Results 4,941-4,960 of 7,583 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I am deeply disappointed with the Minister's response. While he may pretend otherwise, it is not really a response to hide behind yet another mantra that he is relying on advice from the Attorney General. The Attorney General has been used, possibly as an unwitting battering ram, in this debate for months, during which the purported rationale for the Attorney General's supposed advice has...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I am sure the Minister will regard Senator Burke's point of order as very helpful. I dealt with the Minister's objection that the incorporation or use of the words "may be" would somehow encompass other procedures. Bizarrely, he chose to cite amniocentesis but did not illustrate what harm such unintended inclusivity would do. It should be remembered that we are discussing rendering lawful a...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: The issue the Senator raised contributes to a potential misunderstanding of what I have proposed.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: While I do not propose or desire to speak for the entire evening, I want to address a criticism that has been made of my point. The difference is that section 9 changes everything because sections 7 and 8 involve necessary medical interventions-----

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Sections 7 and 8 deal with necessary medical interventions to save the life of the mother. In such circumstances, there would be no desire to end the life of the child. Section 9 is a horse of a completely different colour, however, owing to the nature of the suicide issue.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Senator O'Donnell seems to be under the impression that the role of the Legislature is to ask questions of the Minister.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Rather than trying to demonise, the Senator should note that the role of the Legislature is to propose amendments.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Under section 9, there may be and will be circumstances where what is sought is the end of the pregnancy in circumstances that will entail the death of the child. The Minister has reassured us that a doctor will be under a duty, if the child is capable of being kept alive, to save the life of the child.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: It is extremely serious that I am being barracked in this manner when I am trying to explain a point, as we are all entitled to do. Section 9 makes it necessary that a doctor be protected and mandated, as other amendments propose, to ensure that a child capable of being born alive is not destructively aborted. It is for this reason that the words "may be" matter so much. For the sake of...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I am interested in Senator van Turnhout's point.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: That is a key point.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Yes.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I have a further comment to make.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I am happy to wait for the Minister.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I do not have a question for the Minister.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I have a further comment to make, but I am happy to yield to the Minister for now.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I have only indicated my desire to speak. I am not gagging to speak before the Minister. If the Minister wants to speak, I will wait.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I am happy to do so. I will deal with one or two of the issues that have been raised. Senator van Turnhout was absolutely right when she mentioned one of the circumstances in which no time limit is provided for in British law. Of course the other circumstance in which there is no limit is where there is any kind of disability. Under British law, the threat to life is not deemed to include...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: I do not. I have a comment to make. I said I would wait until the Minister had answered.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jul 2013)

Rónán Mullen: Amendment No. 32 is in the name of Senator Healy Eames so I will speak to amendments Nos. 13, 24 and 31. Amendment No. 13 seeks to delete the words "is ended" and substitute "may be lost" from section 7 so it would refer to the lawfulness of procedures in the course of which, or as a result of which, an unborn human life may be lost. Amendment No. 24 proposes a similar change in the context...