Results 3,121-3,140 of 3,693 for speaker:Lynn Ruane

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: When I became a Member of this House, I did not imagine that this Bill would be the one to cause me the greatest insult. We have started talking about lay people as if they are a different species.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I do not know who the lay people are who were referred to by Senator McDowell and Senator Norris and who will come in and infiltrate the system by interpreting the law. The judge interprets the law but these Houses amend legislation and the Constitution. What do the Senators think is going to happen on a commission on which lay people sit? They seem to have an image of lay people as...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: Nobody is suggesting a team of eight lay members from the radical left. It will attract people with a genuine interest in contributing to a commission and to the Judiciary of the country. This is about creating diversity and I do not understand why people are afraid of diversity. People are only afraid of things when they feel threatened so I wonder what it is about lay people that...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: Are they simply people who do not operate in the same circles as the Senators?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: No. Amendment No. 7 was removed from the group and it is being dealt with on its own.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: My amendments are in this grouping. I support Senator Ó Donnghaile's amendment. I will speak to amendment No. 11 first. I welcome much of section 7, particularly that judicial appointments are to be made based on merit and that gender equality will be a key objective. However, feasibility and practicality should not be a consideration when setting out aims, especially in terms of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I will come back to the term "feasible and practicable". Section 7(2)(a) states, "the objective that the membership of the judiciary should comprise equal numbers of men and women,". When we set out an objective, it is what we aim for. It is a vision or a mission. It is not that it must happen. When it comes to the mix of men and women, there is an indication of an objective but we do...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I revert to the original point on diversity. The Minister used the word "obligation". I do not think that objectives are obligations. Objectives set out what we would like to achieve in the best-case scenario of us fully executing and implementing this Bill in the way it is supposed to be, which is to increase diversity. I do not see how the suggestion that the provision would be rigid or...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: First, I support the amendment proposed by Senator Kelleher regarding the Traveller Culture and Education Bill. Second, I thank my colleagues who attended the briefing this morning by users of the opioid treatment services. There was a brilliant turnout and it was good to have people there to hear the users' concerns about how their human rights are being violated, in a sense, especially...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I move amendment No. 3:In page 8, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:" "diversity" means a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, interests and perspectives, reflective of the diverse nature of Irish society and including but not limited to socio-economic status, gender, race, ethnicity, minority groups and the majority group;". I thank the Minister for his time this afternoon....

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: They are people like Senator McDowell.

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I move amendment No. 21:In page 34, line 24, to delete “20 and 21” and substitute “20, 21 and 34”. This amendment relates to section 34 on the establishment of a personal data access portal. The section details what should be included on the website for data subjects to access their rights, including sending a request to a public body in respect of exercising the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I do not know where to start. For the length of time Senator McDowell was speaking he was reinforcing why we need diversity both on the commission and in the Judiciary. Whether Senator McDowell opposes the amendment, and whether he tries to stress that he somehow understands my intention, he continued throughout his contribution to show a lack of understanding of diversity and very classist...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: One can have an amazing understanding of the law and be an amazing judge, but still have an atrocious attitude towards people of a different class. That can make the difference in a judgment. Everyone who sits and makes a judgment definitely has an unconscious bias. It does not matter whether he or she understands the law. In 2017, some 60 people were locked up for offences relating to...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: Society should always be confident that the Judiciary is able to serve justice fairly. At a time we are overly represented by white, middle-class or upper-class judges, we must acknowledge that there is unconscious bias and objectivity. A bus conductor and a person from Coolock are not representative of society as a whole. We cannot point to the exception, for example by referring to my...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I am going to stop biting. The Senator is filibustering.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: Of course he is, and I am quite entitled to call it out.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: I do not think you took it seriously. The length of time spent does not show-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: The length of time that one speaks about something does not show how serious about it one is.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Lynn Ruane: Understanding diversity is what shows seriousness, giving it real thought and not being insulting as though somebody would not be there based on merit just because they are from a different backgrounds. Merit is always going to be the underpinning principle as to whether someone will be in a position to even go for the Judiciary in the first place.