Results 821-840 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (9 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 3 to amendment No. 13: In the text proposed to be inserted by paragraph (b), to delete "(1B) Where an educational or medical institution referred to in subsection (1) is maintained, in whole or in part, by monies provided by the Oireachtas, action of the type referred to in paragraph (b) of that subsection" and substitute the following:"(1B) In respect of an institution...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (9 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I second the amendment to the amendment.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (9 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I second the amendment to the amendment.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (9 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 6 to amendment No. 13: In the text proposed to be inserted by paragraph (b), after subsection (1C) to insert the following:"(1D) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1C), nothing in subsections (1) to (1C) may be relied upon by an institution referred to in subsection (1) to— (a) justify or permit discrimination on the basis of religion or belief...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (9 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 8 to amendment No. 13: In the text proposed to be inserted by paragraph (b), after subsection (1C) to insert following:"(1F) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1C) and (1D), nothing in subsections (1) to (1D) may be relied upon by an institution referred to in subsection 1 to justify or permit discrimination on the basis of civil status or to allow any...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (9 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 9 to amendment No. 13: In the text proposed to be inserted by paragraph (b), after subsection (1C) to insert following:"(1G) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1C) and (1D), an institution referred to in subsection 1 shall not be permitted to take action that treats a person less favourably on the basis of a lawful exercise of that person's right to...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (9 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 11 to amendment No. 13: In the text proposed to be inserted by paragraph (b), after subsection (1C) to insert following:"(1I) An institution may only rely on this section where the ethos of the organisation is defined and published and the employee or potential employee has been made aware of it.".

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: Like previous speakers, I will start by acknowledging the presence in the Visitors Gallery of people who have worked on this issue for a long time, particularly Dr. Lydia Foy. She fought a personal challenge and put her personal life in the public domain in a difficult way for an extended period of time to bring us to the current position. I join others in paying particular tribute to Lydia...

Seanad: One-Parent Family Payment: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: Earlier this month, lone parents were subjected to the last of a series of cuts to welfare payments that were announced in 2012, with 30,000 lone parents with children over seven losing their one-parent family payment entirely, some of them losing up to €140 a week. I will start by correcting my colleague, Senator Kelly, in saying that while some parents will lose nothing as a result...

Seanad: One-Parent Family Payment: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: Nobody is gaining as a result of this change and the loss for some families is up to €140 per week. For a lone parent who is already facing pressure at this time of year, trying to organise school uniforms, back-to-school costs and all of that, this is the worst possible time to be hit with these costs. I am sure all of us have had people contacting our offices who have been made...

Seanad: One-Parent Family Payment: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: Sometimes one has to be able to live with oneself, to sleep at night, to look people in the eye, to answer that phone call from a homeless lone parent and tell them one stood with them and that it is not just words of sympathy, but that one really stood with them and stood up for them when it counted.We have an opportunity to do that today. It is not too late to reverse these cuts. If the...

Seanad: Transplant Patient Services: Motion (15 Jul 2015)

Averil Power: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. I thank the Minister for making himself available at short notice to debate it with us this evening. It is literally a matter of life and death. I thank Senator Daly for proposing the motion. I acknowledge the particular interest he has shown in the issue of organ transplantation in recent years. I am aware that it is a personal priority...

Seanad: European Council Decisions: Motions (1 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: Last February, I raised the issue of the Syrian crisis in this House in a Commencement debate at the request of the Ireland Syrian Solidarity Campaign. At the time I pointed out that thousands of people risked their lives on overcrowded boats sailing to Europe. I also urged the Irish and European authorities to do more to help the refugees and address the root causes of the crisis. As...

Seanad: European Council Decisions: Motions (1 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: For weeks Ministers produced different figures on how many refugees Ireland would take.

Seanad: European Council Decisions: Motions (1 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: Of course it is not. I recognise that in other areas, particularly the work done by the Irish Naval Service, good work was undertaken.

Seanad: European Council Decisions: Motions (1 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: I wish to make the following point, and it is one that I do not think the Minister of State can refute, about the resettlement of refugees. Initially, our response was very slow and even now the number of people that we have agreed to take is very small. At a European level there has been a collective lack of leadership. One had host countries such as Germany, which had Angela Merkel...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Second Stage (6 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English, who has just arrived to take over from the Minister for Justice and Equality. I wish to say to her, before she leaves, that I commend her initiative to push this Bill. Over the past few years we have consistently raised the issue to which it relates in the House and pressed the Government on it. It is remarkable that within a short period of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: General Scheme of Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015: Department of Children and Youth Affairs (8 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: Like Senator van Turnhout, I welcome the fact that we are at the point where heads of a Bill are before us. It is an issue I have been working on for some time both as a Member of the Oireachtas and as an adopted person myself. It is something that has been promised for a long time and finally we are at the start of a legislative process at least. It is, of course, positive. I also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: General Scheme of Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015: Department of Children and Youth Affairs (8 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: I have two additional questions. The witness said the birth certificate will be given out but other information will only be released with the consent of the natural parent. Is it only the birth certificate or the birth certificate and some other information that can be given without consent? For example, if the natural parent cannot be contacted, what information will the adoptive person...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: General Scheme of Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015: Department of Children and Youth Affairs (8 Oct 2015)

Averil Power: Where does the existence of siblings fall in the hierarchy?