Keira Keogh
Mayo · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I am a grown woman and I would be really embarrassed if I had to ask the Tánaiste, as my superior, for a tampon. Luckily, here in Leinster House they are freely available in some of the bathrooms, although not all.”
“It is an average of €100 per year, which is around the cost of junior GAA membership. I welcome improvements in some public places. We now have period products in libraries and hospitals. I know there are two programme for Government commitments under education and health.”
“A recent report from Barnardos shows that children are going without activities and sport due to a lack of money. A total of 44% of parents surveyed said that they are cutting back on social activities and entertainment, 19% are cutting back on local sport activity participation and 16% are cutting back on school activities and trips.”
“We must ensure our children in low-income families, IPAS facilities or emergency accommodation do not miss out on the opportunity for friendship, confidence and physical development that play and extracurricular activities bring.”
“As the chair of the children and equality committee, I must examine this through the lens of children's rights, and I see where there might be gaps.”
“If Deputy O'Donoghue thinks that he has not used AI before, he definitely has. Even if he has not used a particular AI app, if he put a search into Google this evening, he would have got an AI summary whether he wanted it or not.”
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“The wonders of modern technology, meaning non-speaking children have access to AAC, means that the future is bright for children like Grace, who was unable to give a submission to the report. She would be able to advocate for herself and tell her carers when she needed to use the bathroom, wanted to listen to music or had suffered harm by another. Let us be honest. No child should need to use their voice or a device to explain how they have been failed. Grace was failed repeatedly by the very people and institutions that were supposed to protect her. I have also seen the effects of systems that are too slow or overburdened, but none of what I have seen compares to what Grace has endured. Grace was failed by those who did not listen to her in whatever way she was communicating and did not advocate for her.”
“He might have been described as non-verbal and non-speaking, but his story changed because although he was unable to sit still, speak with his voice or complete tasks like inset puzzles, he received lots of therapy and support from his parents. We discovered he could type. After that, we realised the boy did not have any cognitive difficulties. In fact, he knew all about space and even Donald Trump; I do not know whether that was a good thing. We also learned that he felt and understood things immensely. This boy would not have been able to communicate his ideas 20 years ago. Those were the days before augmentative and alternative communication, AAC, devices.”
“There will also be a national implementation and monitoring committee with enhanced political oversight to ensure delivery of the strategy. As Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Equality, a member of the disability committee and someone who worked for 19 years as a behaviour consultant with children just like Grace, I feel this case deeply and professionally. I have seen at first hand what happens when a child is described as non-speaking. I will not say non-verbal because these children can often communicate very well through their gestures, sounds, body language and actions. Too often behaviour can be described as challenging without the message that children are trying to communicate being picked up on. I like to think of one of the superstars whom I had the privilege to work with.”
“An expert-driven, non-statutory safeguarding exercise is now planned to identify learnings from the commission's findings to inform present-day safeguarding policies and practices. This is welcome and urgent. The programme for Government also sets out a commitment to advancing the right and improving the lives of people with disabilities. We will prioritise the publication of and fund a new disability strategy setting out a vision to 2030. We intend to adopt a whole-of-government approach which is made clear in the appointment of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. We must implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the optional protocol to the convention.”
“We must constantly challenge our peers and colleagues when we are uncomfortable with what is being said or what is being done, especially when it comes to vulnerable children and adults. We must have conversations even if it is just a response to a behaviour we have seen or an interaction that we are just not sure about - just something that makes us feel a little bit uncomfortable. It is important to say that since Grace's circumstances came to light, significant changes have been made to help safeguard against circumstances like this ever occurring again. However, shortcomings identified highlight the importance of being ever-vigilant and continually enhancing our approach to safeguarding of all people in society.”
“I thank the commission for its final substantive report and I pay particular tribute to those who stepped forward to make protected disclosures related to the handling of Grace's case and also to the whistleblowers and people who did speak up about Grace. Their courage and persistence were instrumental in her finally being moved out of the foster home where she had been for 20 years. It is never popular or never easy to challenge wrong as an organisation. It often comes with personal struggle to those who reach out, but it is brave and the right thing to do. I believe we must go further than that in every setting, be that schools, care settings, hospitals, playgrounds and even WhatsApp groups and chats in the bar.”
“It is troubling to think that the very people who failed her were the ones who had a legal, moral and ethical duty to protect her. We owe Grace and all the current and future vulnerable children a radically reformed system that places dignity, safety and accountability at its core. The Minister, Deputy Foley, was right to acknowledge that the situation is very dark and distressing. However, it is not enough to acknowledge it; we must act. It is not enough to say we regret and it is not enough to say this must not happen again. Grace, who is at the centre of this report, deserved dignity, safety and care but she did not receive any of these. We must act and we must do so with urgency and compassion, recognising that Grace's experience must never be repeated.”
“In the first apology to Grace it cites the various failures she experienced: inadequate monitoring and oversight of her care; absence of the necessary liaison between those responsible for her placement in the foster home; inadequate action in a timely manner to remove her from her foster home after significant concerns had been raised; and an absence of the necessary protocols and arrangements to support the placement of vulnerable children, and children and adults with a disability in foster families. It also apologised to Grace's mother for the failings in the care provided to her daughter while placed with a foster family for 20 years up to, remarkably, 2009. I welcome those apologies, but Grace was failed, not in one isolated incident but repeatedly.”
“It is an unpleasant thought that in 21st century Ireland, a vulnerable person in State care who was placed there for her protection could be left in a place where serious risks had already been documented. We have to ask: where was the joined-up thinking? Where was the accountability? More importantly, where was the basic human compassion? I understand that the agency has made a series of apologies, two to Grace and one to Grace's mother.”
“The commission, as we know, was tasked with examining the care that was provided in a State-funded placement where despite multiple warnings and significant safeguarding concerns, Grace was left in a placement where allegations of sexual abuse had previously emerged. The report laid out a pattern of delay, deflection and denial. It also unmasks a system that failed to act, failed to protect and failed to listen. Years passed where critical information was buried in bureaucracy. Professionals involved in this case were constrained by poor communication and what appears to have been a worrying culture of risk aversion rather than child-centred action. We have to call this what it is, a profound and shameful failure to protect a young vulnerable girl.”
“This case goes to the very heart of trust in our public institutions. It fills me with a deep sense of sorrow but even more than that a deeper sense of responsibility to speak here on the final report of the Farrelly commission. Grace's case, or story we might better call it, casts a dark shadow over how we cared for one of our most vulnerable citizens. She is at the centre of the deeply troubling and unsettling report. Grace, who is now 40, was at the time just a young girl with profound intellectual disabilities who was non-speaking. What happened to her is not simply an institutional failure; it is a failure of humanity. Grace's story was as a result of systemic failure that spanned decades. It is a story of neglect that was hiding in plain sight.”
“At the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis last year, the then Minister for Education, Deputy Norma Foley, agreed with my point and said that, under the current scheme, students have to attend their nearest school to qualify for the transport scheme and that we are now going to introduce a system where we remove that criterion and give them greater choice and flexibility. When will this happen?”
“School transport is causing frustration and stress for many families across rural Ireland. I refer specifically to the eligibility criterion for nearest and second-nearest schools. This requirement fails to reflect family circumstances, school preferences and logistical realities on the ground. It is simply too rigid and does not reflect modern Irish society. To give an example, the Bus Éireann portal advised a mother that St. Gerald’s College in Castlebar was her son’s nearest school but failed to take into account that the boy did not even meet the criteria for St. Gerald’s because his primary school only feeds into Rice College and Sancta Maria College.”
“I welcome the Government's commitment to the Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. How are we leveraging technology and what are the timelines for when the Traffic Watch online reporting form will have the capacity for video or photographic evidence to be uploaded? With regard to the alcohol interlock programme, how is the working group getting on? Are there timelines for when we might get the benefit of this technology? Today is national slow down day and it is disgraceful that by 10 o'clock this morning more than 120 drivers had been caught speeding, with one travelling at more than 44 km/h above the limit. In Mayo so far this year we have already tragically lost five lives on the road. There are no excuses for speeding.”
“Paternity leave will support gender equality by challenging stereotypes and traditional norms. It would also promote a more equitable distribution of parental responsibilities. Now is the time to continue to make progress and accelerate action in our pursuit of sustainable development goal No. 5. We must achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. We have to start challenging stereotypes in everyday conversations. There are lots of stereotypes perpetuated in jokes and it is in everyday conversations that we have to call them out. It is great to see some males in the Chamber today but we must have males engaging in this conversation with us as well, as much as possible. We owe it to the women of yesterday, today and tomorrow to not just settle for progress. Progress is a great thing but we must not settle for it.”
“I really welcome the efforts of this Government and the provision in the programme for Government capping childcare costs at €200 per month and moving to some State-funded childcare. That will really help. We need action. Without support, how can we expect equal opportunities when so many women are still expected to do most of the unpaid work? We also need to look at paternity leave. I submitted a motion at our Ard-Fheis last year increasing it from two to four weeks, which seems kind of crazy when you say it out loud. It should be equal and if there was equal leave then maybe there would not be the discrimination that women experience. Certainly, increasing paternity leave from two to four weeks would be a start. We should also try to increase the uptake, which I believe is still at only at 40%.”
“It was their husbands as well, who often feel guilty that this is just the way it is. Aside from this, many women continue to perform disproportionate duties, particularly when it comes to their family and childcare responsibilities. I hear time and time again of situations where there are two working parents but the woman is often carrying an extra mental load. Is the swim bag ready for school in the morning? Are we running low on nappies or formula? In my line of work as a behaviour specialist for 19 years, I must say I met some absolutely amazing fathers in my therapy room but it was predominantly females, predominantly mothers who were burnt out, exhausted and sacrificing so much of themselves, their careers and their social lives for their children. They did it gladly and will continue to do it but we have to give them more support.”
“That really contributed to me sitting here today and I know that Deputy Catherine Callaghan also went through that amazing programme. These are the kinds of steps that are needed to help women like myself to get here. When I look at my own constituency, one of the key issues that came up during the local and general elections, as I am sure was the case for every TD here, was childcare. Families are struggling not just to afford childcare but to access it. We hear stories of women having to place their children on waiting lists for crèches before they have even had that really important 12-week scan. Much too often it is women who must reluctantly reduce their working hours or step back from their career or from the workforce entirely. It was not just women who were saying this to me on the doorsteps.”
“Ireland is currently placed at 99 out of 183 countries listed so we have to move the dial forward. I was given some unwanted advice when I was considering running in the general election. It was suggested that I should reconsider as I would likely now never get married because female politicians are very unattractive to men. Thankfully, I did not take that advice and instead I listened to the advice of mentors like MEP Maria Walsh. I bonded with local councillors Donna Sheridan and Alma Gallagher and I was pushed and pushed by my fabulous campaign manager, Joan Jennings. I want to thank Fine Gael for its mentor programme for first-time candidates. We had the amazing Deirdre Campbell and Lavinia Duggan, who encouraged and supported us, along with fantastic speakers and mentors.”
“International Women's Day is not just for flowers or chocolate. It is about equality, empowerment and celebration. As we know, this year the theme is to accelerate action and action is needed now more than ever. When we look at this globally, we are 300 years away from ending child marriage and 140 years away from achieving equal representation in leadership in the workplace. We cannot and must not forget about the girls in Afghanistan who are now three and half years out of school. When we look closer to home, we have to look at the most uncomfortable truth which is that out of 174 possible seats in this Dáil Chamber, only 44 are filled by women. I feel very privileged, and I also feel a huge responsibility, to be the fifth ever female TD for Mayo.”
“When we provide people with disabilities with the proper supports and access, they will reach their full potential and when they reach their full potential, all of society will thrive.”
“The establishment of a new disability unit in the Department of the Taoiseach is also a step forward and now we can see that there is a sharp all-of-government focus on disability. Now is the time to drive action and to deliver this step change we know is needed. I personally feel that a culture shift is needed on how we view disability. Yes, we have to provide care, support and services but the drive and our focus should be on accessibility, access to society, access to independence and access to opportunities. When viewed through the lens of accessibility, we would not make someone walk from one side to the other to prove that they need a medical certificate. We would not make a disabled person give 24 hours to use a rail service and we would not place young people with disabilities under the age of 65 into nursing homes.”
“For example these are endless waiting lists, lack of respite hours, sacrifices made by full-time carers and bureaucratic hurdles just to access grants such as the housing adaptation grant, for example. These are not just abstract issues but are everyday realities for so many. I acknowledge the appointment of the Minister of State with responsibility for disability and I wish her well. I also want to thank her for for meeting so many of us so swiftly to hear and discuss our concerns. I also want to wish the senior Minister, Deputy Foley and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, the very best of luck in their briefs as we know that everybody is counting on us to deliver.”
“I found preparing for this debate extremely difficult because for me disability advocacy is not just a policy area. For me, it is deeply personal. For the past 19 years I have worked within the disability sector. I have been specialising in supporting children who are neurodiverse and their families and their schools. It is very difficult to fit 19 years of passion and knowledge into just a few short minutes when there is so much to say. I must point out that I was in private practice and was not working within the HSE; my counterparts in the HSE had huge caseloads and very little job satisfaction where I was able to keep my caseload extremely low and was able to see students on a weekly basis and, therefore, see great results. I know first-hand the struggles facing those with disabilities and their families.”
“I know this is going before Cabinet soon but when will this come before the Oireachtas so they can move out of financial limbo?”
“I welcome the planned review of the defective concrete blocks scheme mentioned in the programme for Government. When should this review be expected as urgent changes are needed for those affected.? I can think of a retired couple who are now in ill health who cannot cope with the toll of a rebuild and wish to sell with the grant intact, or people in Páirc Na Coille, Westport whose foundations are not currently covered and are anxious to see if this might happen after the review. The physical, emotional and mental strain of this crisis cannot be underestimated and financial uncertainty just adds to this burden. I also want to highlight the 1,644 homeowners who, on the previous scheme, commenced their rebuilds on the old rate. They have been assured they will receive the new rate retrospectively but this requires the Act to be changed.”
“It is so helpful for people to know why their power is out, how will it be restored and when it will be restored. I know these faults were dynamic but I think we can improve communications as we go forward. We need a really flexible and efficient system to protect our vulnerable people, including elderly people who do not want to leave their homes, those who are cut off from communication, medically vulnerable people and the families of autistic people who rely on routine. We need generators at our water stations, GAA pitches and medical facilities. Our leadership will be measured not only in how we respond to this storm, but also in how we learn and prepare for the storms that are coming down the line.”
“The emergency response hubs, of which there were 36 in my county, have been an absolute lifesaver for people where they can charge phones, get Wi-Fi and shower. The staff and volunteers on the ground have been amazing. County council staff and local councillors are working day in, day out. Our farmers have been supporting these efforts by clearing roads, etc. The humanitarian assistance fund has been helpful and will continue to be helpful but I agree with many of my colleagues that more is needed here. More support will be needed for farms, businesses and homes. Clarity and clearer communication are needed on what is included and how to get it, etc. There is learning here and we must move forward with learning, especially when we look at the ESB.”
“At the forefront of my mind every morning and every night as I have been working extremely hard since the storm has been the elderly people, of a different generation, who do not want to leave their homes. They are very resilient but it has become very cold and it is extremely challenging after a fortnight. Many families of autistic people who rely on routine and assisted technology did not want to take up the offer of alternative accommodation. They have to be kept at the forefront of our mind as we continue to work as hard as we can to ensure power is restored. The worst of times bring out the best of people. I thank the weather team - the red warning definitely saved lives - the crews on the ground, Uisce Éireann, the almost 3,000 staff with the ESB, Eir, the Air Corps and Civil Defence.”
“In my county of Mayo, 98% of power was lost, leaving just 600 of 40,000 customers remaining with power. Thankfully, there has been limited loss of life - I really want to extend my sympathies to the family of Kacper Dudek - but farms, homes, businesses and community facilities have been destroyed or left really damaged, with those supporting them counting the costs and bearing the stress. Last weekend, I visited some of those areas and saw the destruction first hand. There has been hurricane-like destruction in places like Burrishoole GAA club, the Connacht Centre of Excellence and farms where sheds and fences have been totally destroyed.”
“It is an honour to rise in the Chamber for the first time as a Teachta Dála. I want to express my deep gratitude to the people of Mayo who have put their trust in me and who voted for me. I feel a great responsibility and I commit to working as hard as possible every day to fulfil that responsibility. I also want to briefly thank my team, former Minister, Michael Ring, my friends, Fine Gael members and family who all supported me and worked hard towards my journey here to Leinster House. Today, I want to talk about the people and communities across the country, especially in the west and north west and my constituents in Mayo, who have had an extremely challenging and distressing fortnight since Storm Éowyn, which, as we know, was an enormous and unprecedented storm.”