Results 3,461-3,480 of 11,469 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan. As others have done, I also commend Senator John Crown for the immense amount of work he has put into drafting this detailed Bill. I am aware that it can be difficult to draft a Private Members' Bill, particularly one dealing with a technical matter, and he has done a tremendous job. It is both welcome and useful to debate the issue of Seanad...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: However, the Bill is being introduced at a time when the Government has committed to putting the continued existence of the Seanad to the people in a referendum to the people. That commitment is made in the programme for Government. Those of us on the Government side of the House knew this when we signed up to that programme and we are committed to supporting the referendum Bill. It is...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is important that we have a measured debate on this issue. There is no great advantage to be gained in quoting Robert Mugabe.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is interesting that this was included in the manifestos of the political parties and that this commitment has been made, but the proposed referendum has focused the minds like never before of people both in the House and elsewhere on the issue of reform. Having listened to Senator Katherine Zappone and read the excellent consultation paper that her group produced in September on radical...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I will ignore the Acting Chairman's implied comment.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Acting Chairman for his clarification. I am conscious that the debate on abolition has concentrated minds on the issue of reform and that we have had more lively and thoughtful reflections on it than ever before. The article by Mr. Eoin O'Malley of DCU in today's edition of The Irish Times in which he proposes radical reform of the Seanad has a great deal of merit to it. It...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Tomorrow is International Women's Day and I remind colleagues that Senator Susan O'Keeffe and I are hosting a coffee morning today in the Private Members' dining room. All are welcome to attend. It is in aid of SAFE Ireland which is the national network of domestic violence services. It has developed services that respond to and advocate for the needs of women and children who are victims...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Senator. I welcome the announcements made at a press conference yesterday. The Government announced the progress that it has made after two years in office. I ask the Leader to invite Ministers to attend debates here on a regular basis. I know that other Senators sought the same earlier in the week when I was Deputy Leader during the Order of Business. I know that the Leader...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is a question for the CPP.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (7 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, to the House, and I also welcome the Bill, which is being welcomed by all parties. That is good to see. I also welcome the overall reforms that the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, and the Minister of State present have been involved in introducing in the education sector. We have had debates in the House on the transformation...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (7 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Second Stage (7 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: At 2.30 p.m. next Tuesday.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to raise an issue that has been in the newspapers recently concerning the heel prick test, which is the screening test operated by the HSE under what is known as the national newborn blood spot screening programme. It is a screening programme for six rare genetic diseases and more recently also for cystic fibrosis. The results of the heel prick tests on newborns are kept on Guthrie...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I agree with Senator Norris. It is bureaucratic nonsense. Professor David McConnell, the Trinity College genetics professor, has likened the future destruction of the records to the modern equivalent of burning the Custom House or destroying the birth certificates of all born in Ireland.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: He said it would be a disaster and an appalling act of cultural and social vandalism because of the enormous value that the Guthrie cards can provide for future health programmes for the Irish people generally and to add to our knowledge and information about genetic conditions in the population. It does seem appalling that the cards are to be destroyed. The critical issue at this point is...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is in the common good, but it is also very much in the interests of their children and families that the cards would be retained. I have been asked by various people to raise the issue. It is a hugely important one that has been in the news but it is critical at this point that people would act. I congratulate the Trinity Jail Break team, a team of Trinity law students who have been...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: -----they have to go as far as possible without spending any of their own money. Two students have got as far as Argentina and won the prize. It is a great initiative that has received a lot of publicity and raised much money for the chosen charities.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Bill 2012: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister. In the context of section 3, I raise the issue of the naming of the constituencies. My colleague, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, raised the issue of the renaming of Dublin South East as Dublin Bay South in the Dáil. I know the Minister gave him a full answer there but I thought it was worth raising it again in this House given that it is the constituency in which I...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the initiative on mortgage arrears being announced today and which has been discussed in the media in recent days. It is undoubtedly a very pressing issue. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have expressed concern over the past two years over the delays and lack of impetus in the banks in dealing with this. It is really welcome that the focus will be on owners of investment properties...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Order for Second Stage (13 Mar 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I move: "That Second Stage be taken today."