Results 22,601-22,620 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: What is the note on?

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: Okay.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I support the amendment. We talked about this issue at length during a few meetings, we put a lot of time into the pre-legislative scrutiny and we had two sessions with gardaí and a number with departmental officials. Many of us struggled with the idea that if somebody was protesting in Cork one week and breached the regulations, and then a few weeks later was protesting in Dublin,...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 2: In page 7, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(6) The Minister shall, within one year of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas, and the relevant committee, evaluating the effectiveness of the system for recording warnings issued by the Garda Síochána pursuant to subsection (1).”. What...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I understand the difficulties in legislating for this area. A lot of premises are involved, particularly in a city. I understand the challenges there. To return to the key point, if there is no way a garda in Dublin can know that Mr. X protested in Cork, how can a prosecution be brought against him when he is protesting for the second time?

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: That is a warning.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I still have a difficulty seeing how any person male or female who is protesting can be prosecuted. They may stop when they are told to stop by a garda. It is necessary that a prior warning be given for their activity to constitute an offence on the second occasion but who knows whether it is the second occasion? That is the point. The Minister has spoken about a review. Could he...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: That may well entail the law not being in operation for a two-year period at least. Many of us have doubts about the workability of this legislation. Nobody has been able to answer the question regarding how gardaí know whether this is a first, second or tenth warning. If there is no means of knowing that within An Garda Síochána, this is a serious matter and we need to know...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Róisín Shortall: Hopefully, everybody can reflect on this and consider the value of having a specific report on the operation of this aspect of the legislation. That is essentially about getting numbers. Those numbers should certainly be available within a 12-month period. There is obviously a case for having a wider review. Two years is probably reasonable for that. I ask the Minister to consider having...

Home Care Workers and Home Support Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. It is a very topical motion on what is a very pressing issue to which the Government needs to give urgent attention. The Social Democrats are very happy to support the motion. For over five years, a statutory right to home care has been promised and yet it still has not been delivered. We are told that work is ongoing but we still have...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I was at a conference and I have only just arrived back. Are the amendments in this group all the Minister's amendments?

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I welcome the Minister's decision in this regard. On the different opinions about opt-in and opt-out, does the Minister accept there are genuine issues there to be considered? Will all of those questions be considered in the review of the operation of the legislation? I wanted to check that with the Minister.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: There is an issue about the messaging of all of this. A negative spin has been put on it by some media outlets, some individuals, and some organisations. That has partly created concern and doubt in people's minds. That is where the Irish Kidney Association is coming from on this. There is probably a bit of work to be done in terms of the messaging of this and the important role families...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 7: In page 24, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “Transplantation and Donation Audit 17. The Minister shall by way of regulation direct the Executive to publish an annual audit of the activities of procurement organisations and transplantation centres which includes: (a) The number of deaths in hospitals; (b) The number of potential...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister is therefore on the record as saying there will be an expanded report, including all of those elements I listed in the amendment, and a clear commitment that it will be an annual report and that we will not have to wait a number of years to find out the progress of the programme. I am taking it that is what the Minister is saying on the record and we will come back to him if...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I will speak to amendments Nos. 10 and 15 in the group. I agree we have been requested to consider future-proofing the legislation by providing for the possibility of a sharing or swap scheme. I am not qualified, and I do not think any of us is, to express a view on whether that is wise. On the face of it, however, it would seem to make sense, notwithstanding that we have a relatively...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: That is not my understanding of the Bill. I cannot dig out the reference but maybe the Minister can provide a reference to where the Bill allows for such a sharing or pairing scheme. I understand it is quite specific in referring to the intended recipient, which means there would be just one donor to the recipient rather than a potential pairing or swapping arrangement.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: I can assist the Minister as I see the reference now. Section 21(1)(b) states: "the removal of the organ for the purpose of transplantation is solely for the therapeutic benefit of the recipient and there is no other alternative therapeutic method of comparable effectiveness". It seems that this provision envisages only a one-to-one donation. That is my reading of the wording.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Róisín Shortall: That is the pairing arrangement where there is a donor and a recipient. What I am saying is that we should future-proof the legislation to allow for a swapping arrangement where there may be more than two people involved.