Results 41-60 of 745 for speaker:Annie Hoey

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: Today I will reflect on two issues, both pertaining to gender. Over the weekend the Leader may have seen the hashtag #IrelandTurnsPurplewhich was floating around social media with many photographs of locations around Ireland lit up with purple lights. It was quite stunning to see images from Cork to Dublin to Galway and everywhere. The reason was that Sunday was International Intersex...

Seanad: Living with Covid-19 Restrictions: Statements (10 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I have a timer with me so, hopefully, I will not take too long. I welcome the Minister of State. We all appreciate the reality of the situation. We have been doing this for what feels like forever. People almost do not know another way. We are just living with Covid and in and out of things. I commend the efforts of everybody doing their bit to tackle this virus. I particularly wish to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HSE Winter Plan: HSE (11 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I thank all the witnesses and express my gratitude to all healthcare workers and everyone who has been getting us through this crisis. It has not been an easy job. I will focus on two areas. I know a few questions have been asked about the flu vaccine but I will swing back to it if that is all right. There was a lot of coverage today and I am sure everyone's notifications were going off...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HSE Winter Plan: HSE (11 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I raised the issue of student nurses last week. We have been banging this drum for quite some time and the issue has been raised here. There is a lot of commentary along the lines that this issue must go to the Department of Health or that it must go back and forth. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, has said that it has been in discussion with the Department of Health but...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Future of Public Service Broadcasting and Impact of Covid-19 on the Media Sector: Discussion (11 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I commend the media, broadcasting and journalism sector on getting us through the Covid-19 crisis. It is quite clear that many people in Ireland relied on public service broadcasting and on journalists to provide information over the past few months, particularly the likes of RTÉ and its education programming when schools were out. That was really great. Senator Warfield touched on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Shared Island Unit: Department of the Taoiseach (12 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I will be brief so my colleague can also contribute. We cannot talk about a shared island without inevitably talking about Brexit. As I was listening to everyone, I thought about how the conversation on Brexit descended into really deep division and a very contentious issue. One can see how that is now playing out. I am certainly not saying this is a precursor to a referendum that may...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: Senators may have seen over the weekend a rather discouraging piece in TheJournal.ie. A series has been done by Noteworthy on the way staff in the higher education sector are being treated. Many are on zero-hour or term-time only contracts or are not being paid for the enormous amount of overtime they do. Institutions will argue that they do not have the budgets to pay all of their staff,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: Not having the project for the contractors is a bit of a wild state of affairs given that this hospital is set to be one of the most expensive in the world. It is quite concerning to hear that. Last year the Labour Party leader asked if the design was fully complete and he never got a straight answer on that. I again ask that question. Is the full design now complete?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: How many individual design drawings have been issued since 1 January 2019?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I ask Mr. Devine to provide the number issued to the committee secretariat by the end of the week.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: Will Mr. Gunning say without contradiction that his board has complied with all its contractual obligations? That would be a "Yes" or a "No" answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: How many contractual cases have been taken by the board against BAM and the subcontractors? I know he said it is hundreds, but does he have a figure? Can that figure be provided to the committee?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I know Mr. Gunning has given an estimate of legal fees, which will be €15 million up to 2022. How much has been spent in 2020 so far on legal fees?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I thank Mr. Gunning for that. We keep going around the end point and when the hospital will be opened. As has been mentioned previously in the committee, this is taxpayers' money and the public has a vested interest in when the hospital will open. I think the public may be coming to the end of its tether hearing about the extraordinary cost of this with no end point in sight. Mr. Gunning...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Children's Hospital (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I ask Mr. Gunning to give me a "Yes" or a "No" answer. Does he believe withholding 15% payment is a sufficient tool to get the contractor to uphold its commitments? Do the witnesses consider the tool to be efficient and to have worked out?

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Key Priorities for Sport Ireland and Impact of Covid-19 on Sports Sector: Sport Ireland (18 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I thank Mr. Mulvey and Mr. Treacy. What was said about FitLine was very interesting. I will reach out to some people in my community and talk to them about this brilliant initiative. I have five questions so I will bounce them quickly. Does Sport Ireland have any comment on the benefits of TV sport on the mental health of the nation during the pandemic? I refer to the benefits...

Seanad: Combating Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (24 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: Domestic violence does not just happen as physical violence behind closed doors. It also happens on mobile phones, family laptops and iPads. It can be image-based, financial, verbal or in a closed WhatsApp group. As our means of communication change and as our lives change with technology, we have to assume that this behaviour carries into the new wave of living too and we need to regulate...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (24 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I have a timer so I can stay within my time. The Members will have to bear with me as I jump from page to page. I feel for the poor people who have to take note of my speeches. The Minister of State said in his speech that more than 45% of the Irish population holds private health insurance. In light of Senator Kyne's point, I find this an interesting figure. For the last five years or...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Nov 2020)

Annie Hoey: I wish to reflect on third level education. There is a lot of talk about what will happen when students go back to college, if they go back after Christmas. Third level educators and the staff and teachers have been left in a grey area as to how they are to teach. They have been left in the grey a few times already this year, and that cannot happen again. I agree with what IFUT has said,...