Results 24,501-24,520 of 46,232 for speaker:Simon Harris
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: It would not be normal.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: As I said, it would not be normal.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: That is incorrect.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: It is provided for in the Health Act 2007.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: It is factually incorrect.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: It is not in the legislation.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I reiterate that I am here all day. I might even be here all night. I am ready to face any charges that people might wish to level at me. I do not wish to see the names of members of my staff dragged onto the record of the House. I do not want to see points made about them when they are not in a position to defend themselves. I am very lucky with the people I have working with me....
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: In such circumstances, vulnerable women, in particular, will end up continuing to have to use illegal abortion pills that are purchased online, or indeed continuing to travel. If we want people to be able to access new services that are safe and legal, it makes sense to make those services available on a universal basis. Those of us who are in favour of caring for women in our own country...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: It is a bizarre way of operating. I am sure some of the €12 million that has been mentioned will be spent on some of the things that Senators Mullen and Ó Domhnaill do not seem to have a problem with. I acknowledge that they do not have a problem with providing funding where there is a risk to a woman's life. That is the first point. The second point I would make is that...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: That is a grotesque comment.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: No.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I provided a briefing yesterday for Senators through the Seanad Office. A number of the Senators attended. There was an opportunity to hear from the Chief Medical Officer, from Dr. Peter Boylan, former chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and from Dr. Mark Murphy, a general practitioner involved in the rolling out of the service. Explained very clearly at the...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I do not have much to add but I will make some quick points. I understand the value of teasing out, as we did in the other House, what is harm, serious harm and risk. My first point is similar to Senator Bacik's. This wording has not changed since the publication of the draft wording and this is very much the framework on which we campaigned. As the Senators know, it is something I am...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I have heard from the Attorney General and the chief medical officer and from our clinical adviser, Dr. Peter Boylan, that their preference is for the wording to remain as it is, legally and clinically. Several Senators had an opportunity to hear from clinicians yesterday in that regard too. I really welcome Senator Higgins's amendment, not because I am in a position to support it but for...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: Senator Higgins is entirely correct. It is the increased risk of continuing with the pregnancy.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I thank Senator Norris for tabling this amendment. To be clear, the reason the word "shortly" needed to be replaced with a defined period was primarily legal advice, but also inquiries from clinicians as to what exactly the Houses of the Oireachtas meant by "shortly". There was a fear that if the word "shortly" were put into the legislation, it would not provide direction or clarity as to...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I apologise. I was making the point that while Senator Norris is entirely correct that the word "shortly" appeared in the general scheme published in March, it was on the basis of the Attorney General's advice that we needed to define what was meant by that. When I spoke to clinicians, they told me there is really a choice of two timeframes from a clinical perspective, either seven days or...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: Of course, any baby born in a hospital should be given all the supports of a neonatal unit. This is "without extraordinary life-sustaining measures". For these reasons, and based on my engagements with some clinicians working on the roll-out of this service, the legal advice of the Attorney General and the other definitions in the Act, I do not propose to accept the amendment.
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I will be very brief as amendment No. 13 is a technical amendment that would have been consequential on a previous amendment, which was either defeated at Committee Stage or ruled out of order for Report Stage. On the other amendments in this section, we have had a very good engagement through both Houses, including the last day, on this subject. I know and very much respect that there are...
- Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Harris: I have nothing to add.