Results 10,861-10,880 of 11,509 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I do not have any objection to the wording but I note the Human Rights Commission made a very useful proposal that this section would be used to allow the relevant Minister to require particular codes of practice to be drawn up relating to the operation of the Bill. I have already referred to the need for some form of code of practice governing the placing and removal of tracking devices. I...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I would oppose the exclusion of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission from the powers provided for in this Bill. Again I am grateful to the Human Rights Commission for providing us with very extensive notes. The commission points out that the functions of the commission include the investigation of complaints concerning the investigation of alleged arrestable offences involving members...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: No.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I express my appreciation also for the Minister's considered response to the amendments tabled by me and Senator Regan. I welcome the opportunity to debate the Bill. I welcome also the provision of a statutory framework for covert surveillance and tracking devices. Report Stage was rushed through somewhat hastily and we did not have time to table amendments but I accept we had a considered...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Second Stage (30 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: With the permission of the House, I would like to share time with Senator Quinn equally.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Second Stage (30 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State and the opportunity to debate this important Bill, which was prompted by a change in the climate in which we view criminal justice legislation, a change that was largely a result of horrific, so-called gangland killings. Somehow, that phrase sensationalises them and is not the best that could be used, but we are all reminded of the horrific killings of Shane...

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to share time with Senator Quinn.

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am always somewhat wary when I see a Bill arriving in this House with the words "miscellaneous provisions" contained in the title. It tends to be an amalgam of different issues, some merely technical, but usually with a little nugget of something more controversial buried within it. We have had several Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bills which have had some rather dangerous...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support other colleagues, Senators Healy Eames, Hannigan and Ormonde, who called for a debate on prison policy, which I called for yesterday. It is especially urgent that we debate it given the announcement yesterday by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that plans for the prison at Thornton Hall will go ahead and that the new prison will be up and running in five years....

Seanad: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (24 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: That is some spin.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support Senator Mary White's call for a debate on prisons, which is long overdue. The work of the Irish Penal Reform Trust to which she referred has been important in generating debate on prisons and on the need to ensure alternatives to custody. It must be stressed that there are other ways-----

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Prison is not the appropriate method. St. Patrick's Institution, which Senator Mary White mentioned, has been recommended for closure for more than 20 years. It is recognised internationally as being an inhumane institution in which there is almost no prospect of rehabilitation for its inmates, who tend to go on from there to the adult Mountjoy Prison. While on this subject, I have visited...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I refer in particular to the dreadfully distressing pictures that are widespread on the Internet, of a young woman, Neda Soltani, who apparently was shot point-blank by government forces as she simply stood on the sidelines of a demonstration. The Iranian ambassador should be called in and the Minister for Foreign Affairs should express his concern.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the House in order that Members can ask him to so do.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (23 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support Senator Fitzgerald and others who have called for a debate on Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin. It is obscene that parents with young children are being forced to take to the public airwaves and raise money from other sources to get necessary operations for their children. I have met some mothers of chronically ill children and have heard their concerns. We all welcome the...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (23 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am calling on the Leader for a debate on the pension levy and on taxation. Clearly, the pension levy is a tax in all but name. If it had been described as a tax there would have been no requirement for judges to go through these hoops of having to make voluntary payments. It would have been a far more honest approach. I am also seeking a debate on Iran. All of us in the House will be...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Is this a U-turn?

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to Senator Mary White for giving us the sad news about Mrs. Sadie Walsh. I am sure we would all like to express our condolences to Mr. Jimmy Walsh on his sad loss. I support Senator O'Toole's call, and the calls we have made in recent days, for an urgent debate on the ownership of our so-called national schools. The State cannot afford not to take national schools into...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: The poll is conducted by Red C.