Results 1-20 of 29 for speaker:Sarah O'Reilly

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: Last week on World Autism Awareness Day, families, parents and children stood together to demand access to education. Children with autism throughout the country are being locked out of a system that claims to be inclusive. The right to education is not conditional and should not depend on where you live or how loudly you shout. Nowhere is this clearer than in County Donegal, where...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: At 6 o'clock this evening, Aontú will hold a protest outside the Dáil to call on the Government to keep the triple lock. Roger Cole is a long-standing advocate for peace and is the founder and chairman of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance. He will be the guest speaker tonight. At a time when there is violent conflict across the Middle East, an ongoing war between Russia and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I had the privilege of hearing sepsis stories from Hannah Tormey, Catríona Cahill and Sinéad O’Reilly, two of whom are nurses. They shared their personal experiences with sepsis. The presentation was incredibly personal and heartbreaking, but the part that stood out the most for me was when the nurses were asked if they had trust in the accident and emergency departments...

Seanad: International Trade and International Relations: Statements (Resumed) (3 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for coming in today. I wish to speak about the effect this trade war will have on small areas such as my town in Cavan. Two of the largest employers in my town are Lakeland Dairies and Terra Limited. One makes butter and the other is a distillery making whiskey for the US market. The tariffs announced are causing fear and instability in the world of business...

Seanad: Childcare: Statements (2 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: Across the childcare sector there is huge frustration among service providers, staff and families. In March, the Government approved fee hikes in nearly 20% of childcare providers in the country. These hikes directly contradict the promises outlined in the programme for Government, which committed to reducing the cost of childcare to €200 a month per child. The caring professions...

Seanad: Housing: Statements (2 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister and thank him for coming to the Chamber to hear what we have to say. Homelessness is at an all-time high. As of March, it was 11% higher than it was in the same month last year. There are 15,378 people living in emergency accommodation and that number includes 4,653 children. This is equivalent to 155 full classrooms of children living in uncertainty and stress,...

Seanad: Air Navigation and Transport (Arms Embargo) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (2 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today. I welcome the opportunity to speak on section 2 of the Bill. It is such an important step towards ensuring that Ireland is not complicit in the devastation we are witnessing in Palestine. Some 50,000 innocent people have been killed, the vast majority of whom were women and children. Families have been torn apart, entire...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health Strategies (1 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank her for coming in. I have a letter in my hand from the national cancer control programme, NCCP, detailing how the HSE is failing to meet its radiation treatment target of 90%. This target aims to have those who are deemed fit for radiation treatment to begin the treatment within 15 days. The 10% buffer is there to allow for...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health Strategies (1 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I welcome the good news which the Minister of State has come with here today in that the deficit in staffing has reduced from 30% to between 14% and 22%. I do not really know what that means but it is good that it is improving and that has to be welcomed. The faster treatments are not always suitable for patients because they are more concentrated. As they take a shorter time, they are...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Apr 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I want to address the issue of Cavan General Hospital. This last bastion of safety for the unborn is now performing abortions. This means that all 19 maternity hospitals in Ireland will end the lives of preborn babies. This is happening despite the many pro-life doctors, nurses and other staff of the hospital who bravely stood by their belief in the Hippocratic oath to exercise ethical...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4(2)) (Scheme Termination Date) Order 2025: Motion (27 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber. The Government is drowning in dysfunction. The implementation of the accommodation recognition payment is another example of this dysfunction. The scheme was originally set at €400 per month, it was then doubled to €800 and the proposal now is to reduce it to €600. The Government has offered no clear rationale for this....

Seanad: Special Education Provision: Motion (26 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important issue. I wholly support the Sinn Féin motion. Across the country, there are thankless parents who have to fight tooth and nail to get access to education for their children. As was mentioned already, a child's right to education is enshrined in our Constitution. There must be equal access to education for children with...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I too welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth from Bailieborough, and her family. It is great to see them here today. I call on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to take immediate action on the war crimes Israel is committing by bombing hospitals. Cavan native and surgeon, Dr. Morgan McMonagle, is currently acting as a humanitarian worker in Nasser hospital....

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements (25 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for coming to speak to us. Every single death is a tragedy for victims, families, friends and communities. However, the new speed limits were a knee-jerk reaction to an issue that was more complicated. Speed can be a factor in road deaths but it is not the only issue that contributes to the loss of lives on our roads. For example, motorways have a high...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: We are eight weeks out from Storm Éowyn and we still have many difficulties in my area in Cavan. To date, the Department of Social Protection has received 66,000 applications for the humanitarian assistance scheme with only one third of them approved. Many people have been in touch in recent days to say their applications for support have been rejected. In fact, some people have not...

Seanad: Common Agricultural Policy National Plan: Statements (20 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: The Minister is very welcome. I thank him very much for coming here to hear what we have to say. We hear time and again about the Government's commitment to rural Ireland but the figures tell a different story. The latest statistics on CAP payments reveal a shocking and unacceptable disparity. The statistics point to evidence that proves what we all know already: there is no actual...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I wish to raise the issue of the school bus scheme. While it may seem too early to be raising this, I am already being overwhelmed with communications from stressed-out parents. Under the current criteria, a primary school pupil must live at least 3.2 km from their nearest school to qualify for a bus place. In 2024, it was mooted that this will be reduced to 2 km and then eventually to 1...

Seanad: Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (19 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which Aontú will support in both Houses. It is a pity that the Government's promises have rung so hollow that my colleagues in this House have been forced to introduce a Bill to push the Government legally to fulfil its commitments to people with scoliosis. It is a condition that has severe physical impacts, but it is not just a physical...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: In the run-up to International Women's Day, I want to acknowledge and recognise a woman who is suffering greatly in a bid to get justice for her son, Noah Donohoe. Each and every one of us is someone's child. Many of us have a child or children of our own who we know could very well have been Noah. If what happened to this family was to happen to any one of us, none of us would ever stop...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Mar 2025)

Sarah O'Reilly: I do.