Results 121-140 of 4,465 for speaker:Jim Walsh
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: The purchaser is going to be criminalised.
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: This legislation is criminalising the purchaser. That is what I am saying. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. That is my opinion in this regard. I ask for it to be looked at again. It is not the same, but it is a little akin to saying the drug addict should be criminalised and brought to court for purchasing drugs but the drug pusher should in some way be decriminalised....
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: We must keep a balance in the law, but we are not doing that here. I can understand the intention of this amendment, which is to protect vulnerable women. That is something I fully support, but I think we have gone way beyond it in creating this new situation.
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: Nobody suggested that.
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: It is disingenuous of the Minister of State to try to give the impression that anybody suggested prostitution is a glorious career. Nobody I heard in the Chamber suggested that. Perhaps it is because he does not have a better argument to defend against the point that was being made to him, which he ignored. I support fully the view that a majority of women who decide to resort to...
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: I am ad idemwith the Minister of State on reducing the level of prostitution, and I agree fully that one of the ways to do so is to tackle the demand. However, the point I make is that if he is really serious about reducing it, why not tackle the supply side also, where it is not being produced by women who are vulnerable in any of the categories I mentioned? There are women who do it as a...
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: I do not agree with the comments made by my colleague, Senator White, when introducing amendment No. 29. I am perplexed as to why Senator van Turnhout is opposed to this amendment.
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: The amendment is very simple.
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: It is very clear and is one to which I have no difficulty adding my support.
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: It is asking for three things.
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: It is looking for information on the nature and extent of prostitution connected to human trafficking, including the numbers of arrests and convictions during the period of the first two years. That is a matter in which every Member of this House should be interested. The second point looks for the extent to which, in the opinion of the Minister, this section has operated to reduce human...
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: The Minister of State is ducking the matter. It is like saying all items of legislation are under review. Any Minister can say that but we know in practice that it rarely, if ever, happens unless something occurs which highlights a lacuna. The Departments are not so proactive in monitoring what goes on in matters immediately under their control, not to mention previous legislation, which...
- Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: I might not go that far, but as somebody who has shown some degree of ingenuity in the responsibilities he holds, the Minister of State should clearly exercise his right to accept this amendment. Too many Ministers of State who come to this House do not have any discretion, look over their shoulders for guidance and do not accept amendments. What distinguishes the good Ministers from the...
- Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: Today is 10 December which is the 57th anniversary of the signing of an important document at the United Nations in 1948 - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There probably has not been a time when we have seen such breaches of human rights across the globe. Every day we hear stories from the Middle East and the atrocities of Daesh against minorities, in particularly Christians who...
- Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: I say to those who are of a pro-life disposition that perhaps it is time for us to get together and refuse to pay our RTE licence fee. It would not be my intention that the pro-abortion and pro-killing of unborn babies policy-----
- Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: -----which is endemic in RTE would be allowed to continue-----
- Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: -----in particular as we are funding the overpaid salaries in RTE. There are people who earn up to €500,000 a year for jobs that do not require a great deal of qualifications. I ask for a debate in this House on the lack of impartiality and balance in our national broadcaster. Perhaps it is time to dismantle the national broadcaster. We do not need the range of-----
- Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: We do not need the range of radio and television stations that it is promoting at present at significant cost to the taxpayers who support it.
- Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: Could I raise a point of order?
- Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2015)
Jim Walsh: Could somebody please give Senator Bacik some treatment for her haemorrhoids?