Results 7,721-7,740 of 12,267 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 8: In page 11, lines 20 and 21, after “section 48” to insert “orsection 75(7)”. These amendments seek to clarify in the legislation the actions that an adjudicator or the director must undertake following an appeal. Amendment No. 70 provides for circumstances where an appellant dies or becomes incapacitated before an adjudicator has made a...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 9: In page 11, line 22, to delete “that section” and substitute “section 48”.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I want to flag that I will be bringing an amendment to section 4 on Report Stage to provide for the service of notices and other documents on owners and occupiers of land or premises where the name of the owner or occupier of the land or premises cannot be ascertained.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: We are bringing forward robust legislation. We have gone through a detailed process. We have strengthened the Bill, listened and made changes along the way to try to strengthen it. Later in this session we will indicate further changes to ensure that this legislation is as robust as possible and that it can create a process to bring some relief and succour to relatives, such as those in...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: While some legislative provisions do have "shall", I am not aware of any where "shall" is used to direct the Cabinet to do something. In terms of this specific recommendation, section 7(1) currently states: "Subject to subsection (2), the Government may, from time to time, having considered a proposal made by a relevant Minister" and Deputy Cairns is saying it should be "shall" rather than...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This Government has acted, including to bring forward this piece of legislation. It has engaged-----

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: If I could conclude my point, this Government has acted by bringing forward this legislation and making a very clear commitment that it will undertake investigation in Tuam. In this year's budget, it has brought forward a very significant allocation to my Department so we can begin that work. That money is available now. I am not looking to get it in budget 2023. It is available to begin...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As Deputy Cairns said, these amendments aim to transform what the legislation is seeking to do by setting up an agency for a finite duration to examine a site where manifestly inappropriate burials took place. It is for that reason I cannot accept this set of amendments. The Deputy is right that no one is questioning the need to intervene in Tuam. We know that manifestly inappropriate...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Irish legislation makes provision for situations where a similar investigative approach may be needed but where we do not know if it will be needed. For example, tribunals of inquiry legislation enables us to set up tribunals when a specific issue needs to be addressed but it does not create a standing tribunal that is there in case a particular issue needs the process of a tribunal....

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In this year's budgetary allocation, my Department has already been given €4 million to begin the work on the creation and resourcing of the agency to commence the work in Tuam. Once this legislation is passed, we can rapidly move to establishing the agency. I know that family members and those in Tuam particularly welcome that. Every Minister who wants to do anything under any...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: We are giving very significant powers to the director and the agency. It is appropriate and necessary that where they may use those powers is delineated by a map to be brought forward in the initial proposal. That map can be changed. As the Deputy indicated, if attention is brought to a site extending further, the director may inform the Minister and the map may be changed by a subsequent...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: As Deputy Cairns is aware, in the original heads of the Bill that were discussed during the pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, process, there was a provision that stated if there is a private residence on the land on which a proposed intervention is to take place, the intervention could not take place. We discussed the impact digging up and excavating the site would have on the owner of the...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In making a decision to intervene in any site, the Government must balance the need to undertake the intervention, recognising the manifest inappropriateness of a particular set of burials, with the need to respect the long-standing tradition of the sanctity of burials, which is something we have discussed previously. As we know, the excavation and recovery of human remains is a very...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will seek to deal with the three elements laid out by the Deputy. I would argue there is a strong rationale for excluding official burial grounds and retaining the time period applicable in the legislation. It is important to ensure appropriately buried human remains are not disturbed unnecessarily. In addition, we need to take into account health and safety considerations. Section 44...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This section is in place to recognise that there may be circumstances in which, irrespective of the manifestly appropriate nature of a burial, the relatives of those buried at the site may feel, for whatever reason, that an intervention involving the excavation of remains is not necessary. As I have said, excluding the Tuam site, there are differing views on the appropriateness of...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: That is when the Government or the Minister of the day would have to engage with relatives, ascertain views and seek to make its decision and justify its substantive reasons. My sense is that if there was a strong view among a significant proportion of relatives that there was a need for intervention, it would it be difficult not to do that. Again, we are talking in the abstract here, but...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment proposes to delete the power of the relevant Minister to alter the functions of the director and any such alteration would require agreement from the Government. I make it clear that the purpose of the existing provision is not to prevent the director from undertaking certain activity. Any such proposal that the Government would have to alter the scope of the director's role...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: My concern with these two amendments from Deputy Ward is that they would interfere with the definitions that are necessary to aid the clear interpretation of the criteria that define “manifestly inappropriate burials”. In regard to amendment No. 28, that would remove the phrase “at the time of such burial” from subsection 8(1)(b) and would, therefore, undermine...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I looked at this amendment earlier. Section 8(2) of the Bill states: For the purposes of subsection (1), regard shall be had to available evidence including— (a) any expert technical reports or other reliable information in respect of the condition, location and age of the burials concerned, and (b) any reliable and corroborated statement made by a person with knowledge of the...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Institutional Burials Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I cannot accept these amendments in their current form but I understand and welcome the intention behind them. I am particularly supportive of the spirit of amendment No. 40 and I am willing to consider a revision to section 10(b)(iii) to explicitly refer to identifying the circumstances and cause of death, where that is possible. I will also look at whether the description of the...