Results 481-500 of 1,013 for speaker:Colette Kelleher

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: International Protection (Family Reunification) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (6 Feb 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I thank Senator Black. I will address the issue of discretion. The Bill proposes a right to apply the extended definition of a family member as per the Refugee Act 1996. In that sense, there is a little less discretion for the Minister but it does not preclude the Department or the Minister from introducing all manner of additional schemes in response to unfolding crises. For example, I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: International Protection (Family Reunification) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (6 Feb 2019)

Colette Kelleher: In response to Deputy Jack Chambers and the information the Chairman shared with us, it is extremely disappointing that the Government has made up its mind. We received notification in respect of the money message in October 2017 after we moved the Bill in July 2017. None of the arguments or cases we made was listened to. That in itself is undemocratic. Large majorities have been recorded...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: International Protection (Family Reunification) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (6 Feb 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I hope the Bills Office is listening.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: International Protection (Family Reunification) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (6 Feb 2019)

Colette Kelleher: There is case law, as Ms Finn and Mr. Henderson have stated and there also is clarity, which makes it easier to understand what the concept of dependency is. I have been following the disgraceful way in which people from the Windrush generation have been treated in the UK. The desire of the current Prime Minister when she was Home Secretary was to create a harsh environment for immigrants...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: International Protection (Family Reunification) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (6 Feb 2019)

Colette Kelleher: In any legislation, a review mechanism is a useful and healthy element. For example, the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 provides for a review to determine whether the measures contained in a number of its sections are achieving their intended consequences. In family reunification legislation, though, there are unintended consequences. What drove us to introduce this Bill was the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: International Protection (Family Reunification) (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (6 Feb 2019)

Colette Kelleher: There is an unprecedented refugee crisis. Ireland has to play its part alongside all of the other countries in the world. Family reunification is critical. Being blocked here today does not mean that the refugee crisis has ended and it does not end Ireland's moral obligations, so it does not go away. It is a shame that this avenue could not be pursued, because a small change would make a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Jan 2019)

Colette Kelleher: I endorse the sentiments expressed and points made by Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell. We very much need to progress the implementation of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act. I wish to raise two recent reports with major significance for the Traveller community. The first is the findings of the inquest into the Carrickmines fire tragedy, which were published last week. As we know,...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: We have waited 35 long years for this day where legislators are no longer hamstrung by our Constitution and can make abortion legal and accessible to women here at home in Ireland. While there are things I would have liked to have included or left out of the law, it is certainly good enough for us to proceed. In this historic moment, I am thinking of the hundreds of thousands of women who...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: Women have been waiting 35 years for this legislation. Let us get on with this very important work. If we need to suspend the House, we should suspend it to allow us compose ourselves.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: On a point of information, Senator Ó Domhnaill quoted Dr. Mary Favier, who is a member of the START group of doctors in Cork, which said in a position paper it produced in October that "Ultrasound or serum hCG will not be required for the majority" of early medical abortions. Dr. Favier is a signatory to the paper, which makes it clear that "the literature does not support routine...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: Dr. Favier is one of many doctors who are signatories to the report.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I move amendment No. 19:In page 11, line 24, to delete “serious”.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I withdraw the amendment.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: I move amendment No. 3:In page 8, line 23, to delete "serious". There are very strong and persuasive arguments in favour of deleting the word "serious" from the Bill.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Colette Kelleher: As Senator Gavan said, these reasons were well aired and argued in the course of the work of the committee on the eighth amendment. The risk or threat of harm to a woman should be a high enough threshold for her to get access to the abortion she needs — full stop. I know, however, that the Minister is not for turning on this matter on foot of legal advice. He set that out quite...