Results 3,201-3,220 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: We will be the judge of that.

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Report Stage (16 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I support Senator Barrett's amendment. I am sure Members will agree that he is a tremendous addition to this House given his financial expertise. I also have the highest regard for Senator Aideen Hayden and always listen with interest to her contributions but I cannot fathom how accepting the spirit of this amendment will do anything for these hard-pressed tenants who could well be evicted...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: Will the Leas-Chathaoirleach explain why it is out of order because it is declaratory?

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I will do so.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I suggest the process should be looked at by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. This is not the first time this has happened. It has happened to a number of Members that they receive a letter on the day advising them that their amendment have been ruled out of order. The reason I tabled the amendment and the reason I am not happy with the section is it is a misnomer. The Title...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: Section 1 clearly deals with the Title of the Bill, about which I am talking. I am saying it is a misnomer. I am conceding, however, that, in some instances, particularly in regard to sections 7 and 8, there may be an arguable reason for the Title. However, once one moves to section 9, all pretence about protecting life is eroded and eradicated. The Bill will lead to a situation where...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I find myself in agreement with most of what Senator Norris has said. I repeat the question for the Minister of State. Can he tell me where in the Bill there is protection outlined for the unborn, if this is the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill? We all know that in pregnancy there are two lives involved, that of the mother and that of the unborn. My understanding is, as Senator...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: That is not a point of order.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I do not want to detain the Seanad as I agree with the comment that there are much more substantive issues to be addressed. None the less, the issue is of the utmost importance. I am inclined to leave the issue if the Minister of State is prepared to give an undertaking that between now and Report Stage, he will consider the matter and comments made.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: No. I have already spoken to the Clerk about this and, in particular, the second group of amendments. Many of them are unrelated and so I do not agree to the grouping of these amendments. I know it makes sense to group certain amendments. It is the extent of the groupings and the related issues that I am opposing. I do not want it to impede us getting through all the sections and using...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: No.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: All we are agreeing on is this particular grouping. Is that correct?

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I concede that I have found this issue extremely challenging. I said yesterday that I had had a deep sense of commitment to a pro-life ethos from natural conception to natural death. In fact, I debated the issue in 1983 in New Ross with then Senator Michael D. Higgins, now our Uachtarán. We need to inform ourselves. I attended the National Women's Council meeting which heard from...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: On a point of order, Members interrupting are not helping the flow of this debate. It is coming from Senators with a particular perspective against Senators who have a different perspective. It is wrong.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: The Cathaoirleach should allow no more such pseudo-points of order.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: Senator Hayden has not stuck to it.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: This is a most difficult area for all of us. There is no huge difference between our concerns, though we may have different perspectives as to how it might be resolved. The interruptions of Senator Fidelma Healy Eames while she was making her point were unhelpful. I found there was no real difference in the sense of loss of the parents who came to the Oireachtas with the National Women's...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: There is freedom of information-----

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I have told the House that this information is on the public record. The other information on the record was set out at the health committee hearings. A freedom of information request was made to the Department of Health in the United Kingdom relating to the figures for recent years. The response showed that no Irish woman was recorded as having had an abortion in Britain during that...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: That was not my point.