Results 1-20 of 2,114 for speaker:Sharon Keogan

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I rise today to highlight a deeply troubling issue in our family courts, namely, the misuse of the concept of parent alienation. Yesterday, I attended a presentation by the Alliance of Birth Mothers Campaigning for Justice. What I heard was harrowing. They told us how parent alienation is being used as a legal weapon and a tactic to dismiss mothers' allegations of child abuse against...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I rise today to speak on the state of the immigration debate in Ireland or, more accurately, the debate about having a debate. It is progress, but not enough. In one breath, we are told to tread carefully when discussing the origins of the rapist of the ten-year-old girl in Citywest because the case is ongoing, but in the next-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Yes, I am not going to mention anything.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Thank you. But in the next breath, TDs fall over themselves to denounce the phantom far right in connection with the horrific burning of an IPAS centre in Drogheda only for it to emerge that the alleged arsonists were linked to organised crime and the attack was likely part of a gang feud.Many in the so-called Opposition were quick to point fingers at the Government for even hinting that...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I have tabled amendment No. 10b to introduce reasonable caps on damages awarded in defamation actions before the High Court. To say something very simple, justice should be fair, proportionate and predictable. This is not a radical idea but the foundation of any functioning legal system. When it comes to defamation laws in Ireland, we are falling short of that standard. At present, there...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I move amendment No. 10b: In page 13, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following new section: “Amendment of section 31 of Principal Act 17. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following new section after section 31: “Caps on damages in defamation actions 31A. (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), in any defamation action before the High Court the...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I move amendment No. 11: In page 14, to delete lines 6 to 22 and substitute the following: " 'abusive court proceedings against public participation' means defamation proceedings or part thereof that pursue unfounded claims and that are not brought to genuinely assert or exercise a right, and have the effect of preventing, restricting or penalising public participation, frequently...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I have great concerns about the health committee's recent pre-legislative scrutiny report on the health (assisted human reproduction) (amendment) Bill. This report is not based on a general scheme but on the policy paper from the Department of Health. The committee admits this is not best practice. Why are we bypassing legislative norms for a matter as ethically complex and legally fraught...

Seanad: Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation Material (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report Stage (5 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Is the discussion on the Bill itself?

Seanad: Child Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation Material (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report Stage (5 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I support the intent behind this Bill and I will speak plainly about why it matters, not just in legal terms, but in human ones. I welcome the decision to replace the term "child pornography" with "child sexual abuse material". This is not a cosmetic change; it is a moral correction. These are not images; they are evidence of crimes. They are not pornography; they are abuse. As such the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 Nov 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I add my voice to those who offered their sympathies on the death of Sr. Stan. I also congratulate our new President, Catherine Connolly. I wish to express serious concern about the European Commission's LGBTQ+ equality strategy for the period 2026 to 2030. This is not a strategy rooted in balance or democratic consensus; it is a document driven by ideology rather than evidence. It...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Child Protection (22 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: This subject might be of interest to the children. There might be some unaccompanied minors from Ukraine here this morning. We are now over three years into the largest displacement crisis Europe has seen since the Second World War. Ireland, rightly so, opened its doors, but opening doors is not the same as ensuring safety. Safety begins with knowing who is in our care. How many...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Child Protection (22 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the Minister. Unfortunately, none of my questions were answered but the most shocking line of that contribution is that 777 children are under the care of Tusla and 432 Ukrainian children have aged out. They are no longer in the care of or accommodated by the agency. It is only supporting five young people over the age of 18 today. That is absolutely shocking. I know one young...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (22 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I will address the presidential election and the growing campaign calling for people to spoil their votes. Some have said that spoiling your vote subverts our democracy. I ask such people to look around the Houses they find themselves in today and to look at the portraits on these walls. Was it a subversion of democracy when 73 Irish MPs refused their seats in the British-approved...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (21 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I rise with a heavy heart to address two tragedies that have taken place in our nation over the past week. A young man fled war in Ukraine and, within four days, was murdered with unspeakable brutality in Ireland. A girl ran away from a Tusla centre and is, allegedly, raped. What do these two tragedies have in common? They were entirely preventable. They highlight two areas in which our...

Seanad: Cost of Childcare: Motion (21 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: We wish to share time and I would like to speak first.

Seanad: Cost of Childcare: Motion (21 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I rise today in support of this motion not because I agree with the proposers on everything - far from it - but because on this issue they are right. Budget 2026 has failed Irish families. It has failed mothers and fathers who are working every hour they can just to afford the privilege of placing their children in the care they need so that they can work in the first place. It has failed...

Seanad: Statement by the Taoiseach (16 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Could we speak, a Chathaoirligh? There are only two of us.

Seanad: Statement by the Taoiseach (16 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: Would the Taoiseach mind if we take a minute? There are only two of us left in the Opposition who have not spoken.

Committee on Children and Equality: Child Poverty and Deprivation: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2025)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the witnesses for their statements and attending this committee meeting today. Before I start, as this is the children's committee, I wish to say how deeply saddened and horrified I was regarding the death of the child in residential care yesterday. Residential care is not the way forward for Tusla. I am asking and begging Tusla to just-----