Results 10,721-10,740 of 20,735 for speaker:Mattie McGrath

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Risks to Health, Including Physical Health, of Pregnant Women: Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, Dr. Peter Boylan and Dr. Meabh Ní Bhuinneáin (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: Surely we should examine that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I second that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I second Senator Mullen's proposal. What are we hiding here? Why have we been in private session for the last hour?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: The Chairman has said that we cannot speak on this matter now. Senator Mullen and I did not take part in the discussion over the past hour because it was farcical in the extreme. This now is an even bigger farce. He wants to propose an amendment which I am seconding. We want a discussion on this in public, not behind closed doors.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: We want to propose an amendment to the proposal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: And I am seconding it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: Yes, I suggested it. Why did we not?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I did, I thank the Chair. I will not hog it at all. I am just saying that I do not agree either that we should move in this direction this evening. I discussed it with the clerk to the committee. I am not trying to interfere with the clerk to the committee's business. I sought clarification during the break. It was not my understanding that we were going to decide something in private...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: If we come to the impasse - sorry, Chair, I am nearly finished - here-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I am respecting the Chair.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: How dare Senator Buttimer? Excuse me, Chair. Can I finish, Chair?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I will be very brief.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I do not want any sideshows. This is terrible. Thankfully, it is public and the public can see the tempers of members and what we have to put up with. I would have thought, if we needed legal advice here in the committee in public, that we could adjourn and get the legal advice in private, and go back again. That is often done in procedural committees.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: But sure, we can do that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I oppose the vote on removing Article 40.3.3°. I have always had my suspicions about bias in this committee. The overwhelming vote in favour of removing Article 40.3.3° means the genie is out of the bottle. It is an insult to some of the eminent people who are due to come in and make a presentation to us that we have already decided to do this. We have dismissed some of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I ask the Chair to allow me to speak without interruption. I am depending on her to defend me, not to interrupt. She did not interrupt anybody else.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: Not while I was here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I am sticking to the point of equal rights for all people, which applies to both mother and baby. If somebody is elected by the people, whether it is to fix potholes in roads or not, they are entitled to be here. Just because somebody dispenses tablets, or something else, to people it does not mean they have a better right to be here. The people decide and they will decide in a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: It went on for an hour.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Options for Constitutional Change (18 Oct 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I understood that we had to get legal advice. Other committees go into private session when they need advice so why could we have not done that?