Results 121-140 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: It is important to be clear that we are talking only about situations that arose prior to the enactment of this legislation. The Minister referred to the possibility of recognising procedures that were legal, such as self-insemination, but the reality is that such practices did occur in the past. Such circumstances arose where same-sex couples, for example, were prohibited from availing of...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I do not wish to interrupt but the Supreme Court was also very clear in that case that the father had no constitutional rights. It does not recognise under Irish law a de factofamily in respect of the donor. The donor had no constitutional rights.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 68: In page 40, to delete lines 8 and 9 and substitute the following:“(e) the father is a guardian of the child by virtue of section 6D, or (f) the circumstances set out in subsection (4B) of this section apply;”,”.These amendments are designed to improve the position of the unmarried father. I discussed my concerns on Second Stage and on Committee...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I thank the Minister for her response. The key point is that it would be a rebuttable presumption. This means that the court, if satisfied that it was not in the best interests of the child, could displace the presumption. I do not accept that my amendment would make things difficult for the court because it would be able to weigh up the varying evidence and decide what was in the child's...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I have given a commitment to the Minister that on the basis of having consultation and working on this area, I will not move it.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I support these amendments. I pushed a similar amendment on Committee Stage. It is a very serious area and for the effort involved in setting up a register the benefits would be immense, particularly in the situations Senator van Turnhout outlined. Perhaps the Minister might change her mind and go a bit further than a pilot on the basis of the discussion we had last week. This should be a...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I am a little out of breath after running up. I was watching this debate on the monitor in the office and I felt compelled to come down and reply. Senator Norris has rightly debunked the use of the word "conscience". I do not understand why anyone would use that language to justify denying a fellow citizen - a fellow human being - a service solely on the grounds of their sexual...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: The effect of what the Senator argued is that some people should be allowed to deprive others of a service from a shop or business solely because they object to the sexual orientation of a couple or an individual. They may ground their objections in a matter of conscience. They can call it what they like, but the effect is to deny people a service purely because of who they are, because of...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: This is a very dangerous proposition. It is couched in language like "conscience", but it is actually nothing more than a licence for prejudice and discrimination. I am glad the Minister is resisting it. I am also somewhat disappointed that all kinds of extraneous issues are being dragged into this debate on Committee Stage. The Bill is about one thing and one thing only, namely, the...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: The Senator is avoiding a reply.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I wish to respond to Senator Rónán Mullen who took issue with me stating that what he was arguing for was for a service provider to be able to deny somebody a service because of their sexual orientation, yet he was clearly arguing that two married couples presenting in a cake shop or wherever, one a heterosexual married couple the other a same sex couple, one can be denied a...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I support what Senator Hayden has said about the deeply unfair remarks that were made about the Minister. Equally, the comments that were made about the Constitutional Convention, of which I was a part, were deeply disrespectful to the citizens involved, who gave a huge amount of their time to engage with this issue. They engaged with it in a very genuine and open way. Many of them changed...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I am quite happy to respond to that point.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I will not respond directly to that point, but I will say that the Iona Institute and other groups that are arguing against marriage equality are the same groups that made submissions in favour of section 37 of the Employment Equality Act 1998, which has been debated in this House, as has the legislation I introduced here to change it. The same people argued that people should be able to be...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: Fine.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I will say that there is a coalition of people, including Members of this House, one of whom is no longer present in the Chamber but spoke earlier in this debate, who have argued for exactly the same thing. Those people need to be open and honest about their arguments. They do not like to use the word "equality". They like to use the word "difference". Those who argued against the...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I am talking about the word "equality". The language that was used here was the language of difference. Those who argued that women should not serve on juries because we were functionally different would not accept that we were unequal. They said "well, women are just different". The same logic has been used to justify apartheid in America and elsewhere and to justify the prevention of...

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: He has been here consistently during recent days.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: On a point of order, no one accused the Senator of that.

Seanad: An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Comhionannas Pósta) 2015: Céim an Choiste - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: It is.