Results 7,861-7,880 of 11,864 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I add my own good wishes to Tom McGrath on his retirement as Head Usher. I thank him for the great support and help he has given over the years. He has been extremely facilitatory to all Members and we appreciate that. I welcome the Government announcement yesterday that a referendum on marriage equality will be held during the lifetime of the Government, probably in the first half of 2015....

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: The Senator should come into the real world.

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Acting Chairman. Others have raised the issue of maternity benefit and adoptive benefit. Many of us do not like to see a reduction in the maximum rate, but there is a bigger issue, namely, getting employers to top up to pay full salary to employees. As a result of work we did on gender discrimination, the Law Society now advises solicitors' firms to pay full salary to...

Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House. I pay tribute to the work she has done in defending her Department's budget and defending basic social welfare rates. For all the bluster from the other side, it is fair to say that the anticipated cuts to social protection measures were far greater than the spending reductions ultimately made. As she stated in her speech, the Department was initially...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is currently a severe difficulty for many in the Dublin region and it is true that there has been years of under-investment in water infrastructure, which is what appears to be giving rise to the particular problems we are experiencing at the moment. It is a real concern if we cannot guarantee proper water supplies in our capital city. We need to have a debate on this issue and on water...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: For somebody who was a Member of the Dáil when his party was in government, Senator Darragh O'Brien is betraying an astonishing ignorance of the role of the Revenue Commissioners.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Revenue is, of course, independent of Government.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Any confusion arising out of the letters sent by the Revenue Commissioners is unfortunate. Clarification is certainly required, and the Government has moved swiftly to provide it. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, has already met with the head of Revenue. The Oireachtas is moving on the issue, and rightly so. Deputy Ciarán Lynch has called representatives of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is very clear from what the Minister, Deputy Noonan, has said that there is no obligation to pay the money due in 2014 by the end of 2013, nor was that the intention of the Revenue letter. The Fianna Fáil Party is simply scaremongering on this issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Any responsible legislator on either side of the House should be calling for clarification, which is exactly what the Labour Party and other parties are seeking. To try to muddy the water and stir up even further confusion, as Fianna Fáil has been doing, is irresponsible and unhelpful to ordinary citizens who are seeking to understand their tax obligations.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is not helpful to be calling for amendments to the Order of Business-----

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: -----and seeking to muddy the waters on this issue. People simply want clarification.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Clarification is what is being sought and what Revenue will give us in due course.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Nov 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I support Senator Darragh O'Brien's call for a debate in the coming weeks on water infrastructure, which has become a matter of pressing concern to householders not just in Dublin but throughout the country. The current situation, where Dublin City Council is imposing restrictions on supply, is causing enormous problems, particularly for night-time industries such as restaurants, bars and...

Seanad: EU Scrutiny and Transparency in Government Bill 2013: Second Stage (24 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I shall not avail of the full six minutes and shall speak briefly on a couple of issues that arose during the debate. I welcome the opportunity to debate the issue of EU scrutiny, particularly following our comprehensive debate with the Taoiseach yesterday on Seanad reform. It was also good to hear the Tánaiste's remarks in his speech...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: The Senator is right to urge caution in the commentary on the very difficult and traumatic cases of the two Roma children. We all welcome the fact that they were returned to their families and that in the end there were no grounds for the concern that was raised by the Garda. However, the two cases have raised very serious questions. It was good to be in the Chamber last night when the...

Seanad: Asylum Support Services: Motion (23 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, to the House. I also welcome the opportunity to have this debate. I commend Senator van Turnhout and her colleagues in the Taoiseach’s nominee group because it is an important debate to have. I further thank the Minister and the Government for not tabling an amendment. As Senator Power said, it is appropriate that we...

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Statements (23 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: These are constructive proposals that any task force should consider. It might also be worth considering, in accordance with Article 19 of the Constitution, reservation of one panel for election by councillors to preserve existing links with local government. We should also see provision made for gender balance on the panels. Third, we might look at the timing of the Seanad election....

Seanad: Seanad Reform: Statements (23 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Taoiseach to the House. We are very glad to have him here, particularly in a spirit of peace and, dare I say, reconciliation following the very welcome outcome of the referendum. The outcome gives us more than a chance to reform. It was clear from the debate that there is now an imperative for us to reform not only Seanad structures but also, as colleagues have said,...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: No wonder there is such cynicism in politics when Fianna Fáil accuses the Government of presiding over a broken health service, when it was a Fianna Fáil Government that presided over the formation of the HSE and the establishment of its bureaucratic structure which is proving extremely difficult to dismantle - a structure which has had a very negative effect on our health care...