Results 1-20 of 47 for speaker:Mike Kennelly

Committee on Children and Equality: Priority Issues Facing the Department: Minister for Children, Disability and Equality (12 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I thank the Chair. First, I welcome the Minister, Deputy Foley, and her colleagues here this morning. I look forward to working with her. We served well in the last chamber we worked in together, in Kerry County Council. We worked well together and I sincerely wish her well in this very important role as Minister for children and equality. It is one role that every member inside here...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health Services (12 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I welcome the Minister of State. I am speaking on a promise I made to the people of north Kerry that, when I became a voice for them in the Seanad, I would do what I could to reinstate out-of-hours SouthDoc services in Listowel. SouthDoc is an out-of-hours GP service operating across Kerry and Cork, providing urgent medical care when a person's regular GP is unavailable. It is designed for...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health Services (12 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I have seen this before. Let us be honest. I will go back to what I said in my opening contribution; the population here has grown nearly twofold. We should be thankful that it has. During the Covid pandemic, many of the kids came home to live and work in the area and in their family homes. They have stayed in the area. Football team numbers...

Committee on Children and Equality: Priority Issues Facing the Department: Minister for Children, Disability and Equality (12 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I have a question to ask on behalf of a family. Foster parents have been looking after a kid for many years, since he was five years old. He will shortly turn 22. He has high enough dependencies in the context of independent living and stuff like that. The only pathway for this family is full-time foster care for this person. What is the best advisable mechanism for this family? They...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I welcome the Minister and his opening comments. I acknowledge the breadth of work his Department has undertaken across all sectors of learning. There is a great deal to be encouraged by, particularly the progress on student accommodation the Minister just mentioned. I will mention the return of student accommodation in Munster Technological University, MTU, in Tralee recently. That is a...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: MTU Kerry would welcome the Minister.

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I would like some clarity on the reform to SUSI and the income disregard while students are working. Students can earn up to €8,424, which in today's terms does not match what students have to do. Students have to work more and work longer hours just to stay studying. On Senator Daly's point, I welcome the €500,000 in funding for the bus route. Is it just a pilot programme?

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Engagement with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (11 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: We have students for whom a 50-mile one-way trip is not an issue in rural north Kerry where they are attending MTU. The sad reality, though, is that one of the private bus operators turned 70 last week and he can no longer drive that bus. I hope we can work with whatever Department it is to ensure these people over 70 can be allowed to continue. Again, I know it is not the Minister's...

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

Mike Kennelly: I want to speak today on a matter of importance for the people of north Kerry, namely, the urgent need for the reinstatement of an out-of-hours SouthDoc service in Listowel. As it stands, there is no SouthDoc out-of-hours service operating in north Kerry.This means that for medical attention after regular hours, people in north Kerry and the surrounding areas, from Ballylongford to Duagh,...

Seanad: Insurance Reform: Motion (10 Jun 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I welcome the proposal and acknowledge the work Senator Linda Nelson Murray and her seconder have put into this. I, too, am against the very excessive increase of 16.7% proposed by the Judicial Council following the review of the personal injuries guidelines. This proposed change would undermine the progress we have made in rebalancing the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Transport (22 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and thank him for taking the time to address this important issue. I am advocating for the urgent implementation of a dedicated Bus Éireann secondary school transport route to Tralee in County Kerry, specifically servicing the communities of Lixnaw and Abbeydorney, which are located in north Kerry, where I currently reside. In these...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Transport (22 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. As I said in my first contribution, the time has come to move beyond outdated catchment policies and towards a demand-led approach that reflects how families live and learn today. According to the Minister of State, Bus Éireann has advised that there is a service that pupils of this area can avail of, with pick-up points of approximately 9.2...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I wish to advocate on behalf of those seeking the implementation of a dedicated Bus Éireann secondary school transport route to Tralee from north Kerry, specifically servicing the communities of Lixnaw and Abbeydorney. In these communities, 19 families and 29 students face significant challenges due to the absence of a structured reliable transport service. At present, parents are...

Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: Business of Joint Committee (21 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I congratulate the Chair on her role. I am a first-time Senator from Kerry. I invite everyone down to Kerry as well while the book is open. I congratulate the Chair and wish her every success. I hope we will all work together and be united in everything we say here today. In the programme for Government, there are many challenges and barriers we need to iron out. Hopefully, with the...

Seanad: Driving Test Waiting Times: Statements (20 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today on a really serious topic. I am not going rehash everything that has been said. However, the situation in Kerry is particularly concerning. According to the latest figures, the waiting time for a driving test in Tralee averages approximately 26 or 27 weeks, while in Killarney, applicants face a delay of up to 15 weeks. These...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I rise this morning regarding serious health concerns for the people of Listowel in north Kerry and the people of west Limerick. I am calling for the full restoration of the SouthDoc services at Listowel primary care centre. As stated, I am calling on the HSE and SouthDoc to immediately restore full out-of-hours GP services at the Listowel primary care centre to their previous operational...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Flood Relief Schemes (14 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. This Commencement matter relates to flooding. If there is time, I hope to speak later on how flooding events in the past ten years have completely destroyed many areas in Listowel. Today I bring to the Minister of State's urgent attention a deeply distressing case involving the Gabrielyan family in Listowel, County Kerry, and the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Flood Relief Schemes (14 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I wholeheartedly thank the Minister of State. The family has applied for the offer to be revised and increased. Can it take it that it is with the Department and we can look positively on an increase for the family to secure a home? I welcome all the work that has been done. It has been revised twice and the family has gone back again to look for further funding to eventually get out of...

Seanad: Public Health (Restriction on Sale of Stimulant Drinks to Children) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 May 2025)

Mike Kennelly: I welcome the Minister of State and I thank Senator Keogan for bringing forward what I believe is a very important Bill. It is timely. As a parent and as a coach all my life who has dealt with children and adults, I have seen first hand what these stimulant drinks can do. They can drive kids, young adults and even adults nearly to a certain point of breakdown. It is timely and necessary...

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

Mike Kennelly: I raise a humanitarian issue for a family in Listowel. Over the last ten years, they have been flooded in their home three times. They applied for the relocation scheme through the OPW but it is not working in their favour. The family are Artur and Liene Gabrielyan and their two sons. I will outline the details of their family journey so far with the OPW relocation scheme. They applied...