Results 1-20 of 456 for at speaker:Pauline O'Reilly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Draft National Energy and Climate Plan: Discussion (14 May 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the witnesses for their contributions. Sometimes when we see something down on paper we say "Why not just do this?" and "Why not just do more consultation and do it better?" or "Why not just put the resources into mapping how we get to X, Y or Z?" The answer in my experience is that it is almost always politics . We have done the political equivalent of pushing a boulder up a hill...

Seanad: Loneliness: Motion (1 May 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: I move: That Seanad Éireann: notes with concern: - that over 20 percent of Irish people reported feeling lonely most or all of the time, the highest level in the European Union (EU), where the average is only 13 percent; - that nearly one-third of Irish adults over 50 feel emotionally lonely occasionally, with 7 percent frequently experiencing loneliness; - the 2018 A Connected...

Seanad: Loneliness: Motion (1 May 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: We tend to think of Ireland as a very friendly place that is dominated by community spirit. Additionally, volunteerism is very high in Ireland. What is shocking is that Ireland is actually the loneliest place in Europe. The official figures show that 20% of Irish people reported feeling lonely most or all of the time. This is the highest level in the European Union, where the average is...

Seanad: Loneliness: Motion (1 May 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: Every time you put forward a motion or a Bill, you worry that people will not get it and will not understand how vital it is to bring forward an issue and to bring solutions to the surface. I thought at the start that I might be standing here alone, a Billy No-Mates, but everybody, from all political groupings, has been passionate about this issue. It does require a little thought. I...

Seanad: Loneliness: Motion (1 May 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Apr 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: ...behalf of the Green Party, to welcome our colleague, Mal O'Hara, who is chair of our all-Ireland party. I have worked closely with Mal for a number of years. On behalf of the Green Party, I negotiated our foreign affairs and Northern Ireland policy and Mal joined me in those negotiations along with former leader Clare Bailey. We negotiated with the Ministers, Deputies Coveney and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Health Strategies (21 Mar 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: The Minister of State is very welcome. To our shame in Ireland, we have the lowest rates of breastfeeding in Europe. We have one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the world, in fact. A recent study by The Lancet showed that 800,000 babies per year and 20,000 women per year die as a result of not breastfeeding. This should be a shock for us in a First World country. We know that...

Seanad: Casual Vacancy: Motion (7 Mar 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: I move: That the Clerk of Seanad Éireann do send to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage notice of a vacancy in the membership of Seanad Éireann occasioned by the resignation of Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile, a member elected from the Oireachtas Sub-Panel of the Administrative Panel at the General Election for Seanad Éireann, April, 2020.

Seanad: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: On the issue of the 100 m limit, Senator Mullen is saying, on the one hand, that there is no problem or issue here, and if that is the case, he should not have an objection to this legislation at all. He is saying there are no protests outside any of these facilities and, therefore, we should have no issue with passing the legislation. That aside, the idea that women who go in to access...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Closures (6 Mar 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: ...in a small hospital like the one we have in Connemara the hospital closes. This is an ongoing issue. There does not seem to be any sustainable solution to this, so people do not have confidence that there will be a solution. There needs to be a reprioritisation. It is certainly at the heart of Sláintecare that we have local services for local people so that people are not...

Seanad: Family Carers: Motion [Private Members] (31 Jan 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for coming to the House and staying for the debate. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for her work in this area, which was rightly pointed out by the previous speaker. I do a lot of canvassing, as many colleagues do, and one of the recurring themes at the doorsteps is disability rights and the situation of carers. It is our...

Seanad: Ráiteas mar Eolas do Vótálaithe i ndáil leis an mBille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (An Teaghlach), 2023: Tairiscint - Statement for Information of Voters in relation to the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (The Family) Bill 2023: Motion (23 Jan 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: Tairgim: "GO ndéanfar an ráiteas atá leagtha amach sa Sceideal a ghabhann leis an Rún seo a fhorordú mar eolas do vótálaithe, de bhun alt 23 d'Acht an Reifrinn, 1994 (Uimh. 12 de 1994), i ndáil leis an togra chun an Bunreacht a leasú, atá ar áireamh sa Bhille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (An Teaghlach),...

Seanad: An Bille um an Daicheadú Leasú ar an mBunreacht (Cúram), 2023: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (23 Jan 2024)

Pauline O'Reilly: As there are a lot of amendments in this grouping, I will speak to them broadly. It is really significant and important during the lifetime of this Government that we have done what many Governments have failed to do in the past, that is, to take out the sexist language, which is what the proposal is here. We take out the sexist language while still recognising the importance of family...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Citizens' Assembly (14 Dec 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: The Minister of State is very welcome. I am raising the issue of the citizens' assembly on education this morning. I am failing in my efforts to find a date for this citizens' assembly.That is why I, unfortunately, have had to call the Minister of State to the Seanad. Under this Government, a number of successful citizens’ assemblies have been held. I am passionate about the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Citizens' Assembly (14 Dec 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: With due respect to the Minister of State, when I last raised a Commencement matter, it related to his Department, yet it was the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, who took it. Today, I am raising an education matter and the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, is taking it. Neither situation is desirable. It sounds like the Minister of State’s response was written by...

Seanad: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Second Stage (14 Dec 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: -----and disgrace that any politician would do that to staff who are going about their business. We had a referendum and not everybody voted in favour, but this is the way laws work. We vote, and take it on the chin if we do not get what we want and the laws are passed. I am encouraged by this legislation. Unfortunately, only one in ten GP practices engage in allowing women to have...

Seanad: Hypothermia Scalp Cooling Therapy: Motion [Private Members] (13 Dec 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I move: “That Seanad Éireann: recognises that: - hair loss during cancer treatment or chemotherapy-induced alopecia is one of the most common side effects of cancer therapy; it can have a profoundly negative impact on cancer patients, often compounding the worry and trauma they are experiencing dealing with the cancer itself; further recognises that: - there is a...

Seanad: Hypothermia Scalp Cooling Therapy: Motion [Private Members] (13 Dec 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I thank the Minister for being here today. I also thank Bríd McGrath who is in the Public Gallery. She raised this issue with me and since then we have been working together on it. We have discovered that a large number of people in Ireland have benefited from cold cap treatment in hospitals. In some ways it is quite straightforward. Much research have been done and in over 50% of...

Seanad: Hypothermia Scalp Cooling Therapy: Motion [Private Members] (13 Dec 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: I will first address the cost. The HSE wrote directly to Deputy Leddin, whom I asked to raise a parliamentary question about the costing, and told him that purchasing it would cost between €20,000 and €230,000, including VAT. What price a woman’s health? It is such a small amount of money. We know that women have lost faith in the health service, particularly cancer...

Seanad: Hypothermia Scalp Cooling Therapy: Motion [Private Members] (13 Dec 2023)

Pauline O'Reilly: Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.