Results 40,741-40,760 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I am not in a position to do so today but I will ask my officials to come back to the committee to provide a report on the steps that have been taken so far. I am in regular contact with the national women and infants health programme, NWIHP, which is taking the lead on many of the elements of this. There has been a big focus on making sure, for example, that services are provided in all...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not disagree with the rationale or the intent. It comes down to two issues. One is a practical point, which is that the gardaí themselves do not have a system for this. I imagine that this will evolve over time and they will have a system in time, and I imagine it will then be recorded centrally over time. However, regardless of anything we put into this Bill now, they could not...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank colleagues. I think we can do as Deputy Cullinane proposes and we are moving into it now. I was going to suggest a Report Stage amendment to provide for a review. We can discuss the timeframe but it would have to include an assessment of how the legislation is working in respect of the warnings. That is something that has been identified by the committee. It has been explored at...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. She has raised two issues. One is the mechanism of the warning and why an offence is not immediately committed. The second relates to the issue of a report. I propose to table an amendment on Report Stage that is broader than the amendment she has proposed. This amendment is specifically targeted at the effect of the warnings. I am going to propose a broader review...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: That is the warning. Now they essentially have to stop immediately and if they do not, they will have committed an offence and may be charged and that is recorded. It will be a bit of a Pyrrhic victory for whoever is trying to do this because they will very quickly be told, "You have to stop and if you don't stop, you'll be charged."

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I suggest that 12 months is too soon given that it takes a few months to do this work. You would probably be looking at the operation of it within six months. I would suggest a two-year period to give it time to see what is happening and then to give time to do the actual research and report back to the Oireachtas. If colleagues feel strongly about it, we can explicitly reference to...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Absolutely. I am not hung up on two years at all. I really do not mind what the period is. I think it needs to be long enough that we can actually get some information on this having been used and short enough that, if there are issues, we know about them. We will take advice but I am not hung up on one year, two years or 18 months at all. I would say it should be the earliest possible...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Chair.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: It will certainly be through Report Stage. It is then a matter for the Seanad rather than me to facilitate time for the Bill. We will be ready to go straight away and will certainly seek the earliest possible time from the Seanad.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I take the Deputy's point and I take the committee's point on this in terms of the central recording. Even without the central recording, if Mr. X or Mrs. X arrived at a premises in Dublin having protested at a premises in Cork, the gardaí can immediately move in and say, "You are engaged in prohibited behaviour within a safe access zone. You need to stop or you will have committed an...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: It may not be a problem. Remember that the purpose of this is to give An Garda Síochána the powers to stop the harassment of people using the service and the service providers. This Bill most definitely does that. I take the Deputy's point. There is a secondary point about people receiving multiple warnings around the country but I am very confident that the primary purpose of...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (25 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We hope to have Report Stage as soon as possible, so certainly in this term, after which it will move to the Seanad. It is a priority to get this legislation enacted.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No.1: In page 7, to delete line 13 and substitute the following: “the carrying out of post-mortem examinations in hospitals and other non-hospital settings and the regulation of such activity;”. We are making amendments to some of the terminology in the definitions in the Bill. This is to ensure consistency of terminology and definitions across the...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 2: In page 12, to delete lines 31 to 33 and substitute the following: “(iii) the seeking and obtaining of post-mortem consent in relation to any proposed post-mortem activity in respect of a relevant person in accordance with Part 3.”.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 3: In page 13, to delete lines 3 to 5 and substitute the following: “(iii) seeking and obtaining of post-mortem consent in relation to any proposed post-mortem activity in respect of a relevant person in accordance with Part 3,”.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 4: In page 15, line 35, to delete “2005),” and substitute “2005), or”. These are technical amendments to correct a number of errors in the text. They have no material impact on the provisions of the Bill.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes.

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 6: In page 24, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “Review of operation of Relevant Organ Donation Opt-Out Register 17.(1) The Minister shall, not later than 3 years after the commencement of this section, carry out a review of the operation of the Relevant Organ Donation Opt-Out Register. (2) In carrying out a review under subsection (1), the...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I do not think anyone knows what is the right thing to do here. I know the committee discussed it at length and we discussed it on Committee Stage. I had a very useful discussion on this recently with the Irish Kidney Association as well. As we are all aware, it would like to see an opt-in as well as an opt-out register. What I am proposing to do is to stick with the...

Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (8 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I share some of the concerns she has raised and indeed the Irish Kidney Association was also looking for this to be incorporated as an amendment. We had a good discussion on this on Committee Stage and I had a good discussion on this with the Irish Kidney Association. What I propose to do is not to bring it into the legislation as I do not think it needs to be in the...