Results 3,821-3,840 of 7,583 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Indeed. Some Irishwomen go to Britain for abortions. I was about to give the figure that Deputy O'Reilly cited, 4,000 to 5,000 a year. One can also count the newer reality of people importing abortion pills and the like. That sad reality, tragic for those women and their babies, leaves Ireland with a situation where approximately one in 20 pregnancies ends in abortion, whereas in our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: There you go. That speaks volumes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: It is happening much less.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Our rate is four times less than the rate in Britain. That is because our law encourages people to respect life.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: The position in our country contradicts what Ms O'Connor is saying. In an answer to the Chairman's question, the special rapporteur clarified that the UN has nothing to say to contradict abortion at any stage before birth and that is very revealing. Many Irish people will find that absolutely chilling. I noticed the chairperson of the National Women's Council of Ireland nodding in approval...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I will say one sentence which might clarify because Deputy O'Reilly's comment seemed to be directed towards me. Long before Deputy O'Reilly was even heard of and long before her party ever spoke on the subject, I championed the criminalisation of the users of persons in prostitution; it has been one of my issues. Any attempt to suggest that the concern of people who are opposed to abortion...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: It is not, because they will not discourage it afterwards.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Putting aside the exceptions where Professor Pras does not appear to support time limits at all, if I am not mistaken, does the UN then discourage post-first trimester abortions?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Leaving aside those exceptional cases where Professor Pras does not seem to support time limits, does the UN discourage abortion after the first trimester?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I do not see those differences of opinion referred to in this document.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: They do not seem independent to me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I agree with the rapporteur in so far as he says he is not contradicting himself but I think he is contradicting good sense. I might begin to agree with Deputy O'Reilly as she appeared to be suggesting it is for Ireland to decide its own laws on abortion without regard to what the UN has to say. She did not quite say that but she was going in that direction in her effort to support the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Was the Deputy good on the prostitution issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: It is one last quick question because it is International Women's Day. There is a problem internationally of gendercide in countries such as China, India, and the Caucasus regions where girls are aborted disproportionately because less value is placed on girls' lives. Does the UN oppose gender as a ground for abortion or is that also the parents' right to decide?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Suddenly. So gender as a ground for abortion is to be discouraged.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: So it is no longer the parents' right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Women's Reproductive Health: Discussion (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: That is interesting.

Seanad: Seachtain na Gaeilge: Statements (8 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Is breá an rud é go bhfuilimid anseo. Is traidisiúin é ag an pointe seo go mbíonn plé i nGaeilge go mór mór faoi chúrsaí Gaeilge agus cúrsaí Gaeltachta sa Seanad ag an tráth seo den bhliain. Aontaím leis an méid atá ráite ag mo chomhghleacaithe faoi na rudaí...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (7 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: He reads it for Twitter.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (7 Mar 2017)

Rónán Mullen: I commend Senator Victor Boyhan for the way he spoke about the Tuam baby story. He spoke with great conviction and compassion. We have a lot to lament in the way we treated the living and now it seems our dead. Let us remember and learn from what happened. The lesson for us all in this and other cases has to be that every child deserves life, respect and, ultimately, love. That applies...