Results 181-200 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: We do not get time for lunch.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: I will have a law degree by the time I get out of here. The Bill states that an tArd Chláraitheoir may conduct or cause to be conducted "such enquiries as he or she considers necessary" to ascertain whether a birth, stillbirth, death or marriage required to be registered under this Act, or if the repealed enactments, as may be appropriate, has been so registered. If it has been, it must be...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: She is the gestational mother. The mother is the person who delivered the child. A father is not a father; he is a person until paternity has been determined. Save in exceptional circumstances, the assumption is that the man is the father if he is married to the mother unless that man relinquishes that right. He has to be married to the woman ten months prior to that and this is the big...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: There is no such thing. There is DNA and paternity issues, but that is the pre-determinant problem within law currently. If that were to be changed in itself, it would create assumptions which could be incorrect because initially paternity would have to be proven. Senator Henry is right on the basis that it is an assumption that the mother who is carrying the baby was married to a husband who...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Exactly. On that basis one would have to ask an tArd–Chláraitheoir to make a determination. Under the Status of Children Act 1987, a declaration may be obtained in court to determine parentage. That, I would assume, would be part of the inquiry of an tArd Chláraitheoir. It would turn out to be a legal determination on parentage. The judge can make that determination on the instructions of...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: We have forgotten one important person, the child.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: This is not necessarily so, when we go further down the line. The best interests of the child are paramount when one examines adoptions and all those other issues that have not come to any finality. The precise information the Senator is talking about would go to the court and then a determination would be made on parentage. The court would have to make that decision. When this legislation...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Ar dtús báire, tá rogha ag na tuismitheoirí é a dhéanamh i mBéarla nó i nGaeilge. Seo an traidisiún atá anseo, go díreach, traidisiún atá le fáil ins na tíortha Ceilteacha agus tugaimid gach tacaíocht don teanga ar dtús báire. Cé go bhfuil an rogha ann, tá daoine ábalta an tuarascáil seo a fháil i nGaeilge agus é a dhéanamh i nGaeilge. Ar mo thuairimse ní chuidíonn...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: A parent can opt to register a child in the English or Irish language. That option has always existed and we will continue to provide it.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: We will go into the particulars of matters raised on this amendment when we come to deal with others. Amendment No. 10 seeks to substitute the words "The father of a child" with "A person". Acceptance of the amendment would not substantiate or support the Senator's intention. One would first have to determine what constitutes "a person". The Senator is seeking that "A person who is not...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Section 22(1) is written in plain English and refers to the father of a child. There is a determination there.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Senator Henry has addressed this matter in her comments on the particulars which must be provided under the First Schedule. Quite a number of such particulars are required. If a person does not have his or her PPS number, it does not deter the registration of the child's birth.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Yes.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Yes.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Yes. It stands on the Schedule. As a consequence of this legislation, other issues are being raised which fall outside its parameters. I am delighted that Senator Brian Hayes has agreed that every effort is being made to ensure that two parents register. Senator Henry referred to warm feelings after someone is informed he is the father of a child. These people will be facilitated in the...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: I accept there are other issues. There is no presumption in law other than that the husband of a married woman is the father of the child. There can, however, be complex and complicated relationships where, for example, the mother of the child may not be married to the father but is married to someone else and the person who is the father of the child could be married to another woman.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: It is the reality. There are sensitive and difficult situations with which we must deal. There are other situations where the father would be genuinely unknown. That is another fact of life. The high percentage of registration by both parents on birth certificates is good and important and we are facilitating it. Whether it is reflected in other responsibilities is another matter. Members...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: We do not have figures in respect of that matter.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: That cannot be done until the child is born.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Coughlan: Double indexation will happen. A father is entitled to have all his details on certificate whereas Senator Brian Hayes is referring to cases in which a mother would not wish to have a father's name on the register. That cannot be prevented under the Status of Children Act. There is an automatic guarantee.