Results 1,461-1,480 of 1,966 for speaker:Mary Henry

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: Given that Senator Mansergh quoted Oscar Wilde, why should I not quote Homer? He stated, "It is a wise child that knows his own father" but it is now a case of its being a wise child that knows his own mother. These issues are very important in the Bill. To add to the Minister's complications and in order that she will have something to talk about over lunch after Cabinet meetings——

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: ——the daughter of a woman in her 40s had to have a hysterectomy and it was proposed that her mother would have a baby using her daughter's ova and sperm from the partner of the daughter. The mother was still married to the girl's father. If the child was born, the gestational mother, the genetic mother's sister, would be the parent and the grandfather of the child would be the father....

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: She is the gestational mother.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I move amendment No. 26: In page 29, lines 25 to 31, to delete all words from and including "she—" in line 25 down to and including "grants" in line 31 and substitute the following: "she requires persons who are not EU nationals or refugees to fulfil reasonable requirements in respect of length of residency in the State". This amendment means that the practice of continuing to have...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I am disappointed because I would have hoped the residency requirements could have taken account of that. After all, a person's family may be paying plenty in taxes to the State. I accept that naturalisation is a possibility for people. However, those I know who are involved in pursuing this avenue will be mature students by the time they apply for grants because the naturalisation process...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I would be grateful if the Minister of State would consider the position. These cases tend to crop up from time to time in awkward circumstances. For example, I dealt with one such case where the mother was an Irish national living here while the father was a non-national living abroad. He was sending money from abroad to pay the fees of four children. The fees charged to non-nationals are...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I move amendment No. 27: In page 30, paragraph (a), lines 19 and 20, to delete ", or made otherwise by a public authority,". This is another area in which a small number of people seem to be excluded from the protection of the Equal Status Act. They are asylum seekers. They are lawfully in the State but they lack legal status within it. They are very vulnerable in dealing with public...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I, too, support the call for a central register of joint guardianships. As Senator Brian Hayes said, one third of children are born in this State outside marriage and therefore we are talking about a considerable number of cases. It is important to remember that this provision could be vital for the father, the mother, the child and their extended families. I hope the Minister can accept one...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: Surrogate children.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: The child cannot be adopted because money has changed hands. The adoption legislation provides that money cannot change hands. The woman here — and perhaps the man — is not in a position to adopt. This happens particularly if the man's sperm is used and the biological mother of the child is in England, but the woman who is bringing up the child is back here in Ireland and has no rights to...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: ——to the child.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: That is right.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: That is right.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: She cannot come from the United States.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: While Senator O'Toole makes a good argument, I will support Senator Terry's amendment because I have not found that disabled people are not employed because they do less work but because of residual resistance to employing people with disabilities. There is huge resistance to employing such people, and Senator O'Toole is right in that regard. I do not know that it would improve the situation...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I support Senator O'Toole on this, as I did when the Employment Equality Bill was going through the Houses. We both argued it would be unconstitutional and when it was brought before the courts, it was found to be so, which pleased us, but not on the grounds we thought. That is what happens as a result of the separation of the Judiciary from the Executive. This is important because the issue...

Seanad: Order of Business. (18 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: The development of the new test for cervical cancer by Professor John O'Leary and his team in Trinity College is good news, but it would be even better news for the women of Ireland if the long promised national screening programme for cervical cancer was brought in. Will the Leader of the House ask the Minister for Health and Children to come to the House and address this issue because each...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: Two or three years ago I raised a matter on the Adjournment about the situation between the Minister for Health and Children, the medical indemnity bodies and the hospital consultants. I said that the way the negotiations were going between those bodies would mean the taxpayers would have to pay the bill. The taxpayers will pay the bill and the only problem is how much it will be. I have been...

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Second Stage. (11 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I wish to share my time Senator Norris.

Seanad: Civil Registration Bill 2003: Second Stage. (11 Feb 2004)

Mary Henry: I welcome the Minister for Social and Family Affairs to the House and I welcome the Bill. I am glad she accepted many changes to it during its progress through the Lower House. I hope she will accept a few more in this House. It is wise to keep one's wits about one in life, so that when it comes to looking at legislation, one can at least apply some practical notions to it. Members of the...