Results 21-40 of 43 for mother and baby speaker:Joan Burton

Did you mean: other and Baby speaker:49?

Leaders' Questions (14 May 2015)

Joan Burton: It is difficult to contemplate a more distressing scenario for parents than the death of a baby during childbirth or shortly after delivery. It is all the more difficult for women in that I do not think anyone is quite as vulnerable as a woman when she is having a baby. I cannot say enough to express how sorry I am for the families and parents, in particular the mothers, involved. Having...

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Joan Burton: This is an important reforming legislation and as Tánaiste and leader of the Labour Party I have no hesitation in commending it to the House. As an independent State, our record in Ireland in dealing with children and in using the law to protect and enhance the lives and the rights of children has been patchy at best. There have been important pieces of progressive legislation, such as...

Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation: Motion (Resumed) (28 Jan 2015)

Joan Burton: Today is another step in a process of blowing away the locked doors to the hidden Ireland, the locked doors behind which lay decades of neglect, abuse and lives devastated, if not destroyed. Women were subjugated and shamed for so-called sins. For the longest time, society's answer was simply to lock their stories behind a door and throw away the key. Efforts were made to ensure that the...

Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2014)

Joan Burton: ...voted in favour of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, but when it was put to the people the Labour Party recommended against voting in favour of that amendment. That was our position then and it has been our position for a long time. In cases such as this, the issue is the medical care of the woman. It is a relatively early stage in the pregnancy and my understanding is that the...

Order of Business (6 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: I understand the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill is on the "A" list to come before the House during this session. In respect of facilitating a debate on mother-and-baby homes in Tuam and other areas of the country, when the work is completed, a discussion among the Whips will almost certainly facilitate a debate in the House.

Order of Business (6 Nov 2014)

Joan Burton: I am just responding to the question. Second, the work is ongoing in regard to the mother and baby homes. I believe I told the Deputy on the last occasion that it had gone to each Department to get their responses, and that work is ongoing. I do not have an indicative date as yet. In regard to the Deputy's concerns around violence against women and abuse of women, I understand the...

Order of Business (9 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: In respect of the first item relating to domestic violence, I understand that it is for next year. In respect of the terms of reference of the mother and baby homes, I outlined to the House last week that the terms of reference had just gone to the relevant Departments, namely, those that are involved in the interim report in particular and any other Department that would have a concern, be...

Order of Business (2 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: The Government is committed to continuing to work to ensure the remains of people who seem to have been, for the most part, summarily and brutally executed and buried in lonely sites around the country. It behoves parties whose one-time sister organisations were involved in this to give the maximum support to the moves to recover the remains. Some minutes ago, Deputies in the Chamber from...

Order of Business (2 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: Regarding mothers and children who were in mother and baby homes, it is very important that they receive a full account and that the commission be established in a manner that will yield the information, the history and background they desire in a reasonable timeframe. As the Deputy is aware, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has engaged with Opposition party spokespersons and...

Order of Business (2 Oct 2014)

Joan Burton: Very strong progress is being made in relation to the establishment of the commission of investigation on the mother and baby homes and the development of its terms of reference, which are complex and lengthy. The Attorney General advises that the commission's terms of reference will be a critical factor in determining its ambit, length, complexity, cost and, ultimately, success. I am happy...

Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: I can understand why she is doing so, given her own stance. She has always been upfront about these issues. I respect that. I think she is rushing to judgment, however. I want to draw a distinction in this regard. We have to find the actual facts of the case. It says on each page of the document that was published earlier that it "is a draft document and can only be considered as such"....

Order of Business (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: When we spoke at length about this last week, I said that this is a certain part of the hidden history of Ireland. I have had a long personal involvement in this issue. I know many people who were in these homes and institutions. I told Deputy McDonald last week that Judge Yvonne Murphy has been appointed by the Government to conduct an inquiry. Rather than rushing the terms of the...

Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: We are all aware that the Y case is a very sad one of a young woman who arrived in Ireland as an asylum seeker. Subsequently her baby was delivered. My concern in discussing this is that her confidentiality and vulnerability should be respected, as should those of the baby. This involves a young mother and a baby. We want to see the best outcomes for both. She has since been granted...

Order of Business (18 Sep 2014)

Joan Burton: On the interdepartmental committee looking at the issue of the mother and baby homes, there were revelations on the mother and baby home in Tuam and subsequently on Bessborough in Cork. That would be personally known to a lot of us who have been involved in the issue over a long period of time, but not to the wider Irish public. The interdepartmental group pulled together in a very short...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2014)

Joan Burton: The Deputy has probably read about the unfortunate things that happened in the past in Ireland in mother and baby homes. Women did not have an opportunity to earn an independent income. The mother and baby homes died out when a former Labour Party predecessor of mine, Frank Cluskey, who was a former Member of the House and Minister, introduced specifically the right for women who were...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)

Joan Burton: ...trying to maintain a social welfare system which is strongly supportive, but savings have to be made in certain areas. I was asked to prioritise child benefit in particular this year. Women who have had a baby receive child benefit immediately, which is an additional €130 per month. Even after this reduction, maternity benefit payments in Ireland are among the highest in Europe....

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (1 Jul 2013)

Joan Burton: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this significant and hugely sensitive legislation. With reference to what Deputy Ó Cuív and others have stated, it is important to stress that the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill is a very narrowly confined item of legislation. It is also important to remind ourselves that the Bill is the result of the Government...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (21 May 2013)

Joan Burton: The person concerned is currently in receipt of one parent family payment; she is also receiving €23.50 per week rent allowance for the mother and baby facility she is currently residing in. However, as she has not yet applied for rent allowance in respect of any address in the rental accommodation sector, my Department is not in a position to make a decision on whatever rent...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2012: Committee Stage (27 Apr 2012)

Joan Burton: I thank Senators for their contributions. When I first came to this House in my role as Minister, a number of Senators were slightly disbelieving and wary regarding the commitment to reverse the decision on the minimum wage but I reversed it in the first legislation I introduced. The important aspect of that was to help people on very low pay. We have to take account of the context of...

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (2 Jun 2010)

Joan Burton: I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for putting forward these amendments. They would provide a comprehensive structure in Ireland for the first time that would allow adopted people obtain information about their origins. Much of it is a desire for family medical information for themselves and for their children. I am disappointed at the response of the Minister of State and his approach to this area....