Results 501-520 of 11,441 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: (4 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I know but in fact there is already sufficient remedy under the Adoption Act 1998, and under the provisions that replicate most of the same procedures in this Bill, the natural father is to be consulted and has the right under section 16 to give notice of his wish to be consulted. I accept that one should be innocent until proven guilty in the criminal law but we are talking here about the...

Seanad: (4 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Provisions relating to birth certificates are contained in the Civil Registration Act.

Seanad: (4 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Guardianship is separate from adoption.

Seanad: (4 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: That answers the earlier point because in order to sign a statutory declaration to be a joint guardian one does not have to produce the birth certificate or show that the father was named. That is what I thought and I am grateful that it has been clarified and that in order to sign the statutory declaration giving the birth father rights of guardianship jointly with the mother there is no...

Seanad: (4 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I know time is against us, so I will make a few brief points. I fully support this amendment, which adds greatly to the tenor of this section of the Bill. I hope the Minister of State can accept it.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Like other colleagues, I join in expressing my outright condemnation of the brutal murders in Northern Ireland over the weekend and yesterday, and I express my sympathies to the families of those killed and injured in such a horrible way. We all thought we had gone back in time when we first heard the news. I heard it late on Saturday night and thought I was listening to an archive...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (10 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: With the permission of the House, I wish to share my time equally with Senator Hannigan.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (10 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Perhaps the Leas-Chathaoirleach will tell me when I have reached seven and a half minutes. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity for this debate. I support wholeheartedly the appointment of Dermot Gallagher as chair of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Members today are focusing on policing and on police practices as they reflect on the brutal murder of...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support Senator Fitzgerald in this amendment. I cannot remember but I think I spoke already on this to support her and in that case I will not say any more. It is an important amendment and like Senator Fitzgerald, I would like to hear the Minister of State's response.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 8: In page 23, subsection (5), line 7, to delete "refuses to" and substitute "does not". I am glad to have this opportunity to address the House on this group of amendments because, effectively, they all seek to achieve the same objective. As the Minister of State said, section 18 provides for circumstances where the father cannot be located or the authority does not...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to the Minister of State for indicating willingness to consider the matter and I will certainly not press it at this stage. I look forward to some constructive proposals on Report Stage. I would be very grateful if the term "refuses to" was removed as it is perhaps the most loaded term. I am grateful to my colleagues, Senators Quinn and Healy Eames for their support. I note...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I oppose this amendment which is not helpful. Section 19, as drafted, very importantly regards the welfare of the child as the first and paramount consideration, which is in keeping with our international obligations in terms of the rights of the child. To start to qualify or dilute that by creating presumptions would be unhelpful. Senator Alex White already referred to the baby Ann case....

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I do not believe the amendment does state the law at present. The law at present, as the Minister of State and I said, is that there is a constitutional presumption that the interests of the child are within the marital family but, in all other matters, while the constitutional preference for the family is there in Article 41, it is not necessarily with the natural parents. We must be...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: It is a useful idea. I am not sure this is the best section in which to insert it given this is the section providing for the welfare of the child and, therefore, to include anything else in it seems to be a weakening or a detracting from that paramount consideration. However, it is useful idea to have some sort of duty, be it in statute or guidelines, that the authority would, where...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: No.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister of State for that clarification.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support this amendment. There are instances where the finality of an adoption order may not be appropriate. On Second Stage, I argued that it might be a good idea to provide for special guardianship in this Bill or in other legislation. This is a mechanism provided for in section 115 of the UK Adoption and Children Act 2002. It gives long-term foster carers an additional legal status...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am glad of the opportunity to address the House on this section as I flagged this issue on Second Stage. I believe that section 32 adds nothing to, and indeed is in conflict with the Bill. It seems to be in conflict with our international obligations to regard the welfare of the child as the first and paramount consideration. This section is, effectively, a relic of our past. It relates...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I believe he somewhat misunderstood the point Senators Alex White and Healy Eames and I made in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality and so on. There is very advanced literature on, and practice in, Britain, in particular, about the criteria to be taken into account in the placement of children with appropriate adoptive parents and all the...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Mar 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I do not want to prolong the debate unnecessarily. I am glad the Minister of State has acknowledged there should be some amendment to the section. I agree that to include "if any" in the first line addresses the point I raised, which is that the section assumes everyone is of a particular religion. However, it does not really address the fundamental issue I have with the provision, which...