Results 101-120 of 338 for speaker:Patricia Stephenson

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (10 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I am really concerned about the latest amendments to the Planning and Development Act, which further entrench a developer and investor-first approach to our already incredibly shambolic and failed planning system. The 2024 Act has still not been fundamentally implemented and yet here we are pushing through amendments to that Act without any pre-legislative scrutiny. I find that really...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: In 2024, the Government made a commitment to bring 30 seriously ill children from Gaza to Ireland for lifesaving treatment. This was a scheme many of us welcomed. However, so far only 12 of those children have arrived here. What is happening to the other children? We have heard there is an issue with their visas. There seems to be some sort of spat between the Department of Health and...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Yes. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Defamation (Amendment) Bill. The Bill is both necessary and overdue and I welcome steps being taken to modernise our defamation laws and rebalance the rights of freedom of expression and the right to a good name and to respond to the rapidly evolving digital environment. However, while I welcome elements of the Bill, it is a missed opportunity...

Seanad: Pregnancy Loss (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the Sinn Féin Senators and particularly Senator Ryan for introducing this legislation. I speak in full support of it. It is important to note the bravery Senator Ryan has consistently shown when she has tabled amendments and legislation, and particularly today in sharing her story, because it is not easy and I know it will not be easy for any other Senator here who may be doing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the witnesses for coming in. In his 2018 opinion, Professor Tridimas concluded that a ban on trade with the settlements is compliant with EU law. He specifically stated that the concept of public policy must be interpreted as taking into account the objectives of the Geneva Convention and customary international law which allow member states some discretion in deciding the steps...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: On services, Professor Tridimas concluded that public policy provides a derogation not only from the free movement of goods but also the freedom to provide services. I ask him to confirm that there is a legal basis under public policy for Ireland to carry out obligations both for goods and services.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: My next question is for Professor Butler regarding the public policy derogation under the EU trade law he spoke about in his opening remarks. He said that there is no case law which clearly supports its use in this instance. I think he also said that existing case law offers no clear precedence supporting its use. I wish to talk about the word "clear" in that context. Is a caveat needed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Has there any been any cases within that area that Professor Butler has considered?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Does Professor Tridimas have any views on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: In his inputs, assessment and analyses, does Professor Butler consider the 2018 and 2024 legal opinions of Professors Tridimas and Koutrakos and all of the extensive case law that they cited within those opinions? They were published online and also cited by the Irish Attorney General.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I believe they are public documents.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Thanks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: This question is for Ms Ní Ghrálaigh. Does she believe that compliance with international law is a subjective matter? Is it an objective matter to comply with international law, in that we either do or do not? Or is it the case that there is a subjectiveness to it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank Ms Ní Ghrálaigh. Last year, the ICJ in paragraph 229 of its advisory opinion also found "that Israel’s legislation and measures impose and serve to maintain a near-complete separation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem between the settler and Palestinian communities... [and this] ... constitute[s] a breach of Article 3 of" the UN Convention on the Elimination of All...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank Ms Ní Ghrálaigh very much. Can she also speak a little about the obligations on states to prevent genocide and that duty to act under the Genocide Convention?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: General Scheme of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank Ms Ní Ghrálaigh.

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Business of Joint Committee (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: Could it be BAM?

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Business of Joint Committee (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: It is doing a bit in Cork on the pipeline as well which could be good.

Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery: Judicial Review and Appeals Process: Engagement with Courts Service (9 Jul 2025)

Patricia Stephenson: I thank the witnesses so much. I am really sorry if I end up asking them something I missed while I was out for votes. I note that the Courts Service does not currently publish disaggregated data when it comes to judicial cases in terms of the sector involved, the type of applicant or the case outcome. Is there a plan to do that? There is a bit of a narrative around nimbyism and in the...