Results 2,201-2,220 of 5,010 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: Absolutely. The report is about alleged planning irregularities in Donegal.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: The report is complete. We will know exactly what is in the report, if it is alleged or not and whether it is substantiated or not, when it is published. I am calling for a report that was commissioned, and then undertaken by senior counsel Rory Mulcahy. The report is sitting on the Minister's desk and I want it to be published.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: To be clear, there is a report and the Minister has confirmed that to me. It is not an alleged report and I will not allow anyone to say it is an alleged report.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: The Senator has made a very good rationale for the logic of this amendment. I will not repeat what she said, but given what the committee recommended, I fully support and endorse it. I hope the Minister will see fit to support the amendment.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I understand exactly where Senator Ruane is coming from regarding the amendment. Again, we have to manage people's expectations in a responsible manner. We know that for many years there has simply been no information. That is not to say there was not information originally. Much of the information has been destroyed. Many of the people involved in these illegal acts are in the wrong or...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: This is one of the biggest and most contentious issues. Senator Ruane suggested that this is one of the red line issues and I agree. In terms of the needs and wishes of the survivors, their families and advocates, this matter has been raised with me constantly. It has been a consistent concern. I took the time to read the committee engagement in relation to this and it was interesting to...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I move amendment No. 108: In page 50, after line 33, to insert the following: “Process and complaints procedure 52. (1) The Minister shall create an appeals process and complaints procedure. The appeals and complaints procedure shall take into account concerns in relation to compliance, problems arising from limited definitions and issues arising regarding institutions not listed...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I do not say I am disappointed because it is beyond disappointment for me at this stage. However, I do think it needs to happen and it should happen. The Minister started off mentioning trust, and that is very important but, sadly, many of these people have had a long drawn out experience of trying to ascertain information. They are not trusting too many people at this point and there have...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I hear what the Minister is saying. I am left with no option, really. I either disagree with him or I do not disagree with him. I can call a vote and they all bounce up here and we play the numbers game, the old numbers game, again. They all pop into these benches, they are all under a whip and they all vote for the Government. That, unfortunately, is how parliamentary democracy is...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I am speaking. It may be democracy but it is not the true spirit of parliamentary democracy. It does not always quite happen like that. That has triggered me to now call a vote. I thank the Senator because when I get a remark like that across the Chamber then it forces me to put it to people and let us bounce them into the chairs here. I do not accept it, I will call a vote and at least...

Seanad: Situation in Ukraine: Motion (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I second the motion. I thank Senator Dooley and Fianna Fáil for using their Private Members' time for this motion. It is commendable. I will not repeat the various aspects of the motion. I believe in it. I do not think we need to rehearse all of this because are all well versed in it. I will use my time to share a few thoughts. I was prompted to think about this before I came here...

Seanad: Situation in Ukraine: Motion (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: We will learn more from that sharing and that common humanity. I thank Members for bringing this motion to the House.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I echo the Senator on the issue of counselling. Nine months is crazy. It is not sufficient. When someone is in desperation or suicidal, with recurring anxiety, or is feeling threatened - that may be internalised and is not necessarily external - nine months is an unsatisfactory wait. We have a scandalous arrangement where people are waiting anyway in the HSE. I spoke to a man a few weeks...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: We are coming to the end of the amendments and, therefore, I will take this opportunity to say that Senator Higgins makes a very good point, which touches on what I said earlier in my own amendment, No. 108. I will not go back there because we have been there, done that and made a decision. We will ultimately account for that as we go out from here in the next few weeks. It is right that...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I would not like the Minister to leave feeling disappointed. I say that genuinely. I want to put it on the record of the House that, as I have said all along, I believe he is absolutely committed to reform on this issue. There is no question about that. It is my intention to support the Bill. I made up my mind to do so because it represents major progress on what we had before. We can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing in Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's Anti-doping Programme: Discussion (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome our guests. They are guests of ours and I think that is an important point to make. I thank them for coming to the meeting. I have a number of questions that will come in a slightly disjointed way. I do not mean for them to be disjointed but they are observations I have noted. I found the IHRB's Integrity Racing Statistics 2019 an interesting document. Does such a document...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing in Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's Anti-doping Programme: Discussion (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: That would be welcome. I could not find those 2021 statistics but that may have been my fault. As our guests know, the committee made certain substantial recommendations. I am concerned at the slow progress. I will leave it at that. We are here because we believe in the industry and are supportive of it. I can declare that I have a reasonably keen interest in horse racing. I attend...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing in Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's Anti-doping Programme: Discussion (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: Is that going to be the ongoing arrangement? I would be somewhat concerned about that. He was commissioned to do a report and it was surprising that he had not audited its work.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing in Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's Anti-doping Programme: Discussion (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: Okay. It is stated that a full public procurement process for the provision of our laboratory services will start in 2020 and we look forward to receiving Dr. Suann's report and acting on any recommendations when they are available. What is the current status of that procurement process?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing in Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's Anti-doping Programme: Discussion (1 Jun 2022)

Victor Boyhan: This was in the IRHB's equine anti-doping report of January 2022. Ms Guy stated it will commence in 2022.