Results 23,701-23,720 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: If the Minister sets the word "irreversible" down in primary legislation, it will exclude people. A condition that is currently irreversible may not be so in even one month's time because, as the Minister says, the pace of scientific progress is such that these things can change quite quickly. On that basis, I think this is a mistake. I do not think any of us is medically qualified to give...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Did the Minister consider doing it on a case-by-case basis?

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I do not think any of us want to go around the safeguards at all. We are addressing this because it could arise as a practical difficulty in the future, given the scarcity of appropriately qualified medical professionals. There must be thousands of people working in this country who are trained abroad, particularly in the UK. I am not aware that they have to go through registration here....

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I do not want to go against what the Minister says is very strong advice. I do not know from whom the advice came but I think it is unnecessarily restrictive. The Minister has made the case himself in the points he has made, but it is just very hard to understand. I certainly hope there will not be issues that arise very soon in this regard and in regard to the availability of...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 32: In page 57, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “Best interests of the child 52. Where, in any proceedings before any court under this Part, the court, in determining whether to make an order, shall regard the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration.”. This group of amendments concerns the issue of the best...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The fact that what the Minister is proposing in this legislation - which in the main, people agree with - has not been done in any other country means that we have to proceed with caution. The cautionary principle is that in any circumstances that involve a child, the best interests of that child have to be paramount. This does not meant that any of the other safeguards can be disregarded...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister is speaking as if all of the other safeguards can be disregarded. That is not the position. All those safeguards should remain in place but the primary consideration should be the best interests of the child. That is a long-established principle, recognised as one we should adhere to. The Minister is talking about a worst-case scenario where all the other safeguards are...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 23: In page 54, line 24, after “2007” to insert “or equivalent as approved by the AHRRA”. This amendment concerns the issue of relevant specialists, which we discussed on Committee Stage. AHR professionals have raised concerns about the fact there is a scarcity of relevant specialists in Ireland and, because of this, many patients access...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 41: In page 67, to delete lines 18 to 26. Under the current process, as I understand it, a child born through surrogacy would reside with his or her intending parents with the consent of the surrogate. As I am sure the Minister will be aware, Dr. Claire O'Connell has repeatedly pointed out that this is not equivalent to legal custody and puts the child in a very...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The very fact that the Minister is saying he will look at it again in three year's time indicates uncertainty about what is being proposed. The two provisions I have referred to are very vague. If the surrogate mother consents to the child being cared for by the intending parents, who does she consent to and who oversees that? If she changes her mind, and she may do this a number of times,...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I would be happier to give the Minister the benefit of the doubt on that if he had agreed to my earlier amendment that in all matters the best interests of the child should be considered. There can be conflicting interests and that is the danger in these circumstances. Who adjudicates on this when there are conflicting interests? For that reason, rather than having an ambiguous situation...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: What group are we on?

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I note the Minister's amendments to these sections include the phrase, "lacks the capacity to make decision in that regard". I ask the Minister to consider further grounds for waiving consent. I strongly argue that the best interests of the child must be the paramount consideration. The Minister referred earlier to this already forming part of the legislation but it is in the legislation...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Are we on first name terms? That is becoming a bit of a habit with Sinn Féin. Essentially, the Minister just stated that this is a play for time. I apologise, he did not use the term "play", but he wanted time to achieve a legally robust version of what is proposed in the amendment. The implication is that this is not legally robust. If you want to achieve a legally robust-----

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: However, the grounds I have given surely stand up to any kind of scrutiny. The Minister is rejecting them out of hand rather than accepting that there is a valid principle. He is saying that the wording I have put forward is not legally robust. Why is he not then seeking legally robust wording-----

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: -----to amend this legislation now-----

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: -----and not at some point in the future?

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: This is legislating in haste. The approach the Minister is taking is just not very satisfactory. It is about speed rather than provisions that are legally sound. I am disappointed with his response.

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Nobody wants to see this Bill falling, but the Minister has had quite a bit of time on it, and I would expect that he addresses the uncertainties there at the moment. It is regrettable that he has not done that. I have to say it is not great practice from the point of view of legislation that is so important. It is a pity we are not getting it right first time round.

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 51: In page 85, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(c) the giving, by a medical practitioner or medical practitioners (SJ), of medical advice in relation to any agreement or other arrangement.”. This amendment arises out of Committee Stage, and I had a similar amendment down. HR professionals raised concerns with me and...