Results 141-160 of 873 for speaker:Averil Power

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I share the sentiments expressed on the subject of greater rights for unmarried fathers. We have done a great disservice to unmarried fathers and their children by not giving them any right whatsoever. Our law seems to be based on the requirement that they either prove themselves in court or otherwise to the mother, meaning that it is in her gift to recognise the parentage of the father...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 56: In page 43, after line 39, to insert the following:"(5) The Minister shall, by way of regulation, make provision for the establishment of a national register of joint guardianship statutory declarations.".I have already outlined the rationale for this amendment. I appreciate that the Minister gave a commitment to initiate a pilot scheme, but there should be a...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: Amendments Nos. 60 and 63 are related and may be discussed together by agreement.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: Amendments Nos. 61 and 62 are out of order.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I echo those comments. It is very important that children's interests are considered in a consistent way in these cases. One of the difficulties is that some judges are very good and very experienced in listening to children, even young children because it is possible to ascertain their views and feelings in an age-appropriate way, while other judges are quite reticent about that. There is...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I wish to pick up on a point made by Senator Rónán Mullen who referred to the Child Trends research. That research was considered by the Constitutional Convention. The author of that research wrote to the chairman of the convention and said his own research could not be used to imply that children reared by same-sex parents do less well than those raised by heterosexual parents....

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: Some of these amendments do because they provide that priority should be given to heterosexual married couples regardless of anything else and regardless of the fact that the children in this situation-----

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: As has been said, the determining factor in making an adoption order is what is in the best interests of the child. No one has a right to adopt under Irish law, and after this legislation passes, no one will have a right to adopt. All any adults will have, be they single or as a couple, is the opportunity to apply. It is then up to the authorities to weigh up all the different factors and...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I move amendment No. 105: In page 89, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 89(2) of Principal Act 130. Section 89(2) of Principal Act is hereby deleted.”.This amendment is designed to deal with where an adoptive person might not be aware that they are adopted. I understand that prior to the Act being amended in 2010 an adoptive person would...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: There is no other trigger.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: In the absence of this, there is no trigger.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: I welcome the Minister's understanding of the issue. My concern is that in the absence of the provision, there is no trigger.With regard to passports, my understanding of it is that one's birth certificate is needed for the first passport but if one's parent gets one a passport as a child and one seeks to renew, a birth certificate is not needed for the renewal. These days people travel....

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Mar 2015)

Averil Power: It is withdrawn.

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

Averil Power: On a point of order, I am a little confused as to which amendment the Senator speaking on. I am concerned. We have 112 amendments and this is really important legislation. It is important that we have time to go through all of them. It sounds to me as though the Senator is speaking on the Bill in general and not on a specific amendment.

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

Averil Power: I want to hear Senator Mullen's points, but I would rather he made them about the specific sections as we go through them so we can do our business in an efficient way and ensure we get to all of the sections and tease through the issues in a sensible way. This would be preferable to people giving general speeches and going on at length.

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

Averil Power: I am genuinely lost as to how this is relevant to amendment No. 2.

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

Averil Power: I did hear the Senator say that.

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

Averil Power: That is not the procedure for Committee Stage of a Bill. On Committee Stage we go through the individual sections and debate them, and that is appropriate for this important legislation.

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

Averil Power: On a point of order, Senator Healy Eames is speaking about amendment No. 112. My concern, as expressed earlier, is that we need time to get through each of these amendments-----

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

Averil Power: -----and I am very concerned that if people keep making general speeches, we will not get to amendment No. 10, let alone amendment No. 112. That is just a matter of procedure.