Results 1-20 of 41 for speaker:Laura Harmon

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Facilities (10 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. My question concerns radiation therapists and machines that are currently not operating in some hospitals throughout the country. Some are not operating at full capacity due to staffing issues. I am aware my question overlaps the Departments of Health and further and higher education. There is an estimated shortfall of between 30% and 35% in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Facilities (10 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister of State for the response and for providing clarity on my questions. It is welcome that the deficit in radiation therapy posts has been reduced from 30% down to 14% to 22%. That is still quite a high deficit, but it is welcome that progress has been made on it. Regarding the 0.5 of a machine inactivity rates in the areas the Minister of State mentioned, is that daily,...

Seanad: Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I will share my time with Senator Nessa Cosgrove, who will be seconding the proposal. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and welcome him to the House. I thank him for his engagement on this issue to date. I know the Minister and the Government are also keen to find a solution to this and have been looking at solutions to this. I...

Seanad: Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister, Jim O'Callaghan, for engaging with this today and for his clearly considered response to this Bill and his frank comments relating to it. It is welcome that the Cabinet has approved this in the sense of not opposing it at this stage. I welcome his positive remarks regarding some aspects of the Bill and the substance of the Bill itself. I take on board the three points...

Seanad: Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Disability Services: Statements (8 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted to be the Labour Party's spokesperson on disability and further and higher education. I look forward to engaging with her constructively over the coming months and years. This year will mark seven years since Ireland ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Having now signed up to the optional...

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

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister of State for being here and thank the Tánaiste for his remarks. It is fair to say we are in a period of a lot of change in the world. The world order has changed. I do not believe Trump is the leader of the free world, and democracy is being eroded across the US and across the world. It is worrying that he has abolished the national Department of Education in the...

Seanad: Childcare: Statements (2 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I thank the Minister for being here. It is fair to say the childcare and early years sector in Ireland is characterised by low pay for those working in the sector, high staff turnover, high costs for those running childcare settings and high costs for parents and families who wish to avail of this service. We need to cap the childcare fee at €200 and we need a clear timeframe for...

Seanad: Housing: Statements (2 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: It sends a shiver down the spine of people who are saving for a mortgage when they hear of the constant increase in home prices in this country. People are saving money to stand still, while there is no corresponding increase in savings interest in banks. Rents are rising, the cost of living and food has increased and prices are going up and up. The housing crisis is a ticking time bomb....

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

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister. I support wholeheartedly this practical Bill. Section 2 is practical and will ensure we uphold our obligations under international human rights law. We are at a defining moment for our humanity and what it means to be human. Palestine is currently a mirror to the soul of the world. Somebody said that the revolution will not be televised; well, the genocide is...

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

Laura Harmon: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 9 be taken before No. 1. It relates to the Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025. I will speak briefly to it. I hope we will have a debate on it in the House in future. It is a very straightforward Bill that is laser focused on the advertising of rental properties and prohibits and criminalises...

Seanad: Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025: First Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled An Act to prohibit certain acts in relation to soliciting or importuning sexual services in consideration of a reduced rent or in lieu of rent for the letting of a tenancy or other residential accommodation, and to provide for related matters.

Seanad: Prohibition of Advertising or Importuning Sex for Rent Bill 2025: First Stage (1 Apr 2025)

Laura Harmon: Next Tuesday.

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

Laura Harmon: I will be brief. I support the extension of the ARP and the scheme. It is a success story for Ireland in terms of hosting and our response to this humanitarian crisis. Research from the Ukraine Civil Society Forum states that 86% of the hosts report that the ARP is important for them if they are to continue hosting. This finding would also suggest that more that 30,000 refugees could face...

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

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister of State and look forward to engaging with him in his brief. It is safe to say this is one of the biggest access-to-education issues we are facing in this country. Approximately 100 children in Cork are still waiting to be offered a school place this September. I recently attended in Cork city a protest on this issue organised by Nicole Hosford. I actually bumped...

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

Laura Harmon: I raise the issue of young carers. Last week I attended a briefing on this issue organised by Deputy Mark Wall of the Labour Party. I was shocked to learn that, throughout Ireland, 67,000 young carers between the ages of ten and 17 care for family members. It was great to see that, last week, a motion on this issue was passed unanimously in the Dáil.I would welcome further discussion...

Seanad: Road Safety: Statements (25 Mar 2025)

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. He has a great opportunity to improve road safety for all road users in Ireland as part of his brief. At the age of 38, I am learning to drive for the first time. I am in the middle of my driving lessons. It is terrifying when I hear about collisions on the South Link Road in Cork and the fatality rates, with 174 people killed on our roads...

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

Laura Harmon: I welcome the Minister for Health to the House, especially after her recent travels, and thank her for representing Ireland so well at the UN Commission on the Status of Women recently. Many of the points have been made and I will not get into repetition. This is very indicative of what we are hearing about health in general. When we think of health and the health service in this country,...

Seanad: Seachtain na Gaeilge: Ráitis (6 Mar 2025)

Laura Harmon: Is as Baile Bhuirne mé ó dhúchas i gContae Chorcaí ach tá mé i mo chónaí i gcathair Chorcaí. Rinne mé mo bhunoideachas agus mo mheánoideachas trí Ghaeilge. Fós, caithfidh mé cleachtadh a dhéanamh. Tá mo Ghaeilge saghas meirgí. Tá mé an-bhródúil as m'áit dhúchais. Rugadh...

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

Laura Harmon: I want to raise the issue of student accommodation. I attended a briefing in the audiovisual room this morning by the University of Galway Students Union, which recently published a report to which 1,700 students at the university responded. The report contains some stark findings. It found that 78% of respondents had struggled to find accommodation, and one in 20 was living in temporary...