Results 1,421-1,440 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: This is also a technical amendment to address the issue I referred to in the previous amendment.

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I advised on Committee Stage that I would return to the amendment submitted by Senators McCarthy, Ryan, O'Meara, McDowell and Tuffy which would make the confidentiality clause in what is now section 25(1) subject to the Freedom of Information Act while affording the protections provided for in the legislation. The question at issue did not relate to the substance of the amendment but whether...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: This deals with a spelling error which must be corrected. It relates to the usage of a word as a verb. One must be precise.

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The purpose of the amendment is to correct an error in section 43 by replacing the word "of" with "for" when referring to applications for renewals of registration of persons providing cross-Border veterinary services. This is a technical amendment.

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: This is a technical amendment to insert an additional word.

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: Nor did I.

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I appreciate from where the profession is coming regarding amendment No. 17. It does not want to see what is commonly termed "yellow packs". This is not the situation. This provision will only be invoked in the case of a disease eradication programme where there is an epidemic or pandemic. I evaluated this matter. Section 66(2) states: "For the purposes of subsection (1) the Council shall...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: Has the amendment been seconded?

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I should not have bothered to ask. One of the features that would be removed, perhaps unwittingly, if this amendment were accepted, is that under the definition of "emergency" one can have a situation where a person such as a farmer or farmhand is obliged to deal with an emergency. However, if one ties such a person to being registered on a temporary basis, it is no longer an emergency. I...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The Senator is trying to limit the application of an emergency provision to Class A diseases. This is what the amendment means. I am aware this is not exactly what the Senator intends to do as he has agreed there are practical emergencies, where someone must deal with a fallen or injured animal. We do not wish to become tied up in red tape about that issue. I appreciate that what the Senator...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I am aware that Senator McCarthy raised this issue on Committee Stage when he outlined his concern about the current wording of the section. I have indicated that it is designed to ensure the public is not misled as a result of a registered person displaying, for example, a title or qualification which he or she does not possess on the signage of his or her premises. However, if a person...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I hope the Senator will accept my self-explanatory "No" to this amendment. I am being fair in increasing the members available to the council. I am not in a position to accept the amendment.

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: I have evaluated this amendment and as the Senator is aware, we made quite a number of changes concerning evidence and a person's entitlement to know of what he or she is accused. I have given the fitness to practise committee the flexibility to call upon the complainant to give direct evidence, where appropriate. The council will determine whether it is appropriate that this should be done....

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: By being so prescriptive, we would remove people who may have an indictable offence that does not affect their fitness to practise as vets. I gave the example of a person who was convicted of drink driving. Should this person be deregistered as a vet? Indictable offences that affect a person's fitness to practise as a vet will, of course, be treated differently. We have to be fair and say...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: There is a definition of "minor" in the Bill. Equally, we have carried out considerable work, which I agree was the right route to take, regarding the work of a veterinary nurse under the direction or in the presence of a veterinary practitioner. On that basis, we are allowing a new type of profession to develop. We are not saying that a veterinary nurse can carry out a major procedure. The...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: Senators will recall that on Committee Stage it was agreed to remove all ministerial controls over pension aspects of the council or the Veterinary Nurses Board of Ireland. Accordingly, it is no longer appropriate that the regulatory power provided in section 102 covers superannuation. The amendment will delete this reference.

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: Following the debate on this issue on Committee Stage, I thought many people's concerns had been met. I also understand that the council has indicated it is happy with amendments that have already been made. Regarding amendments Nos. 34 and 36, the concerns expressed by the Senators have been substantially addressed by the amendments we introduced on Committee Stage. According to the legal...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: This amendment refers to premises owned or occupied by the owner of an animal being attended to by the registered person. I have already provided for this principle in the case of farms. It would not be appropriate to extend it to other premises. Regarding pet animals, the usual approach is to bring them to the vet and I would not like to encourage a trend in the opposite direction. I draw...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: The legal advice available to me is that it would not be possible to make provision for a joint application, as suggested by the amendment. However, it will be possible for veterinary practices to make private contractual arrangements among themselves, enabling a single applicant, in effect, to make an application on behalf of a practice. Equally, and things may change as they are evolving...

Seanad: Veterinary Practice Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (20 Apr 2005)

Mary Coughlan: A consequence of the amendment would be to exclude the possibility of veterinary nurses applying on their own behalf to register veterinary premises. We must have a balance between on the one hand, the established profession of practitioners and, on the other hand, nurses. In the case of veterinary nurses, there is an opportunity for them to register in their own right. As nurses will carry...