Results 461-480 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: The use of donor eggs is forbidden in Germany. I could go on and say that Austria is similar and only permits it for stable heterosexual couples living together. Sperm donation for single women or lesbian couples is forbidden. Egg donation and the use of donor eggs are forbidden.I understand that, even in France, that is the situation, and Switzerland and Italy are quite interesting as...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I do not accept what the Minister said. It is not about establishing a hierarch of family types. Rather, what is involved here is an attempt to establish a hierarchy for children. As Minister for Justice and Equality and as a former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, that is what Deputy Fitzgerald should be seeking to do. Earlier, I provided some information in respect of different...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I wish to respond to a couple of points, as I am entitled to do on Committee Stage. There is a mistaken presumption running through the Bill that everyone is entitled to a child through assisted human reproduction. There is also a presumption that because some of us oppose sections 4 to 42 we are opposed to the principle of the legislation. That is not the case. My problem with the entire...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I find myself in agreement with all of what Senators Power and Mullen have said. I am not sure of best practice on how one accesses the information, but I have come across anecdotally instances where persons did not learn they were adopted until they were well into the teenage years and they felt a little betrayed. When it comes to Santa Claus, we all experience a touch of that where we...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I thank the Minister for her clarification, which is helpful and informs the debate. I acknowledge there would be difficulties around the gathering of ongoing information. While, as provided for in amendment No. 24, a life-threatening condition might not arise too often in a person's life, such a crisis could trigger a need for a donor to inform their offspring. That does not interfere...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I said earlier in this debate that I was conflicted as to whether we should remove sections 4 to 42, inclusive, on donor-assisted human reproduction until there has been a full discussion on the ethics of donor-assisted human reproduction and until the Government proposes comprehensive regulation governing the whole area of assisted human reproduction. I was conflicted as to whether to make...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I thank the Minister for her comments and I will return to what she said shortly. I take on board what Senator Crown said and I know women who have had the experience to which he referred. I also know couples who have had IVF and whose lives have been enhanced so dramatically by the successful birth of their children. Therefore, I understand the situation. My only point is that there are...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: No.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I move amendment No. 24: In page 27, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:"(f) any inheritable life-threatening condition, with an obligation to update this information within six months of the diagnosis of such a condition occurring in the future.".

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: Yes. I move amendment No. 28: In page 27, to delete lines 28 and 29 and substitute the following: "(2) A person shall not perform a DAHR procedure other than on the request of a married male-female couple.".

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I move amendment No. 30: In page 28, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:“(c) the operator of a DAHR facility is certain that the use of the gamete would not exceed the limit on the number of children who may be born as a result of donor gametes from one individual donor. That limit should be a maximum of three births per individual donor.”. The purpose of this...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I welcome the good and valuable information the Minister has provided to the House. Will she expand on what the Minister for Health has suggested to the Government with regard to the numbers? There is a need to keep it very tight. We have regulations on who can get married for very specific reasons. I know small pockets of the country where considerable inbreeding led to many mental...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: That is interesting. I was unaware of that, just in case anyone thought otherwise. I would readily concede that the figure I proposed was an arbitrary one. If that is the actual outcome, I will welcome it. I understand the complexity of this issue, which needs to be regulated and dealt with. I applaud and compliment the Minister and her colleague, the Minister for Health, on going down...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: In light of the Minister's response, I am very happy to withdraw my amendment.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: That is not a point of order.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: In view of the Minister's comments yesterday I will quote comments I made previously, particularly on Senator Norris's Bill which we debated on 16 February 2005: I have reservations about the Bill and I have spoken privately with the Senator in this regard. It raises issues which will need to be teased out over a period of time, and will need to be done in a sensitive way in the interest of...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: Could the Acting Chair give me a little more time?

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I want to refer to the printer's case in Drogheda and Brendan Eich, Mozilla's new CEO, who had to resign because he made a contribution of $1,000 to Proposition 8 in California. These are examples of intolerance towards people who have a conscientious position on this issue. I am seriously concerned about gender ideology in schools. This proposal to redefine marriage has implications for...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: I will finish on this, if the Acting Chair does not mind.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Mar 2015)

Jim Walsh: Can I just finish on this point, namely, my concern about gay people, which has not come up yet? I am conscious of the fact that gay people have suffered the stigma and challenges of living in a society that is largely heteronormative. However, my concern is that gay people in same-sex couples are being encouraged to believe that complete sameness is achievable. It is not. There is a...