Results 4,461-4,480 of 7,641 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Minister for her response to amendment No. 49. However, she seems to say that it is not necessary to require that there be sufficient "gravity", as distinct from sufficiency of "reason", to persuade the Minister to withhold the information. We should remember what is involved here, the denial of the knowledge of who he or she is to a child. The Minister seems to say that this...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Recently, in Brussels, we were discussing complex legislation going through the European institutions, and it was like getting blood out of a stone trying to get the bureaucracy to make concrete what it was proposing and to give real-life examples that would illustrate the choice it had to make. It seems we are teetering in that direction here. The Minister made some attempt, by referencing...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I wanted to know, first, whether it is only in circumstances of questions about safety that the information would be withheld. Second, is the Minister's satisfaction on that point an objective or a subjective test?

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Is the satisfaction of the Minister that sufficient reasons exist to withhold the information an objective or a subjective test?

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I could conceive of circumstances in which somebody who wanted to prevent his or her identity from becoming known might construct allegations that were not well founded. Therefore, it is not a matter of objective facts. It is a question of whether it would be required for the Minister to be objectively satisfied. Otherwise, if it was merely a subjective test, it could be that a Minister...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: The question was, is it a subjective or an objective test of the Minister's opinion?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: The announcement by the Minister for Education and Skills of extra resources for children with so-called mild Down's syndrome is very welcome, as others have said. There are many situations where children have disabilities that call on our special care and attention. It is fair to say that children with Down's syndrome in particular have a very special place in the hearts of Irish people...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Yesterday, I criticised the Children and Family Relationships Bill and in my speech I made a number of criticisms of the manner in which the Government is driving it through like an express train. This referendum legislation is going through the Oireachtas in the same way. The sheer haste with which it is going through, the dearth of consideration of the issue in the Dáil, says volumes...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I hope this is not interfering with my time.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: For the record, I have checked directly with Geoffrey Shannon the accuracy of the quotation I have ascribed to him.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: What I am coming across-----

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: What I am coming across in my contact with people is much concern in particular about the value of motherhood. Mothers and fathers are both important, but there is something about motherhood. Our late great poet, Seamus Heaney, knew something about the importance of mothers. Those who voted for Ireland's favourite poem got a sense of it: When all the others were away at Mass I was all...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: To continue-----

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: I will conclude, as the Acting Chairman will accept I have been interrupted by two non-points of order.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Has the Acting Chairman allowed for it?

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Of course children will be loved by whoever brings them into the world, but this is not enough. Justice to children demands that a child's right to a father and mother would never be undermined. I will table amendments in the coming days which will seek to reaffirm the right of children to their father and mother, and to respect loving relationships but protect freedom of conscience for...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: In fairness, the circumstances were trying and it did not happen for any other speaker.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: If the Minister is sincere about her statement that this does not impact negatively on the rights of children, she will accept the amendments. If she does not accept them, we can discuss them further on the hustings.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: Following on from what colleagues said, I hold no brief for the drinks industry and I have frequently called for restrictions on advertising by the alcohol industry and the curbing of links between drinks companies and sporting events or events involving young people, but I am not impressed by the moral posturing of people in these Houses and outside the House regarding the Stop...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Mar 2015)

Rónán Mullen: -----or she should be complimented on trying to earn a living in order that she can help bring up her family? We have to stop the moral posturing and look at issues on their merits.