Results 141-160 of 3,241 for speaker:Brian Ó Domhnaill

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: The obvious immaturity of children means that the level of support and care provided after a procedure such as abortion should be even higher than that provided to an adult woman. If a child attends a doctor other than the usual family doctor, the treating doctor may not be aware of the particular issues or challenges the young woman might face. Parents are naturally better equipped to deal...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I have heard what the Minister of State has had to say and respectfully disagree with my friend Senator Norris on the issue. I have looked at the abortion notification form in the United Kingdom and read section 20 of the Bill. Subsection (2)(c), for instance, refers to the need for the county or place of residence of the pregnant woman to be recorded. Let us simplify the matter a little....

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support the amendment. It proposes to create a new section and does not deal with emergency situations. It proposes to replace section 21 with detailed provisions relating to consent, providing healthcare professionals with a clear framework within which to operate. It ensures insofar as possible that the consent of a pregnant woman to an abortion will be true and fully informed. It...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I want to make several brief points on the amendment. The amendment specifies that the ultrasound shall be provided but it does not in any way confer responsibility on the woman to view the ultrasound. That is entirely optional. This is what happens in other jurisdictions, for example, a woman undertaking an abortion in the state of Ontario in Canada, where it is compulsory that the doctor...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Very often the argument on the other side is that the woman's choice is being levelled forward but that argument could follow through here also. We are actually providing a woman's choice here. The doctors shall carry out an ultrasound but it is entirely up to the woman's choosing whether she wants to view the monitor. We are not making it compulsory in the amendment that-----

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Choice can be selective, it would appear, when required to be.This amendment follows through on the only detailed analysis carried out in the aftermath of the referendum. That was a field survey carried out by Amárach Research in August 2018 and published in October 2018. The gender breakdown of respondents was 49% men to 51% women. It was carried out across social classes, age...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support this group of amendments and acknowledge what Senators have said. As for the rationale for these amendments, first, amendment No. 47 endeavours to reframe section 22(1) so that it provides a positive and substantive protection of freedom of conscience. The current section 22(1) states that nothing in the Bill obliges a doctor, nurse or midwife to participate in carrying out a...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is indeed, a Chathaoirligh, and I thank you.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: This letter relates to conscientious objection in its totality. The person who wrote it is setting out her views. I am trying to air them. I have received hundreds of letters about this issue. I felt that this letter deserved particular attention by being read into the record of the House. It will stand the test of time. I hope it will protect the unspoken voices of midwives out there...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: While I appreciate that, I would not like to devalue the authenticity or genuineness of the letter.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: Many members of staff in the midwifery section of Letterkenny General Hospital and many other hospitals have conscientious objections and are highly concerned about the introduction of this legislation. Like midwifery staff, pharmacists, who have been mentioned during this debate, have raised their conscientious objection to the provision of the services they will be expected to provide...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I move amendment No. 53:In page 15, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “Dignified Disposal of Foetal Remains 23. (1) The bodily remains of a foetus who has been the subject of a termination of pregnancy carried out by surgical means shall be disposed of only by way of: (a) burial in a burial ground for the purposes of section 44 of the Local Government (Sanitary...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I indicated to speak to the amendment.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I understand that and I agree with the Cathaoirleach. The Taoiseach's remarks at lunchtime indicating that he wishes for these services to commence on 1 January, as does the Minister, are in stark contrast to the remarks of the practitioners due to provide those services. Dr. Austin O'Kennedy, a renowned practitioner in County Donegal to whom I referred during Second Stage last Thursday,...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I acknowledge that. I was responding to the Minister's comments. I do not support the amendment. It redefines the word "health" in a manner that is completely-----

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: It is respectful to the amendment. Senator Ruane went to the trouble of putting down an amendment and I am only giving some feedback on that. Broadening out the word "health" to include well-being would dilute the protections of the unborn child. It is not something that I could subscribe to or support. I agree with the Minister in what he had to say on broadening out the definition....

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: -----given what the amendment is trying to achieve because it is very different from what I am trying to achieve.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support amendments Nos. 3 and 15 and I agree with my colleague, Senator Mullen, on the importance of both of them. The amendments revolve around the viability issue and the protections for babies born at a late stage. Senator Mullen covered amendment No. 3 in detail but I will deal with amendment No. 15, which seeks to ensure that where an unborn child is capable of being born alive it is...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I support both amendments. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, to the House in place of the Minister, Deputy Harris. Perhaps she will be more forthcoming in accepting amendments. The Minister gave sympathetic consideration to accepting some amendments, but only some. These amendments coupled together, which have been outlined in detail, refer to section 9 which deals...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Brian Ó Domhnaill: I bow to Senator Colm Burke's legal expertise. In the case where advice is given to the Government and it is not published, we are effectively left to make legislation here in the dark. We are assuming that the legislative advice given to the Government is sacrosanct. Why can it not be elaborated upon? One then goes into the area of consultation. Consultation with whom? Is it...