Results 10,201-10,220 of 19,424 for speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Given that 30 amendments are grouped, we are going by the grouping rather than by the individual amendments. These amendments cover sections up to section 12 and perhaps beyond. We do not get the groupings long enough in advance.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: We will come back to the one the Minister of State is talking about; it is not in this group.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: We have broad agreement and it addresses key concerns allowing for deletions and additions in line with what we have discussed here in the past. I am happy enough that we deal with that. However, given the complexity, we may end up going back and forth.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 2:In page 5, line 25, to delete “Circuit” and substitute “District”. This relates to some of the points we already made. It proposes to change the court that one would approach from the Circuit Court to the District Court. I wanted to ensure I had captured all the courts. Even though it is on page 5, it comes back to the issue of amendment...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: They will be 18 years of age by the time they have it dealt with in the Circuit Court.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Young people are dealt with in the Children Court which is the equivalent of the District Court. If one was to tell a young person with gender identity issues at the age of 16 years that he or she could not apply for a gender recognition certificate unless they stumped up €10,000 to approach the Circuit Court, he or she would not do so. I would be happy if the Minister of State...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: While there are no court fees, there are solicitor and barrister fees. I will discuss this issue with the legal practitioners and others involved. We want to ensure the process of gender recognition is not complicated without the onerous task of going to court, especially for those who are 16 years of age and going through the junior certificate programme and facing every other complication...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Amendment No. 48 is quite substantial. The information obtained is quite sensitive and we have discussed the need for confidentiality. Recently, we saw a case of cyberbullying involving a group of people threatening a young fellow with disclosure. We have also heard of other cases and we probably know people who ended up very stressed or who took their own lives because their personal...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: That is great.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I will withdraw the amendment and see whether this is good enough on Report Stage.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 9:In page 7, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:“Review of Operation of Act 7. The Minister shall, not later than 2 years after the date on which this Act is enacted, and again not later than 5 years after that date, carry out a review of the operation of this Act assessing, in particular, its consistency with international best practice in the field...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I understand where the Minister of State is coming from and I am not a million miles away from his position. We have had discussions on the need for reviews. The charities legislation was passed circa 2005. My problem is that parts of it were commenced only last year. This meant it was very difficult to review legislation that was not in operation. I acknowledge that the Minister of...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 11:In page 9, line 18, to delete "18 years" and substitute "16 years". This relates to what we were discussing earlier in respect of the change by the Minister which some of us supported. So far we have not been able to persuade him to change the age from 18 to 16. As a result, the people in question would not need parental consent and it would not be as onerous. It...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I welcome the Minister of State's commitment to being proactive. We have a number of months left in this Dáil term, but that is not to say that the next Minister will not be as proactive as the current one. It is our duty to ensure that whatever legislation comes before us to be passed is as robust as possible. We had a discussion concerning 16 and 18 year olds two years ago. In...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Okay.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I move amendment No. 12:In page 9, to delete line 20. This amendment proposes to remove section 9(2)(b) as one of the criteria for obtaining a gender recognition certificate. The Minister of State was meant to have amendments to deal with this provision regarding being married or a civil partner.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: We do not have them on this Stage, but we live in hope. We should proceed with this amendment as the referendum on marriage equality has been passed. There is a danger in the Minister of State’s approach in that those appealing the decision in the referendum in the courts will find another mechanism to delay the introduction of marriage equality and, accordingly, the removal of this...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I look forward to hearing the Minister's response.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: We now know what the issues are.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Social Protection: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (17 Jun 2015)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I am happy enough but I have not consulted the groups who are dependent on and have lobbied about an additional two weeks delay. I know the Minister of State is committed to this legislation and I am happy with what he intends to do but I have some concerns. I wish to signal that I shall table amendments on Report Stage and I will press them if we have not seen his amendments by 9 July. ...