Results 17,881-17,900 of 28,255 for speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I have worked in various Departments and have witnessed considerably different attitudes among officers. Some are more practical than others, to put it bluntly. The idea that they are suddenly of a uniform disposition is like believing that all police officers are of a uniform disposition when it comes to enforcing.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: To take the Chairman's point, if this legislation called for an on-the-spot fine for walking an unleashed dog, I would say, "Good on it". It is a definable offence. One could take a photograph of the person to prove the point. The problem is that we are discussing new territory. What would happen if we decided that careless or dangerous driving was to receive an on-the-spot fine? Current...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I am pressing it.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I do not altogether agree with the Minister because authorised officers in this legislation can come from a wide variety of sources. Some people think human and animal comfort are the same thing and want one to build very enclosed sheds whereas if one puts the animals in the part of the world in which I live into a closed shed, they get pneumonia. They would survive better on a mountain...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The Minister is making great play about people wondering about trigger happy authorised officers. I have witnessed trigger happy gardaí who have caught people. With something as black and white as speeding, it is like shooting fish in a barrel given the places they pick on a good wide road on a fine day to set up a speed trap. They catch enough people to fill their quota of fines....

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Then the Minister should delete the section. Can the Minister imagine what would happen in this country if careless or dangerous driving offences were the subject of on-the-spot fines and motorists had to go to court to defend themselves? It would be outrageous.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I move amendment No. 75: In page 39, subsection (1), line 13, to delete “authorised officer” and substitute the following:“inspector, or an authorised officer on the advice of a veterinary practitioner”.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I presume that for those who have no religion, an oath is just an affirmation.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Personally, I believe that the sooner the court system takes the Bible out of the court, the better. I believe that for those who do not believe, it is an insult and for those who do believe, it is double the insult because more people seem to take the Bible into their hands and then swear the opposite. I must state my belief that a courtroom is no place for a Bible.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I do not expect the Minister to change it.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: However, when one sees this provision in front of one, it shows how archaic are the Four Courts.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I move amendment No. 78a: In page 45, subsection (1), line 20, to delete “has reasonable grounds” and substitute “evidence”.My basic point is there should be evidence rather than reasonable grounds in this section, which gives far too much power to fine people willy-nilly. I also indicated my intention to oppose this section and that Fianna Fáil would not...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I accept the point the Minister is making. He could, however, accept an amendment on Report Stage saying the regulation should be discussed by a committee in the 21 day period. I am a little surprised, however, by what he says. Section 26(3) states: "Where the Minister proposes to make regulations under this section, a draft of the regulation shall be laid before each House of the...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: That is where I made my initial proposal.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: It was then that the Minister said we could not do what I propose, on time grounds. In the case of section 26, it can be done on time grounds. When discussing section 26, the Minister rejected my amendment because it might be necessary to bring in an emergency regulation. That is incorrect.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I accept that amendment No. 65 must be amended because of the wording, "All such regulations will be brought before the relevant committee of the House for discussion before being approved by the House". Perhaps the wording should be, "before being approved or annulled by the House". I do not know whether we annul or approve regulations when we bring them before the House. In the 21 day...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I thought regulations were always brought to the House.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I know that, but do we not still have a motion in the House?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Is that called approval of the regulation?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The Minister makes a regulation but before it is approved by the House it should be debated in committee. I think my amendment stands valid but the Minister disagrees with it. I am pressing it because I believe it is time we changed this practice. I know this is a hotchpotch way of doing things. I would much prefer it were done in an omnibus fashion, but we have to start somewhere. We...