Results 49,301-49,320 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation Targets (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 186. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has satisfied himself that alternative energy production targets can be achieved on time in the course of future years with particular reference to the need to comply with international agreements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42190/17]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Renewable Energy Generation Targets (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 187. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which his Department continues to plan to utilise existing natural resources and invest for the future in his regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42191/17]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Disposal (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 188. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which reliance on landfill waste disposal facilities continues to be monitored with particular reference to the utilisation of best practice in terms of reduce, reuse, recycle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42192/17]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Disability Allowance Appeals (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 214. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the progress to date in respect of an appeal for disability allowance in the case of a person (details supplied); when matters are likely to be brought to a conclusion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42041/17]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 222. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he expects new guidelines in respect of wind turbines, wind farms or solar energy farms to become effective; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42187/17]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the witnesses for appearing before us. I will mention in passing that not all countries have equal provisions on the availability of abortion, as we heard during the assembly's discussions. Regarding the acceptability to our society, we would be foolish to reach a conclusion just because there has been general acceptance so far and the Citizens' Assembly discovered A, B and C in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I am over two minutes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I wanted to ask a question about the Mellet and Whelan cases and the extent to which medical advice and objective counselling, which were clear and unambiguous, were available to them that might have been to their advantage. My last point is a legal issue. There could come about a situation whereby the right to life of an unborn child may come into focus. For instance, the European...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Sometimes it is important to qualify what the purpose of the question is, for everyone's sake.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I thank our witnesses for attending and giving us of their time. Professor Binchy said that the 1983 amendment of the Constitution gave equal right to life to the unborn and the mother. That was the theory at the time, but it was not what happened in actual practice. We could quote instances, but I do not want to go into them at the moment. The problem arose when a decision had to be made...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: That is the first question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: There will be more as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Professor Binchy accepts that a pregnant woman may have a medical condition that affects her health in a way that can lead to a threat to her life.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Does he accept that a condition affecting the health of a pregnant woman needs to be dealt with? I refer, for example, to a woman whose previous medical history shows she has a tendency to have high blood pressure. What happens in a case where extending the pregnancy without any condition could cause the woman to contract sepsis, for example?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: It is. Professor Binchy mentioned previously that this was well covered in the eighth amendment. Does he accept that there has been a change? If so, is the change acceptable to him?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Yes. That is not my question. Does Professor Binchy accept that the 2013 legislation clarified what was meant by "the equal right to life"?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Yes. I will try to get all the information I can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I will do my best. The first ground provided for in the 2013 Act relates to medical conditions and the second ground relates to mental conditions which can ultimately lead to a serious health condition and, consequently, a threat to the life of the mother. My presumption is that Professor Binchy conditionally accepts what the 2013 Act says.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I have one more question for Professor Binchy and I have a question for Ms Zampas as well. It will be a quick one. Does Professor Binchy believe the lives of any pregnant women were lost during the period in which the balance on which "the equal right to life" was judged was not too clearly defined? Does he accept that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations (4 Oct 2017)

Bernard Durkan: -----some women who were pregnant may have lost their lives due to-----