Seanad debates

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of David NorrisDavid Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is a hasty and ill-conceived amendment. I get a feeling that the sponsors of such amendments would actually be quite pleased if the assisted human reproduction facilities were closed down. A fine of €100,000 would close one, and I think that is probably the ultimate intention.

When I say it is hasty and ill conceived, I am not sure whether my colleague, Senator Mullen, has considered the impact of his amendment. The first part of the amendment strikes out lines 37 to 41, which would remove the possibility of appeal, a very extraordinary thing to do. I ask him to think again, because part of the legal process is the capacity to appeal.

I do not agree with these huge heavy-handed fines in what is essentially a civil matter. These are civil matters of interpersonal relationships. It is not about slapping on fines and sending people to jail. It is about interpersonal relationships. This section provides the means to rectify a situation. There is no desire to inflict punishment. That is an irrelevance. What needs to be done is to put the situation right. The Minister has put in place a mechanism by which the situation can be put right.

If there is an ignoring or a contempt of the court, then the rules of contempt of court apply, and then fines and all these nasty punishments to which Senator Mullen is so inquisitorially addicted might come into play. We should forget about the amendment; it is a tissue of nonsense.

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