Results 3,301-3,320 of 4,787 for speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I can give a further explanation if required by Deputies.

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: It will take a number of moments but Deputies may accuse me of running down the clock.

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: It was argued in the Article 26 referral hearing of the Employment Equality Bill 1996 that what became section 31 contravened the guarantees of freedom of conscience and free profession and practice of religion contained in Article 44.2.1°-----

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: -----and that it contravened the ban on imposing any disabilities or making any discrimination on the ground of religious profession, belief or status. Effectively, not to delay the issue further, the point is that a constitutional issue is at play here. It is not in any way our intention to have a situation persist where children are precluded from attending their local school. It is my...

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: However, that is not an issue for this Bill. This Bill is purely to amend section 37 of the Employment Equality Act-----

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: -----and other sections to ensure that the chilling effect on members of the LGBT community, divorcees and single parents who work in our schools and hospitals under religious patronage can be eliminated. I am proud of this Bill-----

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: -----having spent four years of my career-----

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: -----along with other Deputies in the Labour Party-----

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: -----bringing it to to the eventuality it will become tonight.

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: At 9 p.m., that chilling effect ends.

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I thank Deputies for their contributions, many of which I have much support for and some of which were a little bit off tone. Several years ago, Deputies Ciara Conway, Dominic Hannigan and John Lyons, Senator Ivana Bacik and I came together to draft legislation to amend section 37 of the Employment Equality Act 1998.

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Over several years, painstakingly, through the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Office of the Attorney General, with amendments and counter-amendments and discussion from all sides of the Houses, we have come to the position today where we can amend section 37 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 to remove the chilling effect for people who work in religious-run State institutions which are-----

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: That is not my intention.

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: That is absolutely not my intention.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: UN Conventions Ratification (2 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The Deputy's Question is comprehensively answered in the roadmap to Ireland’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which details the legislative changes to be undertaken to enable Ireland to ratify the Convention, along with the estimated timeframe involved and a clear and unambiguous deadline for ratification by end-2016. The...

Topical Issue Debate: Drug Treatment Programmes (1 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I thank the Deputies for their support. I thank all Members of Dáil Éireann for supporting this initiative. A memo has been sent to all Departments seeking their observations which should be with us by 15 December. Upon their receipt, we will proceed with inserting the relevant section into the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill which will be presented to the House in the new year....

Topical Issue Debate: Drug Treatment Programmes (1 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I thank Deputies Joe Costello and Maureen O'Sullivan for raising this issue. This morning I accompanied Mr. Tony Duffin and other members of the Ana Liffey Drug Project on a walk through the streets north and south of the River Liffey for an hour and a half. What I came across was particularly shocking. I saw drug paraphernalia, human excrement, the result of a drug user's withdrawal...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: UN Conventions Ratification (1 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I can confirm the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill will be enacted by the end of the year. While I take the Deputy's point about the ratification of the convention, I have stated the reasons that Ireland has a different approach to other countries. In terms of the equality agenda, in every area I and the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, deal with, from LGBT rights to people with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: UN Conventions Ratification (1 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The Government, as the Deputy knows, published a roadmap to Ireland’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 21 October 2015. The roadmap details the legislative changes to be undertaken to enable Ireland to ratify the convention, along with the estimated timeframe involved and a clear and unambiguous deadline for ratification by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: UN Conventions Ratification (1 Dec 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I assure the Deputy that nobody is having a word in anyone's ear urging caution. The reality is that Ireland takes a different approach to these matters. There are many countries around the world which will ratify this convention but it will have no meaningful effect. Ireland does these things differently. This means that effectively when Ireland ratifies a convention it has material...