Results 1-20 of 1,013 for speaker:Colette Kelleher

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I would like to congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his election last week. I would also like to extend my condolences to those killed in Orlando. It is carers' week, and we are all endorsing the great work that carers do. It is all very fine to talk about that, but it is another thing to provide proper support. Some 63% of people with dementia are living at home and are primarily cared for...

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I will be very brief.

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I will be brief. It is clear from the CSO figures that children have borne the brunt of the mistakes we, as a country and as politicians, have made. We now have an opportunity to reverse that and we need to start with the 2,000 children who are homeless. I ask the Minister of State to enable us to be the eyes, ears and watchdog on behalf of those 2,000 children. The Combat Poverty Agency...

Seanad: Death of Jo Cox, MP: Expressions of Sympathy (21 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I totally endorse the comments of Senator Higgins. Recently, I was in Beirut in Lebanon. That country, which is the size of Munster, has welcomed 1 million people into its small part of a turbulent land. We need to step up to the mark in Ireland and Europe. That is the best way we can honour Jo's legacy, her values and her tragic death.

Seanad: Mental Health: Statements (22 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and I look forward to working with her on improving the lives of people with mental health issues and older people. I want to draw attention to a particular group in our society. The rate of suicide among Travellers is six times higher than the general population. What immediate supports are in place to address this matter of crisis,...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I lend my support to the points made by Senators Ruane and Ó Ríordáin in advising the Government against this. My credentials in this matter are based on my experience in working for Cork Simon Community for eight years. There is nothing in the measure before us that would help any person with an addiction such as those I would have worked with. The new legislation has been...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Home Care Packages Provision (28 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Helen McEntee, to the House. She has been a staunch supporter of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, both locally and nationally. There are almost 55,000 people living with dementia in Ireland and I guess that most of us will know somebody, a family member, a relative or a neighbour for whom this is a reality. The numbers...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Home Care Packages Provision (28 Jun 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I thank the Minister of State. I know that is a sincere offer and I will take her up on it. Eighty-five people are getting access to the intensive home care packages but all of us in the Seanad probably know 85 people who need them. The need is vast, and we must make sure that we are getting to the body of people who need that kind of help because people are struggling in the here and now....

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Jul 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I join Senator Catherine Ardagh in extending condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed so tragically in Iraq. I concur with Senator Rose Conway-Walsh in support of the Civil Engagement group for the proposals set out by Family Carers Ireland this morning in its pre-budget submission, in which they seek to achieve fairness for family carers. It is undoubtedly the case that...

Seanad: Housing for People with Disabilities: Motion (13 Jul 2016)

Colette Kelleher: The points I wanted to make have been eloquently made and it is great to see consensus, particularly around the area of congregated settings. Congregated settings is a bricks and mortar issue and a money issue but, above all, it is a moral issue. People are living lives of quiet desperation because they have no choices and when we make our plans we need to think about the lives of people...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Sep 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I raise the urgent issue of fire safety in Traveller accommodation. On 10 October last year, ten citizens tragically lost their lives in a fire in Carrickmines. Those who died were Willie Lynch and Tara Gilbert, with their daughters Kelsey and Jodie; Willie's brother, Jimmy; Thomas and Sylvia Connors and their children, Jim, Christie and six-month-old Mary. In the wake of this tragedy, a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Irish Water Safety: Chairperson Designate (28 Sep 2016)

Colette Kelleher: As a fellow Cork person, I welcome Mr. O'Sullivan. I am from Douglas in Cork and my in-laws are from Glengarriff in Cork but we can talk about that later. I thank Mr. O'Sullivan for taking on these roles and responsibilities on a voluntary basis and I also thank all the volunteers around the country. After 40 years of experience, what does Mr. O'Sullivan see as the biggest risk we face?...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (29 Sep 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I am here representing Senator John Dolan and I will be asking a question he particularly wanted me to ask. I also have a couple of questions of my own. One concerns the area of social care in general. I have worked for Cork Simon Community, Cope Foundation and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and I am a social worker by trade. As far as I can see, social care is the Cinderella of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (29 Sep 2016)

Colette Kelleher: It needs to be included in the Estimates because there will be costs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (29 Sep 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement: Motion (5 Oct 2016)

Colette Kelleher: CETA is unlike any trade agreement that we have signed before and must be considered cautiously and carefully. The so-called negative list in CETA, that my colleagues have mentioned, means that all public sector areas are included in the agreement unless explicitly ruled out by the Government at the start of negotiations - a first for an EU trade agreement. Ireland has added very few areas...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Citizen-Centred Health Care: Civil Engagement (5 Oct 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I thank the Chair for the invitation to present to the committee. I fully support the aim of this committee to set out a ten-year, cross-party vision for the future of Irish health care. I have been following the work of the committee closely, trying to keep up with all of the papers presented thus far, which is a challenge, as well as preparing my submission. Before I get into the...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Citizen-Centred Health Care: Civil Engagement (5 Oct 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I have worked for charities both in Ireland and in the UK. Charities have stepped into the breach when the State has failed, but very often the State needs to take up where the charities began. Very often they have had to carry on and carry the can because the State has not been able to step in or take up its role. Charities have a great role to play in advocacy and innovation, but whether...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Citizen-Centred Health Care: Civil Engagement (5 Oct 2016)

Colette Kelleher: Yes, absolutely, but the true role of charities is advocacy and innovation. They are things the State may not always be willing to do. If more charities could be in that space, there would be a healthy tension between the citizen and the State rather than the State becoming a service provider by default because there is nothing else out there. In terms of area planning, we could spend...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Citizen-Centred Health Care: Civil Engagement (5 Oct 2016)

Colette Kelleher: I am talking about both and about any other methods we might need. One of the good things about the national dementia strategy is that there are people with dementia actively participating in it. We need to see that in all these forums because people are able to articulate their needs and indicate their preferences. There needs to be new ways of working in order that those kinds of...