Results 1-20 of 27 for other and baby speaker:Mary Seery Kearney

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Foreign Birth Registration (23 Jan 2024)

Mary Seery Kearney: I really appreciate the Minister of State's reply. An Irish passport is a precious document and there should be no shortcuts in applying for it for people who are abroad and probably already have a passport of the country in which they live. Where a British citizen is seeking an Irish passport on the basis of descent, for example, that is a reasonable proposition. The case I have outlined...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Dec 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I rise with extremely good news. In the past three and a half years, while I have been here, I have regularly spoken about the families who have been created through surrogacy, children born by surrogacy and the future children to be born by surrogacy. I am pleased that the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, has brought the legislative amendments to the Health (Assisted Human...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Religious, Faith-Based and other Philosophical Perspectives on Assisted Dying: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...due respect, faith has not always influenced the behaviour of our State to the better of its people. As a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth having to deal with mother and baby homes and other situations, we have seen it to the forefront of those unfortunate decisions over years, and the hardship they caused. I am not sure I...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Report Stage (14 Jun 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...from the Minister, which is that we are creating a redress scheme that responds to a multitude of things. In particular, the stigma that arises from an Irish society that sent women into a mother and baby institution, be it in some guises and instances that was a county home. In others it was clearly a mother and baby home. The labelling is different, but the experience of that stigma,...

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2023: Second Stage (20 Apr 2023)

Mary Seery Kearney: I applaud the work of the two Senators who have brought this matter forward. I commend their sincerity and praise Senator Ardagh for how well she has spoken publicly about her personal journey. An IVF journey is, for anybody, an emotional roller-coaster and very difficult. Many people spend their entire financial future – myself included – on the hope of a child. It is worth...

Seanad: Childcare Services: Motion [Private Members] (7 Dec 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ..., I do not agree with everything the proposers said. That is the nature of our different positions. However, the motion gives us an opportunity to highlight important areas that need change and intervention. We have been on a trajectory for a number of years in the childcare and early years sector. It was the Cinderella sector for a very long time and there was a perception of...

Seanad: Childcare Services: Motion [Private Members] (7 Dec 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: Exactly, there must be one to watch the sleeping room. Thus the economics of the baby room are not good in themselves, but at the same time, in tandem with that, we have seen increased parental leave and other supports. We have paternity leave and other elements that have come in that are positive and important.I would rather that we advocated for women or parents to have longer time and...

Seanad: Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report Stage (29 Nov 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: On Committee Stage, I heard Senator Mullen's argument, which came out of the blue for me as it was not something I had thought about before. I had sympathy for his view. He and I engaged extensively the following day about it. I thank the Minister for facilitating a meeting with all of us, including the officials who are present and two others from the Department of Health, subsequent to...

Seanad: Civil Registration (Amendment) (Certificate of Life) Bill 2022: Second Stage (20 Oct 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: It is my great honour to second this Bill and commend it to the House. I am very grateful to hear from the Leader that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is supportive of the Bill. I thank the Minister of State for being here today. I thank the Leader for bringing this forward and for being so tenacious as a Minister and also as a Leader, and for inviting me to be part of it. To Stephen, I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Oct 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I want to begin by honouring the Smith family and thanking them for their tireless work. I hope that Baby Stephen is the first to be registered. I believe that should happen. He can lead the way for so many other babies who need to be recognised. I am thankful to the Leader for allowing me to be a co-sponsor of the Bill. A certificate of life is an extremely important thing for people...

Seanad: Institutional Burials Act 2022 (Director of Authorised Intervention, Tuam) Order 2022: Motion (21 Sep 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I support the motion. The sooner we get through this motion and get on with the excavations in Tuam the closer we will be to families having some sort of closure, which is long overdue. I am mindful and grateful that this is the honouring of a commitment made in July. It is now September and according to the briefing note, it will be 2023 before there are excavations on the site. In the...

Seanad: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: On the proposal to delete the word "may" and substitute "shall", I understand why the amendment is being proposed. However, I cannot support it. We need to allow a latitude that intervention does not occur because it may be the desire of the mothers of babies interred for there to be no intervention. I can think of instances such as Bessborough where mothers want to be able to sit beside...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Second Stage (10 May 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. We stand in a quite magnificent room that carries with it a whole heap of history and magnificence. Am I proud and do I think it appropriate our Government would issue an apology in the surroundings of the Seanad, given the honour this noble House has? I so. Do I agree with it? I do not. The Minister has done an extraordinary amount. He is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (28 Apr 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: This exchange is an unusual experience for me, and almost triggering for me, listening to the process being explored by officials, having gone through the process myself. I wish to thank the officials for their extraordinary dedication, integrity and support that has been given throughout all of the years, and exceptionally so in the last number of months. As evidence of that I have text...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Issues relating to International Surrogacy Arrangements and Achieving Parental Recognition: Discussion (28 Apr 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: The precarious part is that at that stage, by the time the Department is engaging and the emails with all of the documents are going to it, a baby is born. We have embryological standards and we touched on that a little at our last meeting. We know that embryos that were created in Ireland can be sent out to clinics abroad. Those clinics have been confirmed by the likes of the Rotunda...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Surrogacy in Ireland and in Irish and International Law: Assisted Human Reproduction Coalition (21 Apr 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: First, I echo Senator Ruane's apology. I rowed in with her on that subject and perhaps escalated a row. I apologise to the Acting Chair, because it put her in a difficult position, to our witnesses and in the context of the general discourse around this matter. There are many people who are possibly opposed to surrogacy. It is perfectly all right for them to hold that opinion and we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy: Surrogacy in Ireland and in Irish and International Law: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Apr 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...that some of it is prohibition by stealth at times. I felt the first iteration of the assisted human reproduction Bill was going down that route. Dr. Mulligan talked about the donor end of things and surrogacy being transparent. By its very nature, it is obligatory to be transparent about it. This is really a matter of record rather than a question as such. Many people are listening to...

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

Mary Seery Kearney: Today is a happy day. Two children were born in Kyiv. Their Irish parents travelled there in recent days for the birth of their much-longed for babies. Other babies will be born later this week. They have been born into a context where our Government has advised people not to travel due to the impending possibilities that could occur in Kyiv. Often in this House we get up and give out...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Jan 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: ...that yesterday a memo went to Cabinet regarding the special purpose surrogacy committee. This special three-month committee, with the possibility of a fourth month, will deal with complexities and hopefully find a pathway to parenthood for mothers of children born via international surrogacy. I thank the three Ministers - the Ministers for Health; Children, Equality, Disability,...

Seanad: Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (20 Jan 2022)

Mary Seery Kearney: I completely and utterly support this Bill. I commend the Labour Party for bringing it forward, and the INTO for campaigning on it. There is no question but that we need red-circled time for people who are going through reproductive health issues. I have got up previously and stated that I have done 13 in vitrofertilisations, IVFs. By the time one adds it all up, it is a re-mortgage and we...