Results 5,641-5,660 of 5,732 for speaker:Fidelma Healy Eames

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: There are-----

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill 2015: Second Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted to welcome this Bill, which represents a timely and appropriate response to the increased incidence of burglaries of dwellings. That is not to say it is the ideal solution. In fact, nobody knows what the ideal response is to this very serious issue. The explanatory memorandum to the Bill notes that the recidivism rate for...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill 2015: Second Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It may not be consistent with the rights of a republic but-----

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I support the amendment that every place in the Bill where the words "child pornography" are used, they would be substituted with the words "child sexual abuse material". Sadly, many young people do not know that child pornography is wrong. There is a normalising of pornography by society. It is the beginning of the ruination of many young people's lives. It is part of a grooming process...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I share the Senator's concerns. Reducing the punishment to a fine or imprisonment dilutes the sanction for such a serious and heinous crime. Imprisonment at least offers some rehabilitation. Any imprisonment for sexual offences should be matched with rehabilitation. To leave the penalty at a fine gives an option for the offender to go scot free. It is not at all adequate. We are either...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Absolutely.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I will speak on the amendment.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: The Minister of State indicated that it is standard legal practice to provide for the imposition of a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years. However, the amendment changed the meaning of the original text, which provided for a sentence of imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years. Is the inclusion of that penalty not also standard practice? I share the view...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I have sympathy with the Senator's amendment. The evidence is that a great deal of the sexual abuse of children occurs within the family setting. This has been noted for a long time and was one of the bases on which the Stay Safe programme was introduced in the early 1990s. It is abuse in the most trusted of settings. I do not know what the legislation can do to prevent it. We have...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: This is a momentous day and I hope we pass this Bill. It would be nice to have unanimity on it. I welcome this amendment. The women and young girls who comprise most of those involved in prostitution are vulnerable, marginalised and poor. I appreciate the work done and the information shared with us by Ruhama, the Turn Off the Red Light campaign and the HSE. They speak about the frame of...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It is all vital because we are bringing in new-----

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I am talking about the amendment. We are bringing in an amendment to decriminalise the women, and men in some cases if they are involved in prostitution, and to criminalise the buyers. What extra resources will be made available for that? I would like to flag another issue. Some of the women involved in prostitution have been trafficked here. Some of them do not have a visa status that...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It is called exploitation now.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It is the opposite.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: You are.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I do not think the Senator is right.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: It is not a point of information.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: Debates are good and extremes of view are good. I hope we will arrive at an in-between position which is good for everybody. What is bad about decriminalising the person who has to engage in prostitution? What is bad about criminalising the buyer, the person who says "There is a price on your body"? What is bad about criminalising a boyfriend who will force a girlfriend to go out to work?...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)

Fidelma Healy Eames: I ask the people who support this amendment and who are against the Government proposal how many people they have spoken to who have said they feel safe while engaging in prostitution?