Results 5,301-5,320 of 26,843 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We are discussing this because very brave women who faced a horrendous, cruel and unacceptable situation had the courage to come forward and tell of their truly tragic circumstances, when they had wanted pregnancies but received a diagnosis that the foetus they were carrying had a condition that was incompatible with life. I repeat, incompatible with life. That is the key phrase which...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This is relevant to the discussion. It is a question of whether there can be a legal challenge to this legislation or whether we have constitutional certainty even about the existing legislation that the Minister is proposing. The Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, has pointed out that we do not have constitutional certainty about the Bill as a whole.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This is about the Bill.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am not casting any aspersions. I am talking about an argument that she made, that even setting this aside, there is no legal certainty about this Bill. It can be challenged. On the basis of the argument that the Minister of State is using we would have to strike down other elements of the Bill but the Minister of State is not proposing to do that. The Minister of State, Deputy White's,...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister of State has said that we cannot do this, as much as we might like to do it because there is not constitutional certainty on the question of whether this is compatible with Article 40.3.3o. I put it to the Minister of State that there is no constitutional certainty about other things that are included in the Bill. How is it that some things around which there is not...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister of State acknowledged that there is no certainty.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Exactly, that is the point. Even with the Bill, setting aside this issue, the Minister is having to go on the balance of probability and the best advice he can get as to whether what he has put forward as being compatible with the Constitution will pass muster if it is challenged legally. The Minister does not have certainty, yet he is pressing ahead because he feels it is important to...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: My point is that given the seriousness of the issue, given the tragic nature of these situations and their frequency, and the moral obligation on all of us to do everything we possibly can to avert a situation where more women must unnecessarily go through these tragic circumstances, surely the Minister has an obligation to explore every possibility for including this element in the Bill. ...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I did not really get an answer on that point.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I oppose the amendments. They second guess the doctors' medical assessment of the case in such a way as to put pressure on them to take into consideration factors other than the health of the woman. That is problematic because it is directive when it should not be. This is entirely misplaced and could lead to the uncertainty that surrounded the Savita Halappanavar case, whereby people are...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am concerned about the intent behind some of these proposals. Amendment No. 45, in particular, is effectively proposing the provision of directive counselling for women. That is an important point to make. The Minister said he will bring forward an amendment on Report Stage to deal with some of the concerns reflected in the proposals by Deputies Billy Kelleher and Denis Naughten. I...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is a good idea.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I wish to signal a couple of points I intend to raise on Report Stage. First, I intend to bring forward an amendment which would insert a definition of "appropriately qualified practitioner" in line 25 of page 5. This relates to other amendments we will propose further down the road. In some places the current draft Bill is too prescriptive about who the practitioners should be. We need...

Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (3 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Briefly, I support this Bill. It is absolutely right to add these other categories for inclusion in the equality legislation to ensure that equality extends to all sectors that need it and that potentially suffer discrimination when it comes to dealing with State agencies or in respect of how public assets are deployed. Consequently, this Bill is welcome. I wish to give two instances of...

Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (3 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I also might mention briefly just where such desperation might lead. I also just now met a man named Mike Mahon outside Leinster House. He is a pensioner who had an interest-only deal on his mortgage whereby he was paying €150 per month. After that interest-only deal ran out, he suddenly was faced with a bill of €900 per month, which he could not pay.

Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (3 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: He now is facing jail because he did something rather rash and stupid - that is, he glued together an ATM. I ask the Government to intervene in this regard.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Issues (3 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 45. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the impact of the move from Dun Laoghaire to Tallaght, Dublin, for the staff of Dun Laoghaire Vocational Education Committee and the delivery of services in the area; if he has considered the impact on education services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32244/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (3 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 60. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a school (details supplied) in County Dublin may expect to receive funding for much needed refurbishment; when this refurbishment is scheduled to take place in view of the fact that it was due to be re-developed in 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32242/13]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Terms of Reference of Sub-Committee on Global Taxation: Motions (3 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Are we taking all the motions together?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Terms of Reference of Sub-Committee on Global Taxation: Motions (3 Jul 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes. I find it extraordinary that there would be any effort to block a request to bring representatives of multinationals such as Google, Facebook and others, which have been accused in a number of quarters internationally-----