Results 201-220 of 2,438 for speaker:Caít Keane

Seanad: National Mortgage and Housing Corporation Bill 2015: Second Stage (4 Nov 2015)

Caít Keane: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, to the House. I congratulate Senators Barrett and Quinn for bringing the Bill forward. I noticed that Senator Barrett said, "Solving the problem is like eating an elephant; it must be done piece by piece." The problem is that the elephant in this sense is very big. The housing policy has some very good parts but is the housing problem so big...

Seanad: National Mortgage and Housing Corporation Bill 2015: Second Stage (4 Nov 2015)

Caít Keane: He is a betting man.

Seanad: Marriage Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I support what Senator Jillian van Turnhout said. A child is a child. I am concerned about a child being able to go to court if they have parental approval because many parents need education on what a child is and on what the rights of the child are. Senator van Turnhout has said that she will not push this. Senator Ivana Bacik proposed this in 2014 and I think the Government at the time...

Seanad: Marriage Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: When reading Senator Mullen's amendment, I wondered how he had come up with it or how he could possibly have interpreted the Bill in this way. Like Senator Norris, I am a proponent of separation of church and State. However, the fact is that our culture and religion have informed our laws for many years. Indeed, our laws supported that culture, which in some ways was dominated by a...

Seanad: Marriage Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I have never quoted a Pope or a priest in the Seanad before but I am going to do it now. Pope Francis said recently regarding his pastoral experience that he is keenly aware of how gay people are “socially wounded” and frequently feel that the Church compounds their sense of exclusion and alienation. He said he has often received letters from LGBT people and that the Church...

Seanad: Marriage Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I am not.

Seanad: Marriage Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: Senator Mullen brought this into it. I will finish with what Pope Francis said, which is: “If a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge". I am judging this legislation the way it is written and I do not see in it what Senator Mullen sees. As for saying the Bill lays down a diktat on how solemnisers should lay out their ceremony, it does not do...

Seanad: Marriage Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (22 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: Ba mhaith liom cúpla focal a rá ar an lá stairiúil seo agus ar an mBille stairiúl seo. Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an Aire agus le gach éinne a ghlac agus atá ag glacadh páirt sa díospóireacht. I wish to add my voice on this very historic and welcome day, the day of the passage of this Bill through the House. I must refer to all...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I wish to follow on regarding Travellers and Traveller accommodation. As I speak, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is meeting the Traveller group to try to find a satisfactory resolution to the problem that has arisen. Everybody must examine his conscience. It is an emergency and the families are suffering. Money has been allocated to local authorities for Traveller sites but...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Second Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and, in particular, I welcome today's debate on one of the most important pieces of legislation that we as a country will bring forward. It is important not alone for us here on the planet but also for our children who have not been born yet. Therefore, I welcome the legislation. It was mentioned in the House that eight years have elapsed since...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Second Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: Friends of the Earth says that despite the weakness of the Bill on the targets, it will make climate policy-making more transparent and more evidence-based. In addition, thanks to the advisory council, it establishes a strong pattern of parliamentary accountability with four Ministers required to make annual statements to the Dáil. I would like to see annual statements to the Seanad as...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Second Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: It is a small change but a necessary one.

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Second Stage (14 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I also express condolence to the families of all the victims of the weekend's events. We in south Dublin will have ten funerals. The accident in Carrickmines was so horrific that the suffering of the victims and those who have been left behind does not bear thinking about. I offer my sympathy to the families and friends of those who died: Willie Lynch and Tara Gilbert and their children,...

Seanad: Budget 2016: Statements (13 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I am sharing time with Senator Hildegarde Naughton in the ratio of four minutes to two.

Seanad: Budget 2016: Statements (13 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: The Acting Chairman is never slack in doing so. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, to the House. It is good to welcome him here today for the 2016 family-friendly budget. We have had many a tough time here in this and the other House where we had to introduce budgets that none of us really felt comfortable doing. It was a significant challenge to us, both on the social and...

Seanad: Budget 2016: Statements (13 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: On the homeless and housing, I note the increase of €0.5 billion. As has been stated already, the increase of €69 million for social housing will enable local authorities to source accommodation for an additional 14,000 households and the 500 modular units. I note there is a €17 million increase in funding for emergency accommodation and the use of €10 million...

Seanad: Horizon 2020: Statements (8 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: We have an innovative Minister of State here, in view of what he has done on apprenticeships, education and such like.I congratulate the Minister of State on that. Europe is the home of Curie, Einstein, and Newton. It is the birthplace of modern science and innovation. With names like Boyle, Shackleton and Boole, Ireland has had a proud role in building that tradition of innovation and...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Second Stage (6 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I welcome the Minister and thank her for bringing forward the Bill. I welcome the representatives of the various organisations in the Visitors Gallery, including the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Ruhama, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and ICTU. I am not a member of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, but I would like to congratulate its members on their preliminary work and...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Second Stage (6 Oct 2015)

Caít Keane: I welcome section 21. One could say that when a person enters counselling, such a delicate matter should only be discussed between the counsellor and himself or herself. I would like the provision to be further strengthened. I do not have time to discuss Part 4. I thank the Minister for bringing forward the legislation.