Seanad debates

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Jillian van TurnhoutJillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to oppose these amendments. I want to speak to the principles behind them. I do not plan to use up much of the time today, but I feel I need to clarify certain things for the record. The first is the citing of a quote from Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, the special rapporteur on child protection. I have verified the quote with him personally over the past 24 hours. I am taking the quote directly from the Official Report of the Joint Committee on Health and Children meeting on 29 January 2015. It states:



Senator van Turnhout also asked about my views on marriage, which have been grossly misrepresented. A number of years ago I put together a piece in which I had described marriage as the gold standard but I mentioned it in the context of that institution as being available to all citizens. I see it as being manipulated by some people and I do not intend to include it in today’s discussion. However, it is important to clarify that point for the record.
That says it all.

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