Results 5,321-5,340 of 11,695 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Diaspora Affairs: Statements (6 Mar 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also welcome the opportunity to speak about the diaspora today, which is a timely date in the lead up to the St. Patrick's weekend. I very much welcome the announcements made by the Minister of State. In particular, I welcome his announcement that there will be an increase of €1 million in the allocation for the emigrant support...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to speak in support of amendment No. 91g, as proposed by Senator McDowell, to insert a new section. I spoke on a similar and related topic on the last occasion we debated section 45 and asked the Minister at that time why the statement required to be provided in that section set out only the reasons the commission was of the opinion that a person was suitable for appointment, rather...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2019)

Ivana Bacik: -----and improve the process that is to be brought about through the Bill. There has been no suggestion from the Department that this type of meeting outside of the Chamber or constructive engagement with officials would be possible. I say this as somebody who has brought forward Private Members' Bills and seen them brought into law, generally after this type of constructive engagement with...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I know Senator McDowell will also want to respond. I am disappointed that the Minister will not take on board at least the principle expressed in Senator McDowell's amendment No. 91g. It makes sense to me. The Minister says he wants to leave this matter to the commission. Again, we are being unduly prescriptive and bureaucratic in some provisions of this Bill. For example, section 45,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Refugee Situation in Syria: Discussion (5 Mar 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the witnesses for the helpful and valuable update they have given us. I thank them for the great front-line work they and their organisations are doing. It is important that we hear about the practical issues for the civilian people in Syria, how conditions are both for Syrians living in Syria and for those who are displaced in refugee camps and internally displaced as well. ...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: Just this morning the Government launched the new policy on overseas development aid, which is a major policy entitled A Better World. I commend that policy and, in particular, commend the emphasis within it on a number of issues that are of real importance. The Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence, of which I am a member, has been working on these issues and I am very glad...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House. First, I have certainly reflected, and I know the Acting Chairman has asked the Minister to reflect on his comments about the nature of the House. Having sat here and listened to those comments and reflected on them, I believe they are extraordinary. The tenor of them is to reflect on the leadership of the House, which is in the hands of Fine Gael as a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I did not interrupt. I sat quietly and-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: Senator Conway is right that we do have a weekly leaders’ meeting. It is very welcome that we do that and is a practice we have had for some time but there is still a Leader of the Seanad and that is a post and a role that is held currently by Fine Gael. It is unfortunate if comments reflect badly on that person because the Leader does seek to lead by negotiation and by giving every...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister. I just wanted to make the point-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: -----on the record of the House. Finally, regarding the substance of the-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for indicating he accepts that. That is fair. Finally, without going back over the points my colleagues have made on these amendments, I ask the Minister to consider accepting them. As I think the Minister himself said last night, he will bring forward his own amendments to significant parts of the Bill, notably section 44, on Report Stage. He has again indicated a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: A number of amendments were put forward to the section in an attempt to improve upon it. What format is it envisaged the commission statement shall be in the section, given that the amendments to it have been rejected? I will wait for some quietness.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for that. Section 45 requires the commission - as it states, "The Commission shall" - to provide the Minister in writing with a statement setting out the reasons a person is suitable for appointment to the judicial office concerned each time it recommends the name of a person to the Minister. That is the section unadorned with any amendment because the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for the clarification. Senator Norris also made a point in this respect. It is helpful to hear the Minister say that but where is it set out that this is all the commission needs to do? It seems the commission could take a very different view of the sort of the detail that would required in setting out the reasons a person would be suitable for appointment, rather than...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I ask the Leader to keep us apprised of progress in the other House of the omnibus Brexit legislation, as I know he will do. I understand it will come before the Seanad on 11 March. It is legislation that we all hope will not be necessary but which nonetheless is essential as a contingency. I do not think there will be an obstacle to getting it through in a timely fashion, given its...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: We need to visibly do a lot more to encourage people to use other forms of transport, particularly bicycles, in getting to Leinster House.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: It is made difficult for people to cycle here. There are no proper bicycle parking facilities close to the entrances to the building. I will certainly be raising this issue again. I have been raising it for many years and I am getting very fed up at the lack of progress and the apparent lack of commitment to support those who choose to cycle to Leinster House.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I have done so.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Feb 2019)

Ivana Bacik: Nothing has happened.