Results 3,201-3,220 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I move amendment No. 14:In page 20, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following:"(g) in section 11—(a) by designating the existing section as subsection (1), and (b) by inserting the following subsection: “(2) No person shall be prosecuted for an offence under this section where—(a) the premises is used by that person to provide his or her own sexual services, and ...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: Perhaps the Minister might clarify this, but it is my reading that it is" a person who without lawful authority or reasonable excuse fails to comply with a direction" under section 7A(1) as inserted in the 1993 Act in section 25. As section 7A(1) refers to a person who pays, gives, offers or promises to pay, my reading is that it only relates to the purchaser of sex but perhaps the Minister...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: We have similar concerns to those expressed by Deputy Ruth Coppinger on amendment No. 10. As people are aware, it is our party policy to support the Turn Off The Red Light campaign, and while there is growing evidence around the purchase of sex and whether that has a knock-on effect on the safety of sex workers, we think deleting the entire section is also deleting some of the existing...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I thought it was €1,000.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I move amendment No. 7:In page 17, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following:“(8) It shall be presumed that a relevant person has capacity in respect of the matter concerned unless the contrary is shown in accordance with the provisions of this Act.”.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I understand the amendment is no longer relevant as the section it proposed to amend was defeated and, as a result, the term "relevant person" does not appear in the section.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: The Minister will also need to look at amendment No. 7, which states that it shall be presumed that a relevant person has capacity in respect of the matter concerned unless the contrary is shown in accordance with the provisions of the legislation. That is important. I do not accept the Minister's explanation and I am sure I am not alone. Even having discussed last night the Disability...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I move amendment No. 3:In page 17, to delete lines 7 to 34 and substitute the following: “Sexual act with a relevant person21. (1) A person who engages in a sexual act with a relevant person knowing that that person is a relevant person or being reckless as to whether that person is a relevant person shall be guilty of an offence. (2) A person who invites, induces, counsels or...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I support the amendment. While there are a number of definitions or cases included in the legislation, it is important to include faith formation because we will have situations where people engage in faith formation, including priests and religious teachers, outside of the school system and an educational setting. It makes sense to include it. With regard to the UN Convention on the...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I thank the Minister for taking into account the views of those of us who raised the issue on Committee Stage. We also indicate our support for the Government amendment, which is comprehensive and covers all of the concerns articulated on Committee Stage.

Other Questions: National Treatment Purchase Fund Data (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: 36. To ask the Minister for Health if the relaunched NTPF will provide data relating to the number, type and value of services and surgeries commissioned from the private sector; the cost and savings to the State of services and surgeries carried out by the private sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4566/17]

Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: Yesterday was the deadline for the HPRA review into the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Is the Taoiseach aware of whether the Minister received the report on time yesterday and if he did, when it will be made available to the House?

Sentencing Council Bill 2017: First Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I move:That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to establish a Sentencing Council and to provide for related matters. Sinn Féin has long called for the introduction of such a Bill. Sentencing councils are not a novel idea. They exist in many jurisdictions across Europe in particular. Such a Bill is timely given that we are seeking to reform how members of the...

Sentencing Council Bill 2017: First Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Written Answers — Department of Health: Accident and Emergency Departments (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: 106. To ask the Minister for Health the special steps or initiatives taken during the period November 2016 to date in 2017 in response to the deteriorating overcrowding situation; the status of these initiatives or steps that were announced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4565/17]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (1 Feb 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: 158. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of adults and children who remain in direct provision after receiving their stamp 4 leave to remain; the number of these persons living in direct provision on 26 January 2017; if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties these persons are having in accessing private rented accommodation; the supports she plans to put in place...

Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Second Stage (31 Jan 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I am not suggesting he do that, but that he at least look at what the High Commissioner's office has said. No doubt, the equality division within the Department of Justice and Equality will not be sufficient to ensure full ratification. I turn to the long-term prospects for disabled people, their human rights and the ways they can participate in the democratic process. We need to look...

Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Second Stage (31 Jan 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I wish share time with my colleagues, Deputies John Brady and Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire.

Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Second Stage (31 Jan 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: Sinn Féin welcomes the Bill before the House. In the past 12 months, I have tabled a number of questions to the Minister of State concerning his timeline for publishing legislation which will enable us to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Minister of State put a tight timeline on himself last year when he said he would publish the Bill before the...

Topical Issue Debate: Tenant Purchase Scheme Eligibility (31 Jan 2017)

Jonathan O'Brien: I acknowledge the regulations were put in place to ensure communities were of a mixed tenure and to enable integration. However, if the tenant to whom I referred were to buy her house in the morning, she would still be the same person. It will not change the make-up of the community if she transitions from a social housing tenant to the owner of her home by way of the tenant purchase...