Results 81-100 of 666 for speaker:Emer Currie

Seanad: Rights-Based Care Economy: Motion (27 Sep 2023)

Emer Currie: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and thank Senator Fiona O'Loughlin for looking after us today and for driving forward this motion. I am on the working group and I have been involved in this, so I know the work that has gone into it. I was expecting somebody from the Department of Health today, not that I am not delighted to see the Minister of State, as always. When I was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Finance and Economics: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Emer Currie: I do not think the committee has ever seen me so quiet for so long.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Finance and Economics: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Emer Currie: This is fascinating. I thank the witnesses very much. I am sorry I missed the start of it; I had another engagement. I do not want to keep the witnesses too long. There is debate about what constitutional change will look like. Much of it is based on the idea of integration and a 32-county model. Some people have noted that, perhaps, we would keep the assembly and other structures in...

Seanad: Care Payments: Motion [Private Members] (12 Jul 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and I thank the Minister for her response to the motion. It has been very useful. She covered a lot of the issues or questions that have been asked. She is giving us food for thought. I also want to thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. It is an excellent motion and there is also some overlap with some of the work we have been doing with the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Planning Issues (11 Jul 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State for being here. While childcare is primarily the responsibility of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, there could be a planning solution to the serious shortage of childcare places in local communities. It will not fix everything but it is the kind of change we need to see. The childcare facilities guidelines for planning...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Planning Issues (11 Jul 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister of State. I am aware of that review and I am glad it is happening. There is a reason I am pitching this to him. I pointed out why the guidelines are not delivering and that they are not working. In the same way we do with social housing, we need to take a Part V approach when it comes to childcare. A childcare facility should be mandatory in a new development and in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Impact of Brexit on the Divergence of Rights and Best Practice on the Island of Ireland: Discussion (29 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the witnesses for a very informative presentation, just like the previous one they gave us. They have painted a stark landscape and I would like them to reflect on the bigger picture, having laid out the individual issues. There is no assembly in the North at the moment and that has an obvious impact on people's quality of life, but they pointed also to a systemic inequality that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Impact of Brexit on the Divergence of Rights and Best Practice on the Island of Ireland: Discussion (29 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: The witnesses are being very restrained about the attack on rights. The future is stark given that people in the North are looking at being second-class citizens in terms of their rights. There is a lot of energy going into the impact of the Windsor Framework and there is not enough attention being paid to this.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Crime Prevention (22 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister for Justice for taking this Commencement matter this morning. We are here to talk about antisocial behaviour and an increase in knife crime in urban communities. I wish to pay my respects to the family of Aaron Keating in Ongar. Tragically, he was a victim of knife crime last week. There are no excuses for the taking of a life in these circumstances. The impact of an...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Crime Prevention (22 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the Minister for her response. One issue which has come up in the past few days is the investigation time for knife crime. I believe it is only 24 hours as opposed to a week if there was a firearm involved. Gardaí have said to me that that would be something that might help. I am also interested in the work that is happening on the community safety partnerships, the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: I want to raise a report we received from Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, a couple of days ago with regard to problem gambling. It stated that an earlier figure that has been in the public domain, which is that 12,000 adults are impacted, is most likely an underestimation of the problem of gambling. We know that it does not just affect people directly, but that it affects...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (21 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: I express my deepest sympathy to all former Senator Jackman's family members. The distinction of her career as both a councillor and Senator has been well described.She was a tireless advocate who worked diligently to address the needs and concerns of the people of Castletroy. She was a founding member of the Women's Political Association in Limerick and was involved in establishing...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: We need to talk about knife crime. Some 2,000 to 2,500 knives are seized per year currently, with 2,132 seized in 2023, and according to our colleague, Deputy Alan Farrell, that is an increase of 78% in the past seven years. The highest number was in 2020, during Covid, when there was a strong community presence. I think we all agree on the need for increased visibility of community...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Business Opportunities and Differences: Engagement with Irish SME Association (1 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: Mr. McDonnell is welcome. I thank him for all his advocacy over the years. It has been interesting to hear what he has had to say about Brexit and the Windsor Framework. Perhaps we can get into that issue but my first question is whether ISME has put any work into the impact of constitutional change on the island. Has it thought at all about what would happen if we were to become a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Business Opportunities and Differences: Engagement with Irish SME Association (1 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: In order to help in that regard, I will ask if there are any issues that ISME considers it would be important for us to consider.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Business Opportunities and Differences: Engagement with Irish SME Association (1 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: How does Mr. McDonnell think the EU would react to the whole island of Ireland having access to the UK and EU?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Business Opportunities and Differences: Engagement with Irish SME Association (1 Jun 2023)

Emer Currie: Regarding divergence of regulation and law between North and South because of UK policy, Mr. McDonnell mentioned working time. Has that been floated as a potential idea or is Mr. McDonnell hypothesising?

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences against the Person (Amendment) (Spiking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (31 May 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the members of Young Fine Gael for their hard work on this, in identifying an issue that really needed to be focused on to shine the spotlight on it. I thank Senator Ward for helping to bring it to this point, and Senators Doherty and Seery Kearney for their involvement. It is great to be part of a party that is a campaigning party, because that is what it is all about. I very much...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Motion (30 May 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank Senators McGreehan and Blaney. I know that normally wild horses would not keep Senator Blaney away from a debate like this so I hope everything is okay. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs is welcome to the Chamber and I thank him for all the work he has done on reconciliation, Northern Ireland and the shared island unit as Taoiseach. It comes from a genuine place...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Motion (30 May 2023)

Emer Currie: I thank the Senator very much.