Results 1,241-1,260 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Tuarascáil - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Report Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: There are those who will feel the Taoiseach is intoxicated by power and a sense of self-importance. Some have said to me that the man may well be suffering from megalomania. I do not know whether that has been diagnosed, but perhaps he should be referred to Dr. Reilly for examination. However, I do know that he is certainly starting to display all the symptoms of it. If we dismantle this...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Tuarascáil - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Report Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: The date of the referendum might not in itself be all that important. However, as several Senators observed, democracy is a very tender flower. We see many countries where democracy has been distorted and abused by people in power. This is not the first country to experience that type of attack on democracy. Others have been through the same, sometimes with disastrous consequences for...

Seanad: An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Tuarascáil - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Report Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: It is a retrograde step. In previous debates in this House I have proposed that reform of the Seanad include a greater role for representatives from Northern Ireland. From talking to Unionist politicians with whom I am friendly, there would be a willingness on their part to accept a seat in this House, with the proviso that there were sufficient numbers across all of the Unionist parties to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: EU Presidency Objectives, Foreign Affairs Council and Membership of Human Rights Council: Discussion (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I join with others in thanking the Tánaiste for his comprehensive report to us. I commend the fact that the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, visited the UN to sign the ATT. I think he was one of only 12 ministers who attended, which was acknowledged and recognised. I note that the Tánaiste intends ratifying it in the second half of the year. I would encourage him to do so as...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I move amendment No. 4: In page 6, line 8, after “treatment” to insert the following:“but excludes any procedure undertaken or drug administered with the direct intention of killing the unborn”.If the Title means what it says - the Minister of State, Deputy White, assured us this morning that the Title conveys that the Bill is about the protection of women who are...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: This is a most difficult area for all of us. There is no huge difference between our concerns, though we may have different perspectives as to how it might be resolved. The interruptions of Senator Fidelma Healy Eames while she was making her point were unhelpful. I found there was no real difference in the sense of loss of the parents who came to the Oireachtas with the National Women's...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: There is freedom of information-----

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I have told the House that this information is on the public record. The other information on the record was set out at the health committee hearings. A freedom of information request was made to the Department of Health in the United Kingdom relating to the figures for recent years. The response showed that no Irish woman was recorded as having had an abortion in Britain during that...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: That was not my point.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: Senator Hayden has not stuck to it.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: On a point of order, Members interrupting are not helping the flow of this debate. It is coming from Senators with a particular perspective against Senators who have a different perspective. It is wrong.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: The Cathaoirleach should allow no more such pseudo-points of order.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I concede that I have found this issue extremely challenging. I said yesterday that I had had a deep sense of commitment to a pro-life ethos from natural conception to natural death. In fact, I debated the issue in 1983 in New Ross with then Senator Michael D. Higgins, now our Uachtarán. We need to inform ourselves. I attended the National Women's Council meeting which heard from...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: No. I have already spoken to the Clerk about this and, in particular, the second group of amendments. Many of them are unrelated and so I do not agree to the grouping of these amendments. I know it makes sense to group certain amendments. It is the extent of the groupings and the related issues that I am opposing. I do not want it to impede us getting through all the sections and using...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: No.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: All we are agreeing on is this particular grouping. Is that correct?

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: That is not a point of order.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I do not want to detain the Seanad as I agree with the comment that there are much more substantive issues to be addressed. None the less, the issue is of the utmost importance. I am inclined to leave the issue if the Minister of State is prepared to give an undertaking that between now and Report Stage, he will consider the matter and comments made.

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: I find myself in agreement with most of what Senator Norris has said. I repeat the question for the Minister of State. Can he tell me where in the Bill there is protection outlined for the unborn, if this is the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill? We all know that in pregnancy there are two lives involved, that of the mother and that of the unborn. My understanding is, as Senator...

Seanad: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)

Jim Walsh: Will the Leas-Chathaoirleach explain why it is out of order because it is declaratory?