Results 4,761-4,780 of 8,978 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I have found the reference. I just wish to clarify with the Minister that what we propose in section 24(10) is covered by section 24(5) and (6), and that what we seek to achieve has already been achieved in the Bill.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank the Minister. The Minister has said the proposed measure in section 24(10) is already addressed in the legislation and in terms of the proposed section(8) and (9) provisions that it will be a year before the legislation is enacted to allow the necessary time to complete the process they have begun.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: My apologies, Chairman. There is no need to press the amendment because the commitment from the Minister is a binding one and it achieves what we seek to do. On that basis, I welcome the Minister's assurances and I will withdraw the amendment in good faith.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 36:"In page 36, to delete lines 10 to 18." Amendment No. 36 deals with the issue of the cohabitation rule put forward by the Minister, whereby a couple has to have been cohabiting for not less than 12 consecutive months, including a period after the birth of the child of not less than three consecutive months. One of the key criticisms of the Bill that is quite...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That is not my-----

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I will explain that in a moment. I am disappointed with that. That was not our amendment, it was not what we submitted.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The amendment we submitted was "after line 10, to delete section 40(b) in its entirety" so, unfortunately, what has been presented as our amendment is not the one we submitted. That is unfortunate. We do not propose to remove section 40(a) but rather section 40(b). That is out of our control but we will resubmit the amendment and ensure it is worded properly the next time. As we are...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Minister has suggested that she will not concede on the cohabitants rule in terms of guardianship. However, she will entitle somebody who has not complied with that criteria, and is not going to, the opportunity to make a statutory declaration at the time of the birth certificate. Does one provision not contradict the other? Have I missed something?

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That is not the question I asked. Perhaps I have not phrased my question properly. If the Minister is saying she will bring in amendments that will allow for a father, at the time of the name going on a birth certificate, also to make a statutory declaration which would obviously, I assume, give him guardianship rights, why would one also need a cohabitants rule along with that? Have I...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Does one provision not overrule the other?

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Minister is saying what happens when a father steps up to the plate and is there, although the couple might not be living together, and is putting his name on the birth certificate. It is at that point that the registrar will inform both parents that they can choose to avail of a declaration of guardianship. If that happens, then the cohabitancy rule does not apply because one has made...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Even though this cohabitation rule is being proposed and despite the fact that the Minister states it will entitle the father to automatic guardianship, if he is the perpetrator of domestic abuse or a criminal, then it will not be automatic and the mother of the child will be in a position to go to court and have his right to guardianship quashed. That is why I do not believe this provision...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Yes. I apologise about the wording. I have already clarified that the wording, as presented, is not that which we submitted. I intend to press the amendment. I was inclined to call a vote on the matter but the wording precludes me from doing so because it does not reflect what I was seeking to achieve.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: On reflection, and through no fault of our office, the wording does not reflect what we were seeking to achieve. As a result, I will not press the amendment. I will resubmit it in a different form on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 37:In page 37, to delete line 38, and in page 38, to delete line 1. I shall withdraw my amendment because the Bills Office worded it wrongly. I shall resubmit my properly worded amendment for the next round.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 39:In page 38, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:“(2) A man who is the biological father of a child shall have an automatically guaranteed guardianship, when deemed suitable in accordance with this Act and he has willingly made his interest known in being a guardian.”.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 40:In page 38, to delete line 7.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 41:In page 38, to delete lines 9 to 14.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 43:In page 38, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:“Central Register for Statutory Declarations for Joint Guardianship 6C. The Minister shall cause to be established and maintained a register to be known as the Central Register for Statutory Declarations for Joint Guardianship, the purpose of which is to provide protection for the statutory...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (4 Mar 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: We now continue in public session, sitting as the joint sub-committee on petitions. We have had a chance to deliberate on all five petitions before us today and will now record the decisions. We have received 131 petitions to date. A total of 106 have been brought before the committee on at least one occasion. These petitions often involve a huge amount of work and can roll on for quite a...