Results 161-180 of 745 for speaker:Annie Hoey

Seanad: Young People: Motion (17 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank Fine Gael for tabling this Private Members' motion. As a person who talks a lot about young people, and especially about students, I am always eager to talk about them and what we can do to improve things. The motion refers to the contribution that young people make to our society. I want to talk about young carers. In December, I referred to the fact that it is estimated that...

Seanad: Situation in Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel: Statements (17 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank the Minister for coming in today. First, I express my sincere condolences to the families of the dead, and I include people on both sides of the border in that. It is important to recognise loss is loss no matter the geography, age or religion. However, we are not talking about equal partners in destruction, occupation or violence when we speak about the Israeli occupation and...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: General Scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (19 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank the witnesses for attending. I have three questions on areas of interest to me. The first relates to content moderation, which is a huge area in the context of online safety. What led TikTok to decide to keep content moderation in house? Why does Facebook think it is acceptable to outsource content moderation? What are Facebook's thoughts regarding practices whereby employees of...

Seanad: Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I welcome the Minister to the House. I will begin by saying something about the vaccine roll-out. I am starting to hear of more and more friends and family getting their calls to get a first jab. Some are getting a second jab. There is certainly a sense of buoyancy about the place. People have more pep in their step. My vaccine seems a million miles away but I am sure it will come....

Seanad: Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I welcome the Bill from the Labour Party group leader, Senator Bacik, who, I believe, has now introduced and had passed more Private Members' Bills than any other Senator, which is a record to be proud of. This Bill is fundamentally practical, useful and timely. As we begin to emerge from the strangest of times for the organisation of working time for the entire country under Covid-19...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I commend the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, on its Education for All campaign. Other Senators may have passed representatives of the union outside the gates of Leinster House this morning. At €3,000, Irish students are now paying the highest fees in Europe. When I was president of USI in 2015 and 2016, we campaigned against an increase in the student contribution fee. It is,...

Seanad: Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (31 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: Unfortunately, I do not have any personal experience of getting the vaccine yet. I hope I will have that experience soon. I can speak very highly of my dad's experience. The first time we talked about vaccines in the House after Christmas, I recalled how my father and his friend, who are both hard of hearing, roared down the phone at each other about getting the vaccine. They are both...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Impact of Covid-19 on Human Rights and Mental Health: Discussion (25 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I agree that it is really disappointing that there has been so little time for debate on this. I feel it has been designed so that we just have statements in the Seanad with no time for proper analysis. I am watching Committee Stage proceedings on the screen above me. I am pushed on my multitasking but we only have an hour to debate the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (26 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. I was jumping between two meetings, so my apologies if any of my questions have been asked. The committee has previously discussed consultants, hiring, staffing and so on. The witnesses mentioned that there are just three genetic consultants in CHI, for example, but that there is a need for 15 of them. Is there capacity within the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (26 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank Dr. Lynch for addressing the issue a second time. My apologies for bringing it up again. I always throw the net out when there is a topic coming up for discussion at the committee. I spoke to a couple of people who have rare diseases. I spoke to a person who has myalgic encephalomyelitis, ME, and explained the situation. Approximately 14,000 people in Ireland have this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (26 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank Ms McGrath for that answer. I had a conversation with a person who suffers from a rare disease and who feels the only way it is possible to describe the situation at present is that there is a price on life in this country. The experience of the health system has left the person feeling that way. No treatment is currently available for the condition in question, but there may be in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (26 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I thank Ms McGrath again for her answer. I am looking at my notes, and I see that another person to whom I spoke also told me a treatment that may be available in a few years will potentially cost nearly €500,000 as well. I do not know if that is a generalised figure given to people. I spoke to nine or ten different people with rare diseases ahead of this meeting and it struck me as...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: General Scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I think this is the second day I have been at a committee meeting with the ICCL. It is doing the Lord's work coming in and out to meet with us. I have just two questions. Perhaps they are not straightforward but they will be pretty quick. Ms Cronin talked about the collateral effect and the Bill going beyond the scope required. Is the Bill in need of specific reforms or are we going...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: General Scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Annie Hoey: I only have one issue to raise. Obviously, the whole point of this is around the levy and so on. Last week, Sky Ireland told the committee the levy would be a tax on consumers. I think it is fairly obvious from what the witnesses have said today that it would simply claw back some of the revenue that leaves here for these international offices. I suppose the representatives of Sky Ireland...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Impact of Covid-19 on Cancer Services: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Annie Hoey: Ahead of this session, I spoke to some GPs to get their sense of, and thoughts on, how things are going. One of the people I spoke to gave me three sentences: Covid-19 has massively impacted our ability to diagnose cancer; Covid-19 has massively impacted our ability to treat cancer; and Covid-19 has impacted our ability to prevent cancer. It is not that the first two are okay, but we kind...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Impact of Covid-19 on Cancer Services: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Annie Hoey: I am happy with that. I thank the witnesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare: Department of Health (9 Jun 2021)

Annie Hoey: There are a couple of eHealth Ireland initiatives with European funding, including the ePharmacy programme. What other technology or plans are in the pipeline related to Sláintecare? Has there been any change in plans or strategy as a result of learning from the Covid-19 pandemic? The conversation has sped along when it comes to telemedicine. Have the witnesses any further thoughts...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare: Department of Health (9 Jun 2021)

Annie Hoey: I know Deputy Shortall asked about the elimination of fees. We have a few seconds to spare if the witness wants to elaborate on that.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jun 2021)

Annie Hoey: I want to follow up on an earlier point. When we are talking about the national maternity hospital and religious ethos, it is worth pointing out that only nine of the current 19 maternity hospitals provide abortion services that two thirds of the people voted for. We still have a very long way to go to get the abortion services two thirds of the people voted in favour of. I want to...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Jun 2021)

Annie Hoey: I raise again the issue of eating disorders and the woeful lack of supports in place in Ireland. I do not know if any of the Members heard the report on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning, which outlined the ghastly situation facing those suffering with an eating disorder in Ireland and the difficult position in which their families find themselves. Very powerful testimony was provided by CARED...