Results 1-20 of 662 for speaker:Emer Currie

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wildlife Protection (17 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State for bring here personally today. Four minutes does not seem long enough to summarise the four years it has taken for a local sports club, St, Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh "Plunkett's" GAA, to get to the point where a proposal for the redevelopment of Martin Savage Park, just off the Navan Road, was ready for a Part 8 planning process. We have an issue when...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wildlife Protection (17 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: I know I am throwing a lot at the Minister of State this morning on this specific case. It is a huge problem if we cannot deliver essential sporting facilities for local children. An all-weather pitch should be a basic for a local sports club in facilitating so many people and actively encouraging well-being and health. It is a place where friendships and communities are created. They...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: I welcome the news yesterday about the introduction of tougher sentencing for knife crime. I have raised this issue frequently, both in the Seanad and directly with the Minister for Justice. What is helpful is the differentiation between possession and intent and the added length to sentences relating to the importation and sale of knives. I hope we can continue to build on that because we...

Seanad: School Enrolments: Motion (17 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: I agree with much of the motion from the Fianna Fáil Senators. It chimes with a lot of the issues I have been raising directly with the Minister in here. I wrote an opinion piece about it in The Irish Times yesterday. It is a huge issue in Dublin West. It is about capacity but also about having a better system for admissions and enrolment. There are parents in Dublin 15 who will...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (11 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: I am here today to raise the circumstances of a school that has been incredibly patient with the Department of Education. If this was an exercise in doing everything by the book, with the expectation and trust that based on need alone the Department would deliver then I am afraid it has failed. A request for emergency works to fix a roof that now has more than 101 roof leaks and defects was...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (11 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: We are going around in circles on an emergency works application that ticks all of those boxes not today, not yesterday, but from September 2022. Bureaucracy is contributing to the delay. We have a problem and it needs to be fixed. Regarding access for children with additional needs, the school has been proactive in outlining that it wants an additional class. It has the space for an...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (11 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: I concur.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: I, too, welcome Senator O'Hara. I am wearing green for him today. I went to Queen's University and spent three very happy years in south Belfast. I am very much looking forward to having another north Belfast voice in the House. I recognise the contribution Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile made to this House. We miss him and his Belfast wit. Regarding Senator O'Reilly's concerns about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Legacy Issues: Discussion (11 Apr 2024)

Emer Currie: Mr. McCord, Mr. Farrell and Mr. O'Hare are very welcome. As we approach 1 May and the guillotine that is coming to deprive people of truth and justice, it is really important that this committee is meeting them today. We have recently seen the findings of the Project Kenova report. The committee has done considerable work on the legacy Bill. Mr. McCord's presence today makes sure that...

Seanad: Road Traffic Bill 2024: Second Stage (21 Mar 2024)

Emer Currie: I am not a member of the transport committee. I came today because I have specific questions as a road user and someone who is concerned about the numbers we are seeing. During the Saint Patrick's Day weekend, 175 people were arrested for drink driving; 1,800 people were detected speeding; 170 people were caught on their mobile phones; and someone was caught doing 209 km per hour in a 100...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Mar 2024)

Emer Currie: They say a week is a long time in politics. What about a morning? There will be a lot of political reflections this morning about the news about our party leader and Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, but I will add some personal reflections. He has been my friend for more than 30 years and I hope we will be friends for over 30 more. As teenagers the politics seeped out of our pores and we were...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2024)

Emer Currie: I ask that the Minister for Education come to the House to discuss building projects. I have raised this matter previously, but there is a dearth of information on key strategic projects in Dublin West. This issue affects other areas as well. I wish to discuss the unnecessary stress and heartache caused by long admissions timelines and a lack of co-ordination. This year in Dublin 15,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Shared Island Unit: Department of the Taoiseach (7 Mar 2024)

Emer Currie: It is great to have Ms Deane and Mr. Duffy here, and I thank them for how accessible they are on projects. It must be great to have roles that are so positive. The news that the North-South Ministerial Council, NSMC, is going to meet again takes the pressure off in some regard. When the North-South strands were not operating, we were coming to the witnesses to assist us in forging...

Seanad: International Women's Day: Statements (6 Mar 2024)

Emer Currie: It is an enormous privilege to be here again for International Women's Day and on the eve of a very important referendum on Friday to change Article 41.2. That article has let women down for a couple of reasons. It uses limiting language. As the Minister described and as I wished to point out myself, it refers to a woman's life within the home and a mother's duties in the home, which...

Seanad: International Women's Day: Statements (6 Mar 2024)

Emer Currie: I wish to share my time equally with Senator Maria Byrne.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank the witnesses for being here and, more importantly, for their work and leadership in their communities. Reference was made earlier to people not following in the footsteps of family members in politics. I did follow and knew what I was getting into. Also, I came from an environment where I knew acutely what it was like to feel under threat. Your commitment to your values and your...

Seanad: Community Safety and Investment: Motion [Private Members] (28 Feb 2024)

Emer Currie: I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. We have spent a great deal of time post the events in November focusing on law and order. It is timely that we come back to discussing that issue now in order to ensure that we are still all on the same page. I believe that we are. I thank Members of the Seanad for also putting forward amendments to the motion. I commend the...

Seanad: Community Safety and Investment: Motion [Private Members] (28 Feb 2024)

Emer Currie: A great way to do that would be to take over a retail unit with the local safety partnership, like there is on Foley Street, to ensure a Garda presence in those communities where people are working. It would bring reassurance to those communities about visibility on their streets.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Feb 2024)

Emer Currie: There are myriad interconnected issues that are contributing to our fragile childcare system. Let us be in no doubt the Government is working to address them all, one by one. I want to take a look at core funding. The pay freeze has undoubtedly worked for parents and we are very grateful for it, with a reduction of 25% in fees to grow to 50% in September 2024. That is reforming policy....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Early Childhood Care and Education (22 Feb 2024)

Emer Currie: The Minister of State will have noted that in my opening remarks, I congratulated the Minister on the concept of core funding because I think the concept does work. There are issues on the ground, however, and they need to be addressed for people in this sector of the industry to have the stability and security they are looking for. There does need to be an ongoing partnership with them...