Results 1,101-1,120 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 73: In page 65, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: "(h) promoting the development of intermediary, information and tracing services for birth families and adopted persons.".

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is a technical amendment and we accept it.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 80 has been ruled out of order for the same reason. I ask the Minister of State to consider these amendments when he brings this legislation to the Dáil. It is general practice now to include in such authorities people who are affected by legislation and to bring their experience on board when key decisions are being taken. It is important, given the number of people who are...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: I second the amendment. The support groups would find it difficult to continue with the work they are doing currently and would find some of these demands too onerous. We want high standards and regulation, however, so I would like to hear what the Minister of State has to say about any possible difficulties for advocacy bodies or lobbying groups if this provision remains in the legislation.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: This has been a long and detailed debate. This Bill incorporates into Irish law the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Since Ireland ratified that convention, 16 years have elapsed so we have waited a long time for the legislation. It is important that the Bill brings all aspects of legislation into line with the Hague...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: Has the Leader received a commitment from Government that legislation will be introduced in the House on a more frequent basis than has been the case to date this term? The report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, which has been sitting for ten years, will be available this afternoon. The commission examined the abuse suffered by hundreds of children in institutions throughout...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yesterday, we heard from Senator Healy Eames about a young autistic boy in Galway who needs to be cared for in a special class because of a mild disability. He can be cared for nowhere else except in a special class. Such classes are being withdrawn all over the country. These children are not getting the care they need. There are hundreds of children at risk of being abused whose cases...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (20 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is right. Will the Government guarantee the money?

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: I wish to share time with Senator Joe O'Toole.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: I welcome this debate. The support of Members for the aid programme has been well articulated, as has their concern about the cutbacks. It is important to put on the record how the crisis is affecting the poorest countries. It is the general view that the cutbacks in which the Government has engaged have been directed at an easy target because there are no votes involved. However, it is...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: The country is reeling since yesterday from the revelations contained in the Ryan report. It is hard to look at the pictures in The Irish Times today of the institutions in question and to read and listen to the words of the victims. If it is hard for us to listen one can only imagine what it was like to experience the physical and sexual abuse, the ongoing trauma and the inability to...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Leader for arranging the debate tomorrow on the Ryan commission report. It is appropriate that the House should debate the report, although obviously there is a great deal of reading in the five volumes. This should be the first of a number of debates on this document and it should be just the initial stage of a comprehensive response from the House to the content of the Ryan...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: Three of the 18 congregations are now responding to the Government and there is a Government response urging the congregations to act on ethical grounds and make an appropriate response at this point. I commend The Irish Times today for giving people a forum in which to air their views and thoughts at the disgust people feel about what has been unveiled by the Ryan commission. I welcome the...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: We need him to take charge of the issue of child protection because as the report from the HSE yesterday makes absolutely clear, child protection services at present — I do not speak of the past — are dysfunctional and in disarray, and action is needed immediately. I want to ask the Leader three questions. Is he satisfied that both Houses will be in recess when the Minister of State at...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: Is the Department of Finance in a position to make resources available to deal with the enormous child protection issues? There are thousands of cases of children who are not being assessed at present who are reported as being at risk. What is the Government's response to the HSE report published yesterday? These are three serious questions. The issue of child protection is a national...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: I ask the Leader to bring that view to Government from this side of the House and to ask for an immediate action plan. I hope we will begin to hear this afternoon from the Minister some preliminary steps on that action plan. We need an action plan that deals with the short-term, medium-term and long-term issues as well as the vast array of issues that arises about institutional violence...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: There is not much evidence of it.

Seanad: Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (27 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: On a point of order, may I respond to what the Minister of State said about what was said a few weeks ago?

Seanad: Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Statements (27 May 2009)

Frances Fitzgerald: I raised the matter on the Order of Business this morning. I am pleased to hear what the Minister of State said.