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

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Funding (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...budget of an additional €6 million for the Minister of State’s Department. I have submitted this matter because we really need to understand how much of the funding is being apportioned to the drugs and alcohol tasks forces under the drugs strategy. The Minister of State is no doubt aware of the views of the chairs of the drugs and alcohol task forces around Dublin. I am...

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: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: Last Friday, Senator Ruane and I had the honour of participating in the launch of a short film called "Turning Down the Volume", which was produced by our respective drugs task forces. Senator Ruane is the chair of the Canal Communities Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force and I am the chair of the D12 Local Drug and Alcohol Task force. First, we must remind ourselves the drug task forces, as...

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: Budget 2022: Statements (Resumed) (13 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: As chair of a drugs task force and as part of that network, I know the Senator gave a commitment to speak strongly on that issue. I am proud of the Senator and the drugs task forces would be proud of how she has represented their needs. I trust the Minister of State is on a trajectory of engagement that will have a positive outcome in the review.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Community Care (14 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I appreciate the Minister of State taking this matter at short notice. CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign has highlighted in advance of budget 2023 that drug and alcohol task force community projects are places where lives are changed and lives are saved. These organisations do extraordinary work. During the past year, in one drug task force area in which I have experience, alcohol and cocaine...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Bill 2021: Second Stage (27 Jan 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I welcome this as a technical Bill and a necessity. Listening to some of the commentary, I am chair of the drugs task force and gardaí always show off their fantastic resources. We reach out to them all the time in the community. Even when it is outside the community of our particular drugs task force and matters arise or in the wider area of my home constituency in Dublin...

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: 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...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Strengthening Prevention and Early Intervention Supports to Children and Families Post Pandemic: Prevention & Early Intervention Network (9 Nov 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: ..., which I really appreciate. I am very struck by the statement that there are good policies in place, but it is about the implementation of those policies. We see reports like yesterday's drug task force report and the research done by the Tallaght drug task force, and it would be mirrored in the one I chair in Dublin 12. Poverty and adversity in childhood set in motion a whole sequence...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...has been proven worldwide to provide support. However, the parent of a child with an intellectual disability who needs this product will need to pay up to €300 a month for treatment with this drug. That is not okay. I call for a debate on the regulation of drugs and how drugs are approved to qualify under the long-term illness scheme or to be covered by a medical card. What is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Community Care (14 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...x20ac;4,900 in its average monthly energy cost?The answer to that is they cannot do so without shaving either staff or services to the 600 people who attend their premises every day. While the prevalence of drug use is the same across all societies and sectors, the greatest impact of drug use is where there is greatest deprivation. Such communities are in a stranglehold. We must make...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 Sep 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...As recent events in the media suggest, and I will not refer to a specific case but from my own experience from working in criminal law, there are organisations that set up voluntarily to assist in drug rehabilitation. These organisations may be faith-based and may assist young people who seek to rehabilitate themselves and we have heard about recent cases. One issue in this regard...

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: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Nov 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...Youth Services in Crumlin. The forum was organised by Paula Leonard of the Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network, ICANN, which is the alcohol forum. It was attended by members of the local drug and alcohol task force in my area of Dublin 12 and by people from the WHO. Several striking aspects arose. We first watched a video prepared by the Canal Communities and the Dublin 12 drug...

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: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Oct 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...and the HSE, as well as organisations such as the Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network, ICAAN, which is funded by the HSE. ICAAN is headed up by Paula Leonard and provides great supports to drugs and alcohol task forces around the country, and would be well placed to run programmes in schools. There seems to be automatic access. The detail of the programme which has been rolled out...

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: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Funding (19 Oct 2021)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...and openness in the context of listening to the sector. I welcome the breakdown of the funding allocated. I will be delighted to share that information with the chairs and co-ordinators of the drug and alcohol task forces when I go back to my office. The health model is problematic, though, when we are dealing with such a complex basket of needs. What is required is an...

Seanad: Public Order and Safe Streets: Statements (23 Nov 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...years. There are new innovations in the community safety innovation fund and that is to be applauded. There is fantastic work going on. For years, gardaí been working with policing forums and drugs task forces. There are certainly gardaí involved in the drugs task force I am on. Their contributions, their listening and the advice we get on the side are extraordinary. There...