Results 221-240 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Student Assistance Fund (19 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: Of course, we should of course provide to students with disabilities the support they need. However, this should not be done at the expense of those who are experiencing serious financial hardship of a kind that could, as the Minister acknowledged, lead to their dropping out of college. There is a need to ring-fence moneys for the student assistance fund and to ensure that said fund is not...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, line 35, after “the” where it secondly occurs to insert the following:“name (or, if the person has been known during his or her life by more than one name, current and former names), date of birth and ”.This amendment is designed to make it clear that data relating to the birth, placement of adoption, procurement of adoption and...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 6: In page 7, to delete lines 21 to 25 and substitute the following:“ “personal data held in respect of the adopted person” includes personal data relating to the birth, placement for adoption, procurement of adoption or adoption of the adopted person that identifies the adopted person, natural parent or parents or adoptive parent or parents of an...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 8: In page 8, line 20, to delete “person.” and substitute the following:“person, including, but not limited to, the date of birth, occupation and address of each natural parent where these details are listed in the register of births, but not including the Personal Public Service number of a natural parent.”.This is designed to clarify that...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: As we outlined on Second Stage, we appreciate there are two rights at play here, namely, the adoptees' right to their identity and the natural parent's right to privacy. The courts have made it clear that neither of those rights are absolute. That point was made in the IO'T v. B case, and has been consistently made in constitutional cases with respect to all the rights in the Constitution....

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I will be brief, as we want to get through all of the amendments today. I will pick up the Minister's point on the I. O'T v. B case. According to him, the court had acknowledged that the current legislative position as opposed to constitutional position was that, on the making of an adoption order, the link between the birth mother and child was severed. While that is true, that is the...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 10: In page 9, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:"Duty to notify the Adoption Authority of certain matters5. (1) In this section-- "a person to whom this section applies” means any natural person who has information, whether in writing, stored electronically or otherwise (including information known to the person but not recorded in any durable...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I thank Senator Cullinane for moving this amendment and welcome the motivation behind it. The amendment proposes that the Adoption Authority of Ireland would be obliged to take reasonable steps to "protect, as a right, access for adopted persons to their birth family’s relevant medical history". It is not clear from the amendment whether the Senator intends simply to place...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 12: In page 11, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:“(11) Where an adopted person wishes to communicate in writing with his or her natural parent or where a natural parent wishes to communicate in writing with the adopted person, the Authority shall make arrangements for the exchange of such communications, provided that in making such arrangements...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: If the Minister intends to bring forward Report Stage amendments and would like the time to do so, we would be supportive of Report Stage being scheduled for another day. There are no Government amendments tabled today and if the Minister does not propose to bring forward any on Report Stage then we should take it today. The issue raised by Sinn Féin in respect of medical information...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 20: In page 16, line 24, to delete "data" and substitute "data held in respect of the adopted person".The purpose of this amendment is to correct a typographical error.

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 25: In page 17, line 5, to delete "identity." and substitute the following: "identity, but otherwise shall not include personal data that would allow the natural parent to identify the adopted person without making contact with him or her unless the adopted person has indicated in accordance with this Act that he or she does not wish to be identified to the natural...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 26: In page 17, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following: "(5) In this section "contact details" do not include any such particulars as are contained in an entry in the register of adoptions in respect of an adopted person, unless the adopted person has indicated in accordance with this Act that he or she does not wish to be identified to the natural parent, in...

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: Unless the Minister proposes to bring forward amendments on Report Stage, we should take it now as scheduled.

Seanad: Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I thank Senators on all sides of the House who have worked with us on bringing this legislation forward. I sincerely appreciate it, both politically and personally. It is an issue that matters immensely to me. I am an adoptee myself and have been fortunate enough to find my natural mother, my half siblings and family. The Bill will not make any difference to me for that reason but it is...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I, too, support Senator Zappone's amendment. I welcome the fact that this is one of the areas where the Government has at least brought forward an amendment. I would have preferred to see more Government amendments to address the issues raised on Second and Committee Stages, but I acknowledge that the Government has moved somewhat on the matter. I share the same concerns about setting a...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: As I stated on Second and Committee Stages, my preference would be to allow access for those over 16 to be treated as adults using the procedures set out in the Bill for those aged over 18, and to allow access for those under 16 to a full gender recognition certificate through the court process. I can see Senator van Turnhout accepts that while we have made this argument at earlier Stages,...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I formally second amendment No. 4. My preference is to take out the medical aspect altogether and the medicalisation of people, and instead accept a statutory declaration by the individual, as is now best practice in other countries that have legislated more recently. Some other countries are re-examining their laws in this respect. I would prefer if there was no medical involvement at...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 9: In page 9, line 8, to delete "18 years" and substitute "16 years".

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (17 Feb 2015)

Averil Power: Amendment No. 9 would delete the reference in the Bill to 18 years, the age from which someone will be treated as an adult, and replace it with "16 years". As we have discussed on Second and Committee Stages, 16 years is the age of medical consent and the age at which young people can make much more significant decisions affecting them - for example, to undergo an elective medical procedure...