Results 17,901-17,920 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I move amendment No. 21: In page 18, to delete line 10 and substitute the following: "(b) that measures or specified measures be taken to remedy, mitigate or alter the adverse effect of the action, or (c) that the reasons for taking the action be given". Amendment No. 20 seeks to ensure the Ombudsman has sufficient powers to investigate any complaints made to her office. Following completion...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It will.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Parliamentary Counsel advised the adoption of the approach set out in the amendment which means the Ombudsman will not have to carry out a preliminary inquiry before a direct or full inquiry. The answer to Deputy Enright's question is that the board will be covered by the Ombudsman Act.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It will happen as soon as the board is established.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am advised the approach in the amendment is best. The Ombudsman has already investigated a matter arising in the education board. The amendment will probably strengthen her hand and allow her office to go further. She has already been doing the work. If further information is available, I will provide it to Deputies.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It is important to state that the confidentiality clause in the Residential Institutions Redress Act refers specifically to an application to that board, to any dealings with it, to the results thereof and to the awards made. It does not in any way preclude an individual from talking about their experiences within an institution or sharing that information with others. This privacy has suited...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Allowing a survivor to do this would allow him or her to state that he or she was in a particular institution, made his or her claim and was awarded a stated amount of money. This would be apportioning blame to the institution, although the institution would not have had an opportunity to protect its good name before the board. We must remember that the institution is part of the process....

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The board does not deal with individual people or particular incidents; it just takes on board what survivors have to say. If the amendment were accepted, each case would turn into a mini-trial because the findings would be public. Nobody wants this to happen.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Not for the first time I find myself agreeing with Deputy Finian McGrath. However, I will not accept the amendments because the thrust of what they propose to achieve is already covered in the Bill. One of the commission's primary functions is to conduct an inquiry into the abuse of children in institutions, ascertain why it occurred and who was responsible. That mandate includes establishing...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Having met the survivors' groups, there is no evidence that they do not trust the Department of Education and Science. Similarly, there is no evidence that they do not trust the current system or the way in which it is developing. Nor was there any demand from them to move this commission to the Department of the Taoiseach — the opposite was the case. The survivors' groups would prefer that...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: We also discussed this matter fully on Committee Stage. While we are the legislators and determine what goes into law, that should be done from the point of view of ensuring the legislation is workable and will work well. For that reason we are guided by some of the views of Mr. Justice Ryan and of the members of his commission who are doing this work on a day to day basis. When he reviewed...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Deputy O'Sullivan said I keep referring to the commission. This legislation is all about a commission. Were the commission to continue the way it was going, it would take another 11 years to finish its work. That is not just a cost factor from the point of view of the State. Many of the people who would need or want to be able to tell anything may not survive the 11 years. The longer the...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Yes.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: This issue has been dealt with on a number of occasions and, as I said then, the position of the Department of Education and Science is very similar to other Departments sponsoring tribunals of inquiry, whether the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, etc. I know the Deputies have said it is quite different in so far...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I remain to be convinced that a change of name would make a positive difference to the working of the commission. Dedicated staff are working on it in this Department and there is dedicated funding for it. The relationship is good and the process is working extremely well. Were we to change it at this stage, we would have to brief a new group of civil servants and probably have to transfer...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It is working extremely well. The aim of all of us, including the judge, is to deal with this process as fairly and efficiently as possible. It is working satisfactorily at present with its current sponsor and that is the way to leave it.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I did not say it was about me.

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Order for Report Stage. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, my Department has issued a letter to all primary schools notifying them of their resource teaching allocation under the new general allocation scheme for the 2005-06 school year. The school referred to by the Deputy has been notified that it has a general allocation of 12.5 hours, based on an enrolment of 49 pupils. The letter also included details of the arrangement...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (14 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy may be aware, my Department has issued a letter to all primary schools notifying them of their teaching allocation under the new general allocation model for the 2005-06 school year. The letter also includes details of any clustering arrangements that may apply. One of the objectives of the general allocation model is to maximise the extent of full-time permanent posts available...