Results 24,161-24,180 of 46,208 for speaker:Simon Harris
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: Despite the Deputy's best efforts, we have moved very far away from that in Ireland, thankfully. I am very proud of that. I would like to be very clear in response to the legitimate questions that have been asked by people right across this House, including Deputies Aylward and Brassil. The law on abortion is changing, thankfully. The law on conscientious objection is not changing. Deputy...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I have met representatives of the training college that trains our GPs. I think that is what my responsibility as a Minister is. I want to make it clear that conscientious objection is a long-established and important principle in this country. I will defend the right of a healthcare professional to object conscientiously and I would expect an overwhelming majority of Members of this...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: That is not true.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: The Deputy is referring to the Taoiseach.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: That is not something that happens in the health service.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: Hear, hear.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: That is not true.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: That is right.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: Hear, hear.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I am not in a position to accept the amendment for two reasons. We have just had a very lengthy debate about conscientious objection and the obligation to ensure that a woman can access health services. Nobody can obstruct that. Conscientious objection is therefore an accepted part of medical practice and already exists in a number of areas, not just in the termination of pregnancy. I do...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: We have had a very long debate on conscientious objection, and this is another issue relating to it. It was quite a good and useful debate. The points I made during that very long debate, to which we all contributed, I reiterate here. The Medical Council guidelines are very clear on what the duty to refer comprises. The law on conscientious objection is not changing even though the law on...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: Me too.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: We have.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 52:In page 16, line 12, to delete “and midwives” and substitute “and midwives, or the midwife candidate division of the candidate register,”.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 53:In page 16, line 15, to delete “and midwives” and substitute “and midwives, or a division (other than the midwife candidate division) of the candidate register,”.
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I am very happy to give that commitment to Deputy Bríd Smith. As I said to Deputy Catherine Murphy, institutions cannot have conscientious objection, and the law and the view of the Attorney General in this regard is very clear. One of the first tenets of lawmaking is that the expression of one thing is the exclusion of the other. There is absolutely no place in this law for...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 57:In page 16, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:“Offences 25.(1) It shall be an offence for a person, by any means whatsoever, to intentionally end the life of a foetus otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (2) It shall be an offence for a person to prescribe, administer, supply or procure any drug, substance, instrument,...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 58:In page 16, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “Offence by body corporate26.(1) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance, or was attributable to any wilful neglect, of a person who was a director, manager, secretary orother officer of the body...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I made my views known about a version of this amendment on Committee Stage, as did the Select Committee on Health when it voted in significant numbers to reject it. I am conscious that there are people watching this debate who will have been through tragic circumstances where they lost much loved babies, particularly in the cases of fatal foetal abnormality. I do not wish to use any emotive...
- Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I am continuing to engage with the IFPA and Dublin Well Woman to make sure those concerns do not come to pass. I very much want to see both organisations carry on their excellent work in counselling. We need more such excellent work from organisations like them rather than rogue agencies, which we are moving to regulate against. The aim of this Bill is to protect the woman's interest by...