Be part of the Conversation! Tweet @SenatorMarkDaly #seanad to stay up to date on Mark’s work for Organ Donation and Transplantation in Ireland here.
Advertisements
Monthly Archives: August 2013
#SEANAD: The Votes
Comments Off on #SEANAD: The Votes
Filed under Organ Donation and Transplantation
RTE: Seanad Motion on Organ Donation Defeated
The Government required the casting vote of the Seanad Cathaoirleach to defeat a motion seeking to annul an EU Directive on organ donation.
Fianna Fáil’s Mark Daly collected 20 signatures from fellow members of the upper house to trigger a legal clause to recall the chamber from its summer break.
The campaign, initiated by Mr Daly, sought to get Minister Reilly to annul the legislation.
The Government parties opposed the motion, arguing that it would be illegal to annul the directive in the absence of a recommendation from the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee.
The vote was tied 22-22 and Cathaoirleach Senator Paddy Burke then cast his vote with the Government to defeat the Fianna Fáil-backed motion.
During the debate, Fianna Fáil leader of the Seanad Darragh O’Brien said Mr Reilly signed the EU directive into law without any consultation or scrutiny by the Dáil or Seanad.He said the Government, up to now, was ignoring the major recommendation in the EU directive to establish a single national transplant authority.
Fine Gael’s Seanad leader Maurice Cummins accused Fianna Fáil of engaging in a “political stunt” with the recall of the house.
He said the party had 110 sitting days to seek an adjournment debate, adding that more recently Fianna Fáil did not avail of eight opportunities to raise it in Private Members’ Time.
Independent John Crown called for speedy legislation to plug the holes in the existing transplant services.
He said Ireland has a serious issue with heart disease, yet only has one twenty-fourth of the heart transplant rate of the leading transplant country in the world.
To read the full article on the RTE website, click here.
Comments Off on RTE: Seanad Motion on Organ Donation Defeated
Filed under Organ Donation and Transplantation
Journal.ie: “Recall makes Seanad survival a reality” – O’Sullivan
The recall to debate transplant legislation shows the role that a reformed Seanad could have says a Fianna Fáil senator.
TODAY’S RECALL OF the Seanad proves the worth of the institution and shows the role a reformed upper house can have, a Fianna Fáil senator has said.
Ned O’Sullivan said that the Seanad debate over transplant legislation represented the function that the Seanad could have in debating and approving European directives and legislation.
“This will go down as an important day in the survival of the Seanad, which has become in my opinion, a reality.
“I think it is a shame that the Taoiseach didn’t let us fill the lacuna between European legislation and statutory instruments, where you have so much being signed off on and rubber stamped without being looked.
Instead he ran off on a populist idea, a mad idea of abolition that I think will blow up in his face.
O’Sullivan paid tribute to the Irish Kidney Association for using their nominee, Senator Mark Daly, to “put a motion on the floor”.
“The IKA used their right to have a motion put on the floor and that is real democracy. This has been a very important exercise.”
To read this article on the Journal.ie, please click here.
Comments Off on Journal.ie: “Recall makes Seanad survival a reality” – O’Sullivan
Filed under Organ Donation and Transplantation
Irish Times: Government narrowly wins organ donation vote
Cathaoirleach’s casting vote needed as Healy-Eames and Bradford vote against coalition
The Government has narrowly avoided an embarrassing defeat in the Seanad when the casting vote of Cathaoirleach Paddy Burke was required to defeat a Fianna Fáil motion on organ donation.
The two Fine Gael senators who lost the party whip over the abortion question, Paul Bradford and Fidelma Healy-Eames, sided with the opposition and voted against the Government.
Their stance may raise the possibility of further disciplinary action being taken against them by Fine Gael.
The outcome of the vote was 22 to 22 when it was called at 2pm at which stage Mr Burke sided with the Government in his casting vote.
The Upper House was recalled today for an emergency session in the middle of the summer recess to discuss the directive on organ donation, which was transposed into Irish law in August 2012 without being debated in the Dáil or Seanad.
Minister of State for Health Alex White told the chamber that no case had been made of any strength why the legislation should be annulled.
He specifically refuted a contention by Fianna Fáil senator Mark Daly that it was “flawed legislation that is disastrous”.
Fianna Fáil leader Daragh O’Brien criticised Minister for Health James Reilly “did not see fit to come into the House” and Mr White had to stand in his stead.
The Seanad was recalled after Fianna Fáil senator Mark Daly secured the signatures of 20 Senators to force the special sitting, employing provisions of the 1972 legislation that gave effect to Ireland joining the European community.
Sen Daly has claimed the directive as applied by statutory instrument is flawed and should have been scrutinised by the Oireachtas rather than signed into law directly by Minister for Health James Reilly without any consultation.
However, a number of deputies on the Government side described Mr Daly’s move as a “stunt” and “opportunistic”, arguing that Fianna Fáil has had a whole year since the directive was signed into law in August 2012 to bring up the issue, but spurned the many opportunities afforded in the Seanad over the past year.
The independent senator Jillian van Turnhout said she supported Mr Daly’s similar attempt to seek an emergency session last summer but said this recall reminded her of the way in which the Bobby Ewing character in Dallas had forgotten an entire year.
However, a number of senators on the Government side, including Jim Darcy and Martin Conway, have said that the recall has had the effect of highlight the issues surrounding organ donation in Ireland and may have accelerated Government action in that regard. Mr Darcy and others referred to the necessity for the Human Tissues Bill, to be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
In another reference to Dallas, Prof John Crown changed its famous phrase ‘Who shot JR?” to “Where is JR?”, a reference to the absent Minister for Health James Reilly.
Several senators also referred to the recall as useful in emphasising the important role of that the Seanad can play, especially in relation to scrutinising EU legislation.
Averil Power of Fianna Fáil and Paul Coghlan of Fine Gael both argued for that role in the course of their speeches.
To read the full article on the Irish Times Website, click here.
Comments Off on Irish Times: Government narrowly wins organ donation vote
Filed under Organ Donation and Transplantation
RTE: Seanad Debates EU Regulations on Organ Donation
Senators were due to return to work on 18 September.
The campaign, initiated by Senator Daly, is seeking to get Minister for Health James Reilly to annul legislation arising from an EU regulation.
Fianna Fáil leader of the Seanad Senator Darragh O’Brien said Mr Reilly signed the EU directive into law without any consultation or scrutiny by the Dáil or Seanad.
He said the party had had 110 sitting days to seek an adjournment debate, adding that more recently Fianna Fáil did not avail of eight opportunities to raise it in Private Members’ Time.
Independent Senator John Crown called for speedy legislation to plug the holes in the existing transplant services.
He said Ireland has a serious issue with heart disease, yet only has one twenty-fourth of the heart transplant rate of the leading transplant country in the world.
The Government parties are opposing the motion, arguing that it would be illegal to annul the directive in the absence of a recommendation from the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee.
Today’s vote could be close, but Government sources say they are confident the motion will be defeated.
Despite some criticism of the recall, there was some common cause across the political lines that if nothing else today’s proceedings may at least have raised the profile of the issue of organ donation.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0820/469139-seanad-debate/
Comments Off on RTE: Seanad Debates EU Regulations on Organ Donation
Filed under Organ Donation and Transplantation
