Results 1-20 of 2,960 for his speaker:Alan Shatter

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Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: From the Seanad (9 Dec 2015)

Alan Shatter: ...Minister. I am delighted they are in it. A vast amount of work was undertaken on the Bill during my time and has been undertaken during the current Minister's time to get to the spot we are in now. This Bill was published with enormous haste in early autumn 2011 because of the pressures the Government was under from the troika to publish legislation to address the need for reform in the...

Marriage Bill 2015: Report Stage (7 Oct 2015)

Alan Shatter: This is a useful amendment because it gives us an opportunity to discuss an issue of some importance. I was not able to participate in the Second Stage debate, because it coincided with the Jewish fast of Yom Kippur, so I had no opportunity to raise this issue previously, but I did raise it in an article some time ago. As everybody knows, I welcome the fact that the referendum was...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: Today a person can know much more about his or her health vulnerabilities through genetic testing than he or she would ever know from a brief medical history of his or her biological family up to the time he or she was conceived. Since the discovery of the genome and all of the enormous advances in genetic and hereditary medicine, the idea of having a history from the biological parent which...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: ...30 years as a result of assisted reproduction by donor. Many of them are now adults getting on with their lives and not all are living in Ireland. Members of the committee may not be aware of this but we used to have what were known as "presumptions of paternity". Mothers in our law were always individuals who gave birth but the issue was often who was the father. There were...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: It appears from what the Minister is saying that it is never envisaged that this provision will come into force in its current form. Whatever legislation the Department of Health is working on that might get published in 2016, 2017 or 2018 will provide for the creation of a regulatory authority in the area of assisted reproduction fertility clinics. It again illustrates why this aspect of...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: The only issue is that the legislation does not use the words "exceptional circumstances". It uses the term "well-being". I am very conscious of, and I want to come back to this, the desirability where possible of facilitating individuals born through assisted reproduction or through adoption to trace origins, but one has to have a robust and coherent procedure and there has to be a...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: I do not wish to prolong this unnecessarily, but if there is a range of factors to be considered, they should be detailed in the legislation. If the decision is based on "well-being", there is a need to clarify what "sufficient reasons" means or can the Minister simply say that, based on his or her perception of the well-being of the donor or the well-being of the child, he or she will or...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: I want to raise some matters. This seems to be the first section dealing with the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 in the Bill and it seems to also be partially a definitions section. I want to just repeat something that I said in the Dáil on Second Stage. I believe it is good legislative practice that we try to keep what is a fairly complex area as legislatively clear as possible. I...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: There are provisions in this section which are important and very welcome. They prescribe how to deal with difficulties that arise when a parent fails to comply with a custody or access order and, effectively, this legislation will deal with the issue of access. There is provision for a parent who has financially lost out. For example, attending or arranging to meet a child for access...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: I want to raise some serious issues about this action. I will reference it as (2A) in section 86(b), though it is cross-referenced as section 42(b)(2A). Under this provision the Circuit Court or the High Court can make a lump sum order that is unlimited in amount. It can be an order made instead of, or in addition to, a periodical payment order. How will this work in practice and is it...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Alan Shatter: That leads on to another issue which is a problem. I would have mentioned I was involved in court proceedings some years ago. This is a declaration of interest that I have referenced on several occasions. The McE case involved an unmarried mother left high and dry by an extremely wealthy father with whom she had been residing. The Circuit Court made an order for €400,000 for the...

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Alan Shatter: ...the best legal architecture to address the various issues with which the Bill deals. There is much in the Bill about which I am enthusiastic and fully support. The central issue in all of this is the best interests of children. One of the central tenets in the drafting of this legislation when I was Minister was to ensure that the terminology and the rights of children contained in...

Topical Issue Debate: Irish Prisoners Abroad (12 Feb 2015)

Alan Shatter: I would like to thank the Minister for his very detailed response. I know that, during my time in government, initially the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was very anxious that matters be dealt with by its officials in Egypt, by the ambassador and, indeed, through that Department. The approach - which is the usual approach - was to provide all the consular assistance and advice...

Topical Issue Debate: Irish Prisoners Abroad (12 Feb 2015)

Alan Shatter: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for granting me permission to raise this issue, which I have been seeking to raise for some time. As Members of the House may know, in August 2013, when Ibrahim Halawa was a 17 year old young man on holidays in Egypt with his sisters, he got caught up in the turmoil and difficulties that were then taking place in that country. Ibrahim Halawa and his sisters...

Palestine: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (10 Dec 2014)

Alan Shatter: This State should not only do what it can at international level to help secure an inclusive and viable peace process, but it should also encourage the resumption of direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians because, ultimately, this is the only mechanism that can truly resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bring about a two-state solution. 8 o’clock This...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Agreements (4 Nov 2014)

Alan Shatter: ...to concluding an updated double taxation agreement along the lines of the current double taxation agreement in existence between the United States and the UK addressing inheritance tax matters; his views that the more favourable treatment in the United States of UK spouses under the current US-UK arrangements in respect of inheritance tax matters as compared to Irish spouses is anomalous...

Topical Issue Debate: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Shatter: Last week, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, or GSOC, stated that its investigation into an alleged leak from its offices, which gave rise to substantial controversy earlier this year, was unsuccessful and that its report on the investigation will not be published. From the start of this affair, GSOC has sought to cover up and keep secret a disturbing level of incompetence...

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Bill 2014: From the Seanad (11 Jul 2014)

Alan Shatter: Before leaving the Bill, I want to say a few words on its completion. This is an important item of legislation and substantial work was undertaken on the legislation during my time in the Department. Over two years of work went into it and I particularly thank Mr. Deaglán Ó Briain, who did enormous work in the Department liaising with international and local bodies to ensure the...

Cooke Report: Statements (19 Jun 2014)

Alan Shatter: ...;ochána". As Minister for Justice and Equality, I dealt with these matters in a straightforward, truthful and comprehensive way on the basis of information available to me. Both inside and outside this House, the Taoiseach and I were pilloried for referencing GSOC's statutory obligation to report its conducting a public interest investigation to me, as the then Minister for Justice...

Other Questions: EU Battle Groups (7 May 2014)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy knows, we are part of the European Union, something to which his party is opposed. We engage in the Common Security and Defence Policy, with which his party disagrees. We will continue to participate as we do, which is to the benefit of our Defence Forces. We will continue to make a contribution. It is always interesting that the Deputy knows what the majority of the Irish...