Results 3,201-3,220 of 7,643 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I will not address the Minister's final point now. I will deal with it when we reach the relevant amendment. I was particularly taken by something the Minister said during her contribution. Any use of the comparison with illegitimacy or with the concept thereof is completely misconceived. To suggest that restricting DAHR to married couples is tantamount to calling donor-assisted children...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: On a point of order, I hate to do this to Senator Power - whom I like on a personal level - but perhaps she might address her comments through the Chair.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: No.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 3: In page 13, to delete lines 6 to 8 and substitute the following:"(2) A child born as a result of a DAHR procedure shall have two parents."I will withdraw this amendment.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Yes.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Are we discussing amendments Nos. 4 and 6 together?

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I have a few words to say about amendment No. 6. The purpose of the amendment requires the provision of appropriate documentation whereby the donor of the gametes certifies having received independent counselling. The Minister sought to address it but not in a satisfactory way. There is a sense in which we cannot legislate in an extrajudicial fashion but we can certainly legislate to...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: That is what it is. The potential exists for people who are really not at a mature stage of their lives to donate gametes. If they do so, it could come back to haunt them, as they will see it, at a future date. In my view, this is something socially destructive because it contributes to the separation of a child from the love and society of one of his or her natural parents. At the very...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: The Senator should tell the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine that we cannot have certification.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: In relation to amendment No. 6, yes.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Yes.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 5: In page 14, line 4, to delete "18 years" and substitute "21 years".I will be brief because I adverted to this proposal previously. Part of the problem here is that there is a complete mentality of contract around how donor gametes are being viewed in this legislation. We need to consider the ramifications of donating one's gametes without knowing with whose other...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: In light of Senator Healy Eames's very pertinent point, I am very disappointed about that response from the Minister. The Senator is absolutely right in making the point about equality and the fact that an intending mother must be at least 21 years of age. The difference between the two minimum age requirements is perhaps explained by the emphasis the industry places on getting students to...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I will support this amendment if Senator Power puts it to a vote. I endorse everything Senator Healy Eames has just said. Senator Power has stated herself that she had certain concerns in this regard. I say this with great respect for her but the more I think about it, her concern and great track record on related issues really suggests to me that she should be a lot closer to the side of...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Actually, I was addressing the table or my desk.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: She should be a lot closer to the side of the argument that Senator Quinn and I have been trying to advance this afternoon. It leads me to think that sometimes, Members get fixed views about one another's position. They acquire fixed views or perhaps may suspect the motives of those who propose something that is not that far away from what they themselves think in their minds and hearts....

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I am going to do something that perhaps I do not do often enough and perhaps not many of us here do often enough and say that I got it wrong. I would like to refine the context in which I referred to commodification because it is a word that should be used in a very precise and specific manner only. First, I am only referring to the commodification of gametes. Second, I am only talking...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: It was not in the same tone. With regard to Senator Bacik, I think I could have written the script beforehand.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: The words of censure were reserved for one side.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Absolutely. However, Senator van Turnhout, if you had been in my position I think you would also have made a comment about this. Let us respect each other as colleagues. I am advancing what I believe is the fundamental human rights position, which is the prior right of the child. I do that with integrity according to my likes and in no sense to denigrate any other person but in a real way...