Results 1,781-1,800 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 10: In page 17, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: ""welfare" means the physical, emotional, social, intellectual, moral and religious welfare of the child.". There is a strange anomaly in the Bill. We discussed this amendment on Committee Stage, but the Minister opposed it, although I cannot understand why. There is reference to the welfare of the child...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I suspect that we should bring this procedure to an end by accepting the Government's amendments. We could then all go home and not waste the public's time or our time for that matter. The Minister of State's explanation is that because it never occurred to anyone to define, in the 1952 Act, the concept of welfare, we will not define it in 2010. That is the totality of his explanation....

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I am about to conclude. What the Minister of State has to say on this matter is not credible. In fact, he is undermining the credibility of the entire process in which we are engaged.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: The Minister of State should explain his reasons.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: The Minister of State's explanation is that because it was not done in 1952 there is no need to do it now.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 11: In page 18, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: "(2) Nothing contained in this Act shall result in the furnishing of legal advice, assistance or representation about adoption or any adoption matter to any person being regarded as the making of arrangements for adoption.". I will just listen to what the Minister of State has to tell us about his...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I do not fully understand amendment No. 97 which relates to section 147 and deals with the prosecution of offences. Subsection 147(1) provides that an accredited body will be guilty of offences if it contravenes provisions under various sections of the Bill, while subsection (2) deals with further offences that a person may commit. I pointed out on Committee Stage that given the way the...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: Amendment No. 97 refers to the determination of the courts as to whether a person "provided assistance to any prospective adopter habitually resident in the State in relation to any legal matter that arose in the state of origin of the child concerned and relates to the effecting of the adoption in that state". Does this not again suggest that if a person is effecting an adoption outside the...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: So, in a nutshell, it is an offence to give legal advice to somebody who is trying to adopt abroad.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: On the basis of the matters the Minister of State is deleting, I will not press the amendment.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 16: In page 19, to delete lines 30 and 31. We addressed this issue on Committee Stage. There is a definition of "father" in different places in the Bill but this section has a particularly odd definition, namely, that for the purposes of this Part, ""father", in relation to a child, includes a person who believes himself to be the father of the child". There could be...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: Amendments Nos. 22, 23 and 24 which are being taken in conjunction with amendment No. 16 relate to a different issue in terms of the definition of father. The Minister appears to believe that in interposing the High Court into all of this he is giving additional protection to fathers. This legislation seeks to ensure, in compliance with our obligations under the European Convention on Human...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: That will mean that every one of those cases will be brought to court.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: Section 18(4) provides that: Where, on an application by an accredited body that proposes to place a child for adoption, the Authority [that is the Adoption Authority] is satisfied that, having regard to— (a) the nature of the relationship between the father and mother, or (b) the circumstances of the conception of the child, it is inappropriate for the accredited body to contact the father...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I wish to press amendment No. 16. Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand," put and declared carried.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 19: In page 20, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: "(2) Twelve months after the placement by an accredited body of a child for adoption with an adopter or adopters the agreement of the mother or guardian of the child to such placement shall be irrevocable.". In the area of domestic adoption, of which there are far fewer instances now because of the numbers...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: The other amendments deal with the issue of consent. Our process of adoption is a two-prong one when it comes to domestic adoptions. The mother signs an agreement to place, the child is placed with the adopters and after a reasonable period of time has elapsed and all assessments as to how the child is getting on have been completed, the mother is then asked to sign what is termed the final...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 22: In page 23, lines 4 and 5, to delete all words from and including ", after" in line 4 down to and including "Court," in line 5.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 23: In page 23, lines 35 and 36, to delete all words from and including ", after" in line 35 down to and including "Court," in line 36.

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 24: In page 24, lines 1 and 2, to delete all words from and including ", after" in line 1 down to and including "Court," in line 2.