Results 121-140 of 1,013 for speaker:Colette Kelleher

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank Ms Sheehan. I welcome the Minister and thank him for being with us this morning. I now invite him to make his opening statement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: My apologies - I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor and thank her for being here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank the Minister for that statement and invite the Minister of State to make her opening statement to the committee. We are delighted to have a Minister and a Minister of State here today, which indicates that the Department takes this issue seriously.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank the Minister of State and acknowledge the active steps she has taken regarding increasing participation by Travellers in higher education. It is important that we acknowledge the significant step that was made last week. I ask members to stick to questions. I do not want to curb the debate but I want to hear from everybody. I ask them to be cognisant of the time. I would like to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: The Senator is asking about the need to look at DEIS and for that to be independent. That includes Travellers but it is not exclusively about Travellers. Our committee is looking at Travellers who are within that group. We have had four weeks of hearings on education and we have heard some distressing and disturbing testimonies from people who have shared their experiences of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: When will that come through?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: It was promised in March.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: We might have a bit of a change; we might have a general election. We would like the legislation through this side of the election.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Will Mr. Melia look at that funding?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Will the Department look quite seriously at our proposals and recommendations? We feel that the Department is under-reacting to the scale of the challenge. While there is a lot happening, we ask whether it is enough. That is the abiding concern running through all the threads, including mental health, health and education. Stuff is happening, which is good, but is it enough to address the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: That is two years away.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Is it on a firm footing? That is the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Education: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Dec 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank everyone very much. We have had a very long session but we have had long meetings on other important topics. We have held three meetings on mental health, two on health, four on education and we will have four meetings on employment. We are having these meetings because all of these elements are interconnected. Accommodation will be the final module that we will consider. We will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Working Group on Access to Contraception: Discussion (27 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. To be blunt and honest, I am very disappointed. I made a contribution to the consultation during the summer and I am very disappointed with the report. It has moved away from the principle of women getting access to contraception. The debate is becoming more about cost, what we can afford and what we can tinker with and creating false...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Working Group on Access to Contraception: Discussion (27 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: That is a "Yes", then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Working Group on Access to Contraception: Discussion (27 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Does Mr. Conlon accept that contraception is a public as well as a private matter, that it is a matter of public policy and that it has a rightful call on the public purse? That is another yes-no question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Working Group on Access to Contraception: Discussion (27 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: It is not strange. I ask Mr. Conlon to bear with my line of questioning. Does he accept what the working group has been told in the consultation by the Start doctors, the Irish College of General Practitioners, the Irish Family Planning Association and others, that is, that in Ireland today there are very real barriers to women accessing the best and most effective contraceptives during...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Working Group on Access to Contraception: Discussion (27 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: Does Mr. Conlon have any view about the unfairness of singling out contraceptives, which he agreed at the beginning were fundamental to women exercising their health and reproductive rights and preventing unwanted pregnancies? Does he think it is unfair that contraceptives should have to be bought or means-tested? For example, when a number of years ago I went to get my Mirena coil...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Working Group on Access to Contraception: Discussion (27 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: That figure seems to be moving, even today, so I do not know if we can base anything concrete on those estimates because there is a big difference between €80 million and €100 million. There was also a figure of €70 million. That does not seem to be a firm figure on which we can hang our hats. As I said, this still takes us to the economic conversation. Any public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Business of Joint Committee (26 Nov 2019)

Colette Kelleher: As we have a quorum, I call the meeting to order. Apologies have been received from Deputy Gino Kenny. I propose we go into private session to deal with some housekeeping matters.