Results 8,281-8,300 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: This is an occasion where the time allocated for Second Stage individual speeches might more appropriately have reverted to the old days when one could tease out the Bill at length. That is not possible but I look forward to the opportunity to do so on Committee Stage.

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Immigration for most of the 20th century was not a major issue for Ireland. Through the decades when this country was a failed economic entity, the preoccupation was with emigration. Fifty years ago, between 1956 and 1961, net emigration represented a loss of 212,003 persons, significantly more than the entire population of Limerick. Even as recently as 1986 to 1991, we lost 134,170 people...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: ——and yet when one reads the trenchant remarks of Mrs. Justice Denham in the Nyembo case, one wonders what has been going on. The conduct in that case was outrageous——

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: ——and that ought to be stated in this House. People concerned with policy will state that it was disgraceful and they do not defend it, but the Minister stood over it and one wonders what invigilation he brings to bear on those who make these decisions because that certainly conferred no credit on this country. For much of the intervening period there has been confusion in the public...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: It is most emphatically not what the Supreme Court stated. The Supreme Court is clear about who makes legislation.

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: The Executive then implements that legislation. Nobody is questioning the right of the Minister to implement it, but it ought to be based on policy that is apparent, evident, discussed and made in this Chamber.

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: The current system confers on the Minister the power to make regulations or statutory instruments from time to time as he sees fit. This is not the modern way. I know it is the way Mr. Justice Gannon saw it in 1986 in the Osheku v. Ireland case, the favourite judicial excerpt of every Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. However, we have moved on considerably since then. It is...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Although statutory instruments made under Acts of the Oireachtas are a well-known feature of our legal system, their use is strictly limited. The courts have long applied criteria for determining whether the delegation of powers from the Oireachtas to the Government or a Minister is permissible.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Code: Social Welfare Code (13 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 117: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action he has taken in respect of the commitment in the programme for Government to examine the possibility of introducing a paternity benefit. [5239/08]

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 150: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress made in relation to recovery of unpaid maintenance to recipients of one-parent family payment by absent parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5240/08]

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (12 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 212: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason there is no provision for a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24 to receive speech therapy; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that this child with special needs never received speech therapy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4649/08]

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 28: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to reports that workers on a €50 million ferry due to begin sailings between Ireland and France will be paid as little as €4 per hour or around half the national minimum wage; his views on these reports; the action he will take in regard to this report; and if he will make a statement on...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 57: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the announcement by a company (details supplied) of the loss of 220 jobs at its Tallaght, Dublin 24 plant; if he will ask the industrial development agencies to ensure that the area receives special attention in regard to a replacement industry; his views on the continued loss of...

Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: The purpose of my amendment is to ensure that a victim of an offence created by the Bill cannot be prosecuted for having entered the State or for carrying out the labour or sexual acts envisaged. The Minister objected to these amendments on Committee Stage on grounds of admissibility of evidence. We have sought to meet that objection, but the nub of the argument still applies. Reference...

Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: That was the reason I posed the question to the Minister concerning what would happen in the case of a young woman prosecuted for soliciting — precisely the circumstances as envisaged by Deputy Naughten. In other words, fear and intimidation go hand in hand with trafficking, where a young woman, fearful for her life and in the control and grasp of a criminal directing traffic and living...

Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: I move amendment No. 20: In page 10, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following new section: 12.—A victim of an offence under this Act shall not be prosecuted for entry into or presence in the State or for carrying out the labour or sexual acts, insofar as such entry, presence or carrying out labour or sexual acts were a consequence of the trafficking of that person.

Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: I move amendment No. 4: In page 5, line 3, after "child," to insert the following: "or (c) supplies or avails of the services of the child which the child has been trafficked to provide, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the child was trafficked,". This relates to section 3 of the Bill, which provides for action against the trafficking of children in particular. I seek for...

Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: The Minister has broadened the debate on the argument that if we are to address this issue, we must address the purchase of sex per se and not just focus on an aspect of the problem, which is what the amendments do. The amendments seek to make it a crime to pay for sex knowing that the person offering sex has been trafficked. I have listened to the Minister and believe a number of people...

Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: I welcome the Minister's comments although I am not sure what they mean in the context of where we are in the legislative process. Like the Minister, I cannot see what harm it does to include these provisions. To include them does not diminish the section, rather it sends out a strong signal. I am reminded that John Mortimer is appearing in the Helix tonight. He deals with this issue in...

Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (7 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: I accept that.