Senator Jillian Van Turnhout has publicly acknowledged on the record of the Seanad the contribution of Dr Fergus Ryan of Maynooth University Department of Law in drafting amendments to the Children First Bill 2015.
At Senator Van Turnhout’s request, Fergus drafted amendments to the Bill addressing issues such as tackling emotional abuse, banning corporal punishment of children, and facilitating interim gender recognition for under 16s. He previously has assisted independent Senators Averil Power and Katherine Zappone in drafting amendments to the Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015, the Gender Recognition Bill 2014, and the Employment Equality (Amendment) Bill 2015 and has been acknowledged on the floor of the Seanad for his role in assisting the Senators on various occasions.
Fergus was responsible for the drafting of the Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014, a private members’ bill sponsored by Senators Power, Van Turnhout, and Healy Eames. This bill was passed by the Seanad in early 2015. He was also part of a team that drafted the Legal Recognition of Gender Bill 2013 for Senator Zappone. He previously drafted an amendment to the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill 2009 for Senator David Norris.
Senator Jillian Van Turnhout's acknowledgment of Fergus' contributions can be read in full online.
Dr Fergus Ryan lectures in Family Law on the LLB and in Gender, Sexuality and the Law and Marriage and the Law on the LLM (Global Legal Studies) programme.