Results 19,861-19,880 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I fully accept the Minister will be right in 99.99% of cases. There will be a case, however, where domicile will be an issue and this might help. That is why I would have liked the Minister to accept the amendment.

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 7: In page 14, to delete lines 31 to 33 and substitute the following: "(ii) prior to the death had ever been ordinarily resident in the State for a period of one year.". This amendment gets to the meat of the Bill. Section 4(2) of the Bill addresses the declaration of civil partnership status. It reads: The court may only make an order under subsection (1) if one of the...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I fully accept there should be such a connection. The narrowness of the definition of the connection, that it must be the particular 12 months immediately preceding the date of death, is a trip-wire that will trip up some people. The Minister is probably right that the number of cases will not be huge but it is a trip-wire that we need not include. We need a looser definition. All we are...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: My amendments differ from those tabled by Deputy Flanagan. Amendment No. 9 states, "including a relationship entered into prior to the commencement of this section". Section 5 states, "The Minister may, by order, declare that a class of legal relationship entered into by two parties of the same sex is entitled to be recognised as a civil partnership if under the law of the jurisdiction in...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 9: In page 15, line 25, after "into" to insert the following: "(including a relationship entered into prior to the commencement of this section)". I will not press this amendment because I welcome the clarity of the Minister's intervention. As I indicated when I spoke on it previously, we are not at odds on its purpose and given the Minister's assurances and the Attorney...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 10: In page 15, between lines 43 and 44, to insert the following: "(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), where - (a) one of the persons in the civil partnership dies before the commencement of this section and before a declaration that a civil partnership of that class is entitled to be recognised, (b) the foreign civil partnership was entered into after 1 January 2004, (c)...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: That is a miracle, of course. I mention the Act as a legal precedent but I am not further minded to fight the Minister on the amendment. I recognise that difficulties might arise in the formula I used but I am concerned about circumstances where one of the parties to a civil partnership dies before the commencement of this section. I accept the Minister's word that the prospect of this has...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: Perhaps the Minister will outline the procedure involved where somebody presents the registrar with a medical certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner. Is such a certificate automatically taken at face value or is a process initiated to ensure it is valid and to determine how the medical practitioner arrived at his or her opinion?

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I agree with the change to the Title of the Bill. We will have an opportunity later in the debate to revisit our discussions on cohabitation. We are now discussing altering the Title of the Bill to broaden it to include the sections overtly on cohabitation, in regard to which I would like to say a few words. The Bill which I produced on same sex recognition, namely, the civil unions Bill,...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: It is also a republic.

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I really think this is a red herring.

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: I certainly will, but I am afraid a Pandora's box has been opened that we had already dealt with in great detail on Second and Committee Stages. It cannot rest with people ambling in now who clearly do not understand exactly what is in the Bill. The Bill that I brought twice before this House, namely, the civil unions Bill 2006, did create a marriage-like institution. In that Bill, I...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: Deputy Flanagan made a narrow point that somehow gay couples would want to use church halls or something like that. I do not think that gay couples would want to do that. I do not think they want to go to places where there is antipathy towards them, if that is public and manifest. It is unfortunate that such antipathy would exist, but I think people want to have these civil ceremonies in...

Civil Partnership Bill 2010: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: Their union supported it.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: Members will not be shouted down in this democratic assembly.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: Like every Member, Deputy Gogarty has ample opportunity to speak but nobody will be shouted down.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: We are discussing the amendment.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: We will not resolve that matter now.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: That is not a point of order.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill [Seanad] 2009: Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2010)

Brendan Howlin: Allow Deputy Gogarty to speak.