited about the employment potential and seismic shift in our nation to develop so that a whole new industry opens up,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill: Discussion (24 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I do not doubt the ability of the local authorities to adapt, learn and grow. Where do councillors and people like me get this sudden knowledge from? I am fortunate that we are briefed so well. I thank the witnesses and congratulate them on a fantastic piece of work.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Transport Infrastructure Provision (18 Nov 2020)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State for his time. All three Government parties gave commitments in their manifestos to carrying out a feasibility study of metro south west. This was given on the back of considerable campaigning by the Metro South West group. As the Minister of State might imagine, the campaign group was delighted when it heard that the study was going ahead but when it sought...