Results 4,981-5,000 of 11,469 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Jul 2019)

Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Jul 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I have not intervened on this provision until now. When listening to the discussion, it struck me there is somewhat of an anomaly in section 56(4) itself. While I accept we have not yet reached that section, it was highlighted by Senator McDowell’s amendment, which refers to changes recommended under section 56(4)(a).I am puzzled as to why the wording of section 56(4) lists a number...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Disability Inclusion and International Development Issues: Discussion (2 Jul 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I apologise for arriving late; I was attending another meeting. I can stay for the remainder of the meeting, however, as I do not have to leave at 3 p.m. It was valuable to hear the emphasis on disability in international development. I commend all the witnesses and Dóchas on co-ordinating the briefings we have received. We were all...

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (20 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State and the opportunity to debate this Bill on Report Stage. It is an important Bill. I have already spoken on behalf of the Labour Party on Second and Committee Stages when I welcomed the legislation and the amendments. I seek a response from the Minister of State on a specific issue. Senator Ó Donnghaile has raised aspects of it. It relates to this...

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (20 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 17:In page 19, in line 31, after “judges,” to insert the following:“including materials relevant to the exercise by judges of their functions in conducting criminal trials with a jury, including but not limited to the functions of:(i) trial management; (ii) jury management; and (iii) directing the jury,”.

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (20 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Senator. I am conscious the amendment speaks to a similar issue to Government amendment No. 18 and amendment No. 19, which has been tabled by Senator Ruane and her colleagues.I believe all of these stem from the same impetus or motivation. I have raised this point on previous Stages of the Bill. Our purpose in drafting amendment No. 17 was to ensure a specific role for the...

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (20 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I was waiting for you to say that, Acting Chairman.

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (20 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister of State for acknowledging my role in raising this issue on Committee Stage. It is an important issue and I am glad that the Minister of State has listened to what has been said and that Government amendment No. 18 was drafted in response to the concern I raised. It was certainly an omission from section 17(3) to not have reference in that provision to criminal trials...

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (20 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I will withdraw my amendment.

Seanad: Judicial Council Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (20 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I congratulate the Minister of State and his officials on the passage of the Bill through the Seanad and I welcome the legislation. As others have said, it is long overdue for us to establish a judicial council for so many reasons. It is important and good that we are seeing this through. I am particularly pleased that we have seen within the Bill a framework for the structuring of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Leader and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, for agreeing to a change in the schedule for our consideration of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. Yesterday many of us expressed concern that the Bill was proceeding to Committee Stage, even though we were very dissatisfied with the framework of the Minister's proposed amendments. We were told...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: This is my main topic.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Acting Chairman for his indulgence.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: Of course, I take umbrage at Senator Norris's suggestion the impetus behind Part 4 of the Criminal Law (Sex Offences) Act 2017 was a smug, middle-class sense of purpose.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: The Senator may not. The impetus behind the criminalisation of sex purchase derived clearly and explicitly from a view of prostitution as the exploitation of women. It derived from a feminist sensibility and ideology.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: We certainly did. I was proud to be a member of the justice committee which recommended the approach we adopted in the 2017 Act. I pay tribute to the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, who drove the legislation, rightly, from an explicitly feminist perspective, with the focus on protecting women who were being exploited.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: Ruhama and the other organisations involved in the Turn Off the Red Light coalition have strongly criticised-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: Those organisations have strongly and rightly criticised what appears to be a continued focus in policing on prosecuting women involved in selling sex. That is not what the legislation was intended to do. We want to see more prosecutions of clients, which was the purpose behind the law. Its objective is to tackle the demand for prostitution.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: That is the only way we will address the exploitation, violence and organised crime networks which are an implicit part of prostitution.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Jun 2019)

Ivana Bacik: The Act is not responsible for any increase in the level of violence. What we do see is that where prostitution is addressed in the Swedish manner, that is, by criminalising the purchase of sex, there are better police reporting structures for those engaged in prostitution and reduced criminalisation, which is the purpose behind the legislation we introduced. That is what happened in Sweden...