Results 8,461-8,480 of 11,469 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Charities Act 2009: Motion (19 Sep 2012)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to the House. I know she is particularly conscious of the value to society of the charities and non-governmental organisation sectors. I commend my colleagues, Senators Whelan and Higgins, on whose initiative we have put forward this motion. I also welcome the stakeholders in the Visitors Gallery, Mr. Hans Zomer of Dóchas, the...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2012)

Ivana Bacik: Like my colleagues, I welcome everyone back after what, I hope, was a pleasant summer break. I look forward to a busy and productive term in the Seanad in the months ahead. We are aware that it will be busy, particularly in the lead-up to the budget. I welcome what the Leader said about organising pre-budget debates. Such debates will be extremely valuable. It is most unhelpful of...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2012)

Ivana Bacik: It is premature to start suggesting anything about the rate that will apply to the property tax, particularly when the Government has not yet made a decision on it. It is extremely important that we seek to move the burden of taxation away from income and onto property or to at least move some of it onto it. That is a principle which everyone in this House should be capable of supporting.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2012)

Ivana Bacik: On a more constructive note, I welcome the announcement of the referendum on children's rights. I particularly welcome the fact that the referendum will be held on 10 November, a Saturday. This is the first occasion in a long period on which a referendum will be held on a Saturday. This should enable greater participation by young people and students in particular. I also welcome the...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2012)

Ivana Bacik: My colleague, Senator John Whelan, will lead off the debate on the motion, in respect of which I hope a consensus can be achieved.

Seanad: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (20 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House. Like Senator Paul Bradford, I was not in a position to attend yesterday's comprehensive Second Stage debate, in which the Minister and others spoke movingly about the plight of those persons whose difficulties the Bill seeks to address. To echo Senator Marie Moloney, I appreciate the sentiment behind these amendments while also recognising that different...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House and I also welcome the indication from Sinn Féin of its support for all of the amendments. Although we are only speaking on the technical amendments now, the Minister referred to the context for the rest of the amendments. We had a full debate in this House on the original Parts 1 to 5 of the Bill and we discussed the need to ensure greater transparency...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: The Minister has struck the right balance in changing the thresholds. The streamlining of thresholds is long overdue. The Minister referred to the rather bizarre threshold of €126.97, which is a throwback to the £100 threshold. The common sense changes are long overdue. Senator Aideen Hayden stated we must ensure we do not impose unduly onerous and utterly pointless requirements on...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: It is good to hear that Fianna Fáil supports this measure, just as it was good to hear Sinn Féin express support for these amendments. Senator Mooney referred to democracy as a fragile flower and the Mahon report showed how close we in Ireland came to seriously destroying that fragile flower. In that context, when considering the findings of the Mahon report, it also is important to...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: We are finishing on a good note.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (20 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: The Minister must be blushing with all these tributes. The Bill is to be welcomed for two major achievements. First is its achievement in tackling corruption and ensuring greater transparency. The Standards in Public Office Commission has just released its tenth annual report, which pointed out that the last Eurobarometer poll showed that 86% of people here thought that corruption was...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: The Minister is right. It is good to hear that Sinn Féin, like other parties, agrees in principle with the idea of a single scheme applying to all public servants. Members of the Oireachtas are patently not public servants in the same way as a public servant who has a career in the Civil Service. As the Minister has said, the reality of elections every five years or more frequently means...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: The rest goes to the party.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: Like the Minister, I do not wish to prolong debate on this issue. It is hard to take a lecture from Sinn Féin about saving the State money because its representatives employ someone on some of their salary.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: Any Deputy or Senator who employs a child-minder or somebody else-----

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: It is the same thing. He or she is giving someone on the live register a job and that person is paid tax on his or her earnings.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: The Senator should not lecture us from the moral high ground.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: Having listened to Senator Cullinane without shouting at him, it is inappropriate that he is shouting at me. I am making a fair and reasonable point that any Senator or Deputy or any other person who earns an income and employs somebody out of his or her earned income is creating employment and enabling the employee to pay tax on the earned income. This is not something on which any of us...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: We had a very full debate on Second Stage about the issue of the retirement age and about the merits of even having a mandatory retirement age. The Minister very fairly made the point that 70 is the maximum in the Bill and that it seems a reasonable proposition, while taking on board the very persuasive arguments put forward by Senators from both sides of the House about the merit of having...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Ivana Bacik: I read these amendments and I was surprised and somewhat shocked to see that the Senator is proposing to insert an absolute figure into legislation which, as Senator Cullinane noted, will only apply prospectively. It seems to be no more than bad legislating to provide for a cap of a set amount – Sinn Féin is proposing a cap of €60,000 and I note a figure of €37,500 is referred to in...