Results 7,461-7,480 of 11,695 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Higher Education and Research (Consolidation and Improvement) Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, to the House. I very much welcome Senator Barrett's introduction of this Bill and commend him on his extensive and very comprehensive piece of work. I am delighted the Government is not opposing it. That is appropriate because while not all the substance of it is in line with Government policy, the objectives, as outlined by Senators Barrett...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: The Leader will respond to Senator MacSharry's amendment but it seems like an act of desperation and a desperate diversionary tactic by Fianna Fáil to put the same issue to a vote for the third day running. It seeks to divert attention away from its own serious responsibility for the matters that have come to light in recent weeks regarding tape recordings both in Garda stations and, as...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: We need to hear from him.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I had the courtesy to listen to the Senator although it was difficult do so without interrupting him.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: Clearly the Senator does not have the self-restraint that I do because I restrained myself from interrupting him.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I restrained myself from interrupting Senator MacSharry and listened with courtesy and he should do the same in the spirit of the way we conduct business in a respectful manner-----

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: -----but he clearly cannot restrain himself.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: The Senator has an anger management issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Cathaoirleach. The responsibility of former Ministers such as Dermot Ahern will be one of the issues the commission of investigation will investigate and we all very much hope it will do so expeditiously and we will find answers to the questions as to who knew what and when, particularly when systems were upgraded. I very much welcome the appointment of Supreme Court judge, Mr....

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Apr 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I join other colleagues in sympathising with Senator John Kelly on the death of his father. Senator Aideen Hayden and I attended the funeral in Roscommon this morning. I know the Senator appreciates the kind concerns of colleagues on his bereavement. I again call for a debate on the issue I raised last week, namely, the recording of telephone calls in Garda stations, a serious issue which...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: It is most unfortunate that when we were introducing the statutory reform of An Garda Síochána in 2005 the Government of the day did not see fit to insert an independent policing authority or a policing board.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: That is quite right. It was the then Minister, Michael McDowell, of whom I was critical at the time as an academic. Many of us were critical. It has been Labour Party policy that we should have an independent policing authority. I welcome that we will do that, and that the justice committee has been tasked by the Minister with reviewing the oversight provisions in the Garda...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I join you, a Chathaoirligh, and Senator MacSharry in paying tribute to the late Deputy Nicky McFadden and expressing, on behalf of the Labour Party group, our deep regret and sympathy to her family on her untimely death. Like many other colleagues, I served with the former Senator, Nicky McFadden, in the last Seanad and she was an extremely collegiate individual, a very warm person and an...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: The Government amendment makes that very clear.

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted to second the Government’s amendment to the motion. There is a great deal of confusion about this issue, notably in the text of the Sinn Féin motion, which calls for the undergrounding of electricity pylons, which gives rise to some bizarre images.

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: There is a more serious misunderstanding underlying the text of the motion: the conflation of, or confusion between, the memorandum of understanding, to which others have referred, and the development of EirGrid and the national transmission system. The Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, has made clear, as I am sure the Minister of State will, that plans to develop the grid have nothing to do with...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: Sinn Féin is not quite against everything, but I will address that in a moment.

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: Senator Mulcahy’s question, “What exactly is Sinn Féin for?”, was a fair one. The second imperative is to increase the proportion of energy we derive from renewable sources. That is very clear. We have agreed as a binding target under EU law that at least 16% of all energy consumed must come from renewable sources by 2020. Those targets were hard-won. I believe...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: It is a gap in the logic of many who regularly speak against wind turbines and electricity pylons and deliberately conflate those issues. We have to be clear about the need to develop a modern energy infrastructure and to put forward constructive ideas about how to do so. That is what the Government amendment does. It recognises that important regulations need to be put in place. Senator...

Seanad: Renewable Energy: Motion (12 Mar 2014)

Ivana Bacik: I do not think that-----