Results 1-20 of 42 for drugs speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Smartphone and Social Media Use: Motion [Private Members] (24 Apr 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...is welcome. I thank the Minister for taking the time to attend. I appreciate that she is very busy at the moment so she is very good to come here. As long ago as 2010, the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Use published an article that said smartphone use and social media platforms - platforms, apps and games - were designed to be addictive, which is what is addressed in this...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome the ambassador. The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding the orders of reference of the joint committee on drugs use, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Agreement on a Unified Patent Court) Bill 2024 – Second Stage, to be taken at 12.15 p.m. and to adjourn at 1.30 p.m. if not...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...raised with him that people were left out of the scheme, said he would review it. I have it written in big bold print on my desk with a view to holding him rigorously to it. With regard to the drug trials, I know Senator Boyhan is working very hard on this and I hope we will have progress there. I also note there is no progress in the contribution from the religious institutions. It...

Seanad: Joint Committee on Drugs Use: Motion (21 Mar 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...— (1) a Special Committee consisting of five members of Seanad Éireann be appointed, to be joined with a Special Committee to be appointed by Dáil Éireann, to form the Joint Committee on Drugs Use (‘the Joint Committee’); (2) the Joint Committee shall consider the Report of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use (‘the Report’) and shall...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...on us to have statements and a discussion on the matter with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. It is affecting many things. I have seen that it has implications on who sits and attends meetings of drug task forces. It has quite wide ramifications. The debate is necessary. Senator Gavan made a number of points. I am very happy to contact the Leader's office immediately to ensure a letter...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Bill 2023: Second Stage (31 Jan 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...in the morning include the mothers in Cherry Orchard who go and do three cleaning jobs in the day so that they can buy the Canada Goose jacket for their child or the fancy designer runners so that some drug dealer does not do it in order to induce a child into carrying or holding drugs. How many times have we come across young people when they are asked to do this and this is what they...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I support the amendment proposed by Senator Doherty to the Order of Business to take No. 10 before No. 1, regarding the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) (Control of Nitrous Oxide) Bill 2023. It is incredibly important that we bring this forward. I am chair of a drugs task force and am aware of the increase in nitrous oxide use. The view of some parents that it is safe and that it is a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Nov 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...one moment, condemn industrial action, the reasons for it need to be discussed.The reasons for it need to be discussed and we need to have this debated on the floor of the House. I am chair of a drugs task force and many of the other chairs around the country are experiencing similar issues to the one we do, whereby there is a freeze on acting up. There is an instruction that no one is...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach (28 Sep 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...of opportunity. In order for children to have equality of opportunity they need a structure and a community that is empowered and supported especially when suffering the deprivation brought about by drugs and drug-related issues. In that regard I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, on her recent announcement of €3.5 million for the drugs task forces. I appreciate the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Jul 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I ask that we have statements on the operation and value of local drug and alcohol task forces when we come back after the recess. I appreciate that there is no time between now and the end of this session to deal with the matter. These task forces have been operating since the 1990s. They make an exceptional contribution to our communities, but since the economic crash, they have not seen...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Pharmacy Services (22 Jun 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...it happens is also involved in pharmaceutical representation. In that context, she explained to me that when there is a shortage of supply, pharmacists are qualified to and capable of varying the drug a person has been prescribed and recommending an alternative. However, the pharmacists must email or fax GPs - and it is shocking that people have to fax at all in this day and age - and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...to An Garda Síochána of spiking went from ten to 106. I think 106 is a drop in the ocean in terms of what is going on. I think of work done by people like Noeline Blackwell, who says that the drug of choice for spiking is giving people more alcohol than they think they are taking. This includes masking, where a person at a social occasions may think they are taking one shot...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Cash-for-Gold Outlets (3 May 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...no idea who these people are. We do not know that this is not a source of criminality. We know there are communities under significant pressure and individuals in communities under terrible pressure for drug debts and all sorts of intimidation. It strikes me, therefore, that we absolutely need to know who is dealing what in gold, particularly at a time of difficulty. We get warnings...

Seanad: EU Regulations: Motion (26 Apr 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...cannot do this on its own. We need European co-operation. Europe seems to be the regulatory body for the entire world at this point. It is estimated that 80% of criminal networks are involved in drugs, organised property crime, fraud, human trafficking, online fraud and migrant smuggling. Of those, 65% are composed of members of multiple nationalities. There are 180 nationalities...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Youth Work: Discussion (18 Apr 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ..., I had never had any exposure. I was not in a youth club growing up. I did not know what youth work was until I was impacted, so to speak, by Alan, who is now team leader of the Rialto community drug team. At every management meeting, when we would talk about the use of the building, Alan and Nicola, another exceptional youth worker he worked with, would say the YMCA is the Young Men's...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (28 Mar 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...is not operating as it stands. On another announcement, Cariban was to be available and accessible to women suffering from hyperemesis from January this year.However, the administrative access to this drug is so difficult and complex that women are being admitted to hospital, put on intravenous drips and treated in a way that would not be necessary if access to the medication could be...

Seanad: Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (28 Feb 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...they are and how to monitor them, there is also a rehabilitative element to it. Scholarly articles look at recidivism rates and, to be fair, sexual offences do not have the highest recidivism rates; drugs offences and other areas do. According to different scholarly articles I have looked at, after three years 5% of sexual offenders will have reoffended and after 15 years, 24% will have....

Seanad: Citizens Assembly on Drugs Use: Motion (23 Feb 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I pay great tribute to Senator Ruane and all the work she has done. She and I are both chairs of drugs task forces. I asked her for a reading list of things she thought I should be educated on to make me a better chair of a drugs task force. She led me down a route that has been fascinating and very educational. I read In the Realm of Hungry Ghostsby Gabor Maté. I also read The...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Medicinal Products (2 Feb 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...severe illness and vomiting during pregnancy. The condition for its reimbursement under the scheme is that it must be prescribed by a consultant. However, the reimbursement is subject to the drug payment scheme meaning that the person for whom it is prescribed must pay the first €80. A woman may only see a consultant when she is well advanced in the first trimester, if not at the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Medicinal Products (2 Feb 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister of State. With due respect, putting the onus on drug companies to make the application when they are part of a for-profit industry - and let us be very clear about what it is - is absolutely farcical. It is not a patient-led response nor is it a citizens-of-the-Republic-led response. The fact is that what we are about is deferring the risk and the legal burden onto a...