Results 15,501-15,520 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Health Services. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am replying on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank and congratulate Deputy O'Connor for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to this House the current position regarding the opening of a women's refuge in Tallaght, Dublin 24. I reassure the Deputy that the matter will receive a great degree of...

Health Services. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: However, I understand from the Health Service Executive that this matter is receiving attention and the issue was discussed as recently as this week by the housing agency funding assessment panel, which is a partnership co-ordinating body of the HSE and local authorities. I also understand there was a plan to develop a refuge in Tallaght as part of a social housing project which was to be...

Suicide Incidence. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I thank Deputy Neville for raising this matter on the adjournment this afternoon. The case to which the Deputy referred is a tragic one and I extend my condolences to the family concerned. Every sudden death, from whatever cause, of a patient in psychiatric care is most regrettable. It would be inappropriate for me to comment in detail on any individual case. However, I am aware that in line...

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is not necessary either to suggest that this legislation is motivated by anti-republicanism. This State is a Republic and has been valued as such since 1937 in the dictionary sense and since 1948 in a statutory sense. We do not need that kind of comment on this legislation. We are going back over old wounds and I appreciate that, but the important point is that in any jurisdiction nobody...

Seanad: Hospital Services. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The national centre for medical genetics based at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin was funded by the Health Research Board in 1998 to carry out a collaborative study on the implementation of testing for hereditary breast cancer in Ireland. This study has established the technology and expertise for screening for mutations in the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes and has provided...

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Deputy is answering his own questions.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: He is attending——

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I thank the various Members who contributed to this debate. In an ideal world we would not need offences against the State legislation but the experience of this State since 1937 has been that we need such legislation. Far from being a historical failure, it was a historical success in preserving our neutrality from 1939 to 1945 when some organisations were determined to ally themselves with...

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There is nothing unusual in the rules of evidence prescribed in the 1998 legislation. Very free use of the adjectives "repressive" and "emergency" was made in the course of this debate.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Offences against the State Act is not emergency legislation but an ordinary part of the legislation of the State.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Emergency legislation requires a proclamation under Article 28 of the Constitution. The legislation with which we are dealing is part of the ordinary legislation of the State.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I want to go through the individual contributions. I thank Deputies Gerard Murphy and Crawford for their support. The Government, and I am sure all Deputies, share their concern that the Good Friday Agreement should be implemented in all its aspects. Deputy Costello raised a technical issue of the review provision in this legislation.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The review provision is contained in section 18.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I want to accommodate the Deputy but I disagree with his interpretation of the section. The relevant paper submitted by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform should be prepared in reasonable time for the debate in the House. I accept the Deputy's point in that regard. I have asked the officers of the Department to ensure that reasonable notice of this document should be given in...

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I cannot give the assurance of 21 days.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I want to explain to the Deputy the reason for that. The reason I cannot give him a 21 day assurance is that the reference to 21 days in the third subsection of section 18 is a reference to the period to which the report should apply, not a reference to the period within which it should be submitted.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Therefore, it is impossible to do that. I agree with the Deputy that it is expressed in very legalese terms but that is the substance of it. I am prepared to say that a week's notice would be reasonable and I give the Deputy that assurance for the future.

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In regard to the wider matters raised by Deputy Costello, he raised a fair point that the problem of witness intimidation is a serious problem as well as the danger of jury intimidation, and neither issues can be ignored in a consideration of all these matters. There is a body of legislation going back to 1939 and the then Government committed itself at the time of the Good Friday Agreement...

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If one peruses the Good Friday Agreement carefully it will be clear we did not say we would do anything about the review, but the Minister has——

Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion. (16 Jun 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: ——undertaken to bring proposals to the Government on the entire set of recommendations contained in the Hederman report, and this he will do. In the past year the emphasis has been on ensuring the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 and that has cleared the way for a full examination of the Hederman recommendations.