Results 81-100 of 1,679 for speaker:Sharon Keogan

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Hate Crime) Bill 2020: Second Stage (17 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: "Go woke or go broke" appears to have been the strategy of Fianna Fáil in recent years. This is another example of that pathetic strategy. Devoid of any true guiding principles, languishing on an historic low of 11% in the opinion polls and registering a paltry 8% support from under 35s, it looks as if Fianna Fáil is going broke. It is being devoured by Sinn Féin on its left...

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

Sharon Keogan: I hope the Leader will forgive me for being parochial - I do not normally adopt this approach in the Chamber - but I wish to raise the issue of a secondary school for Duleek. There are 12 feeder schools in the Duleek area. We have the land, a 23-acre site that was allocated for the provision of a school by the bishop in County Meath. I have brought this matter to the attention of the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: Article 40.6.1° of the Constitution refers to the media as the "organs of public opinion". RTÉ, as the national broadcaster, enjoys a privileged position among these organs of public opinion, and not least because it receives almost €200 million annually from the licence fee payer who is compelled by law to pay. The licence fee payers and members of the public listen to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Foster Care and Complaints Process: Tusla (24 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the witnesses for joining us today. I begin by thanking Tusla for the work it does. I thank all the area managers, the individual social workers and all those in the emergency services who work day in, day out with very vulnerable children who are going through a lot in their lives. I can see that these people are under a lot of strain and I thank them because they are providing...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Second Stage (25 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the Acting Chairman. It is great to see a Meath man in the Chair today.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Second Stage (25 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. Public meetings are the cornerstone of local government and are central to the participation of all citizens and members of the public in local democracy. This has been the way since the birth of western democracy. Some 2,500 years ago people would gather in the agora in ancient Athens for political, judicial, commercial, social and religious...

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2020: Motion (25 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I welcome the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to the House as it is the first time we have had the opportunity to address him. I wish him every success in his ministerial post. I welcome the opportunity to speak in favour of this motion to provide State funding to Horse Racing Ireland and Greyhound Racing Ireland in 2021. Horse racing, the thoroughbred industry and greyhound racing are...

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2020: Motion (25 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I did not interrupt Senator Boylan and it is very unfair of her to do it to me. I find astonishing these Members support such measures. I am really astonished by that. Not only are some Members of this House trying to depopulate us with abortion but they also want to target breeders by curtailing how many pups they can breed. At the same time as supporting any reasonable measure to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Conference on Future of Europe and Related Matters: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (25 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I wish the Minister of State good luck in his portfolio of responsibility for European affairs. I also wish, Colm Markey, our new MEP, the very best in his new role. My question is about citizen engagement, dialogue and a citizens' assembly. If I were not sitting at this table, I would not know anything about the upcoming future of Europe conference. How is the Government going to do...

Seanad: Reopening Ireland (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment): Statements (26 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: While I am only an Independent, I would like to think I would provide some opposition to the Government parties today.

Seanad: Reopening Ireland (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment): Statements (26 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber to give us an update on how we are going to move forward. Covid is not the problem; the living with Covid plan of the Government is the issue. It is killing business and society. The silent lie of this Government to those flip-flopping in and out of business is crippling entrepreneurs. There is plenty of money and there are plenty of...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I welcome the Minister of State. I support Senator Boyhan. Indeed, I signed the amendment as well. I am astonished that the former county councillors in the Chamber - I presume there are three - would support getting rid of the mandatory public meeting from the democratic process. The people of Ireland do not have much say anymore. The Covid health legislation and regulations that the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I would like to raise an issue that is very important. This year has been tough for many people. Next weekend, and two weeks after that, many men and women around the country will get to play in Croke Park for the first time. Will the Deputy Leader ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if it is possible that their parents and family members be allowed to...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (2 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I welcome the Minister of State to the house. I hope he will take into consideration the amendment tabled by the Independent Senators. None of us are here purely because we walked in the door. We had to get elected to get in here. We all started off as community activists in one form or another. Part of this involved getting engaged in our communities, going to public meetings and seeing...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I also wish to talk about environmental protection. We can all agree that environmental policy and legislation are vital to protect the environment not just for the sake of the 7 billion to 8 billion people inhabiting this miraculous blue planet of ours, but also for our children and for generations to come. Rigorous implementation of environmental policy and legislation is certainly good...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I wish to raise a very sensitive subject. I expect many parents and teenagers are concerned about it and they probably do not know where to go after the ruling in the UK against the Tavistock Clinic on gender identity. A landmark judgment was made in a court in the UK against a children's identity clinic, the Tavistock Clinic, for prescribing puberty blockers to a child under the age of 16....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I ask the Leader to contact the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, on the issue of puberty blockers that are given to children under the age of 16.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Unmet Needs: Discussion (8 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I was not going to talk at all because I am so angry. I am angry with the HSE and because Ms Comerford and Ms Murphy have had to go through this. There are parents who are still going through this and who will go through this for years to come. It does not make any difference whether we throw money at it and how much money we throw at it, we seem to not have the clinicians to deal with it....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Children's Unmet Needs: Discussion (8 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I apologise, I meant Mr. Noble has a better understanding of what is needed within the HSE to deal with the inadequacies in the existing services. I am grateful to those carers and mothers and fathers who have been going through the toughest of times trying to have their voices heard and being a voice for other parents who are not strong enough to shout for their child. I thank Ms Comerford...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Dec 2020)

Sharon Keogan: I also wish to raise the current development plans throughout the country. We need the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, to come to the House to make a statement on the existing restrictions on the maximum number of new housing units that may be built in each county. We also need to get clarity on the rural housing strategy and how many...