Results 3,381-3,400 of 7,640 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I would like to address the issue of the committee processes first because in many ways the process dictated much that followed, and one can only really understand the content of the committee in the light of the processes. As I have said before, I believe that the committee failed to check against its own majority bias and that, as a result, a whole swathe of the relevant issues went...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Some witnesses would not even say whether or how often they had been involved in taking other people's lives. There was a remarkable tendency of people who, the public might think, favour just limited abortion from an expert perspective not to want to limit the scope or the definition of the disabilities involved. They did not want to see things confined to so-called foetal cases, although...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Chairman. I appreciate that. I noted the comment about Denmark. So much could be said about that. It is not just the Irish Government; Deputy McGrath at first in his comment was too charitable to the Danish ambassador. The Danish ambassador did not point out that 133 scanned babies were aborted with Down's syndrome, compared with four who went on to be born. I never said it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I am nearly finished if you do not mind indulging me. This might be the last chance-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I appreciate that. Again, very little attention was paid to mental health or to the fact that in Britain the vast majority of abortions take place on the mental health ground. However, we heard clearly in the committee that there is no evidence that can be adduced that abortion improves women's mental health. If anything, there may be a low to moderate risk of adverse mental health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Could I raise a point of order?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I believe you will give me an opportunity to respond in a moment to two wrongful accusations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: That is fake news from Sinn Féin.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I will confine myself to the accusations made against me and not the substance of what Deputy O'Reilly had to say with which I would obviously disagree. Regarding Termination for Medical Reasons, not only was I here for the entire formal presentation but I spoke to the representatives outside before going in and I passed them a note explaining that I had to leave. I had to drive to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I did not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I did not say on the committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Chair.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I have not made allegations against the Chairman that were personalised or that went to her motivations. I may have criticised her actions, which is wholly different.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: If Deputy Louise O'Reilly had said that she criticised me for sitting where I did because it could have the effect of intimidating witnesses, that would be an objective statement of her opinion. I would certainly regret it. If anything, I felt it is less conflictual to be opposite. If I had any instinctive reason to be sitting here, it is because I do not like conflict and I have found...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Sorry, thank you. I am sure the Chair must accept that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: But I am entitled to take a serious view of being accused of intimidating others.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I am exceptional in having had to put up with that kind of accusation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements by Committee Members on Recommendations oif Citizens' Assembly (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Deputy O'Connell cannot begrudge me that one.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: On the issue of carers, thousands of people are in need of care and thousands of people are giving care that sometimes is the subject of a carer's allowance but many more are giving unpaid care. Very often, they are the hidden heroes in our country. We have heard the figure of 195,000 people giving care but at a recent health committee meeting, I asked our health officials, recognising that...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (6 Dec 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Des Hanafin was a colourful, talented and sophisticated man. It was an honour and pleasure for me and many other people to know and encounter him. He had a major influence on Irish politics, particularly, but not exclusively, in the 1980s and 1990s through his support of the pro-life movement and his defence of marriage for its importance to family life and social cohesion. What Des...