Results 5,461-5,480 of 11,469 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: On a point of order, this amendment simply repeats what is already in section 20. If the Senator looks carefully at amendment No. 28, he will see the only changes it makes are to penalties and arrest power. The amendment is simply restating the provision that is already in section 20 otherwise in terms of policy. We have already heard from the Senator on Second and Committee Stages, when...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome amendment No. 28 which restates the core principle in section 20 of the original version of the Bill to criminalise the purchase of sex. It also decriminalises the sale of sex and the person, usually a woman, engaged in prostitution. Senator Norris failed to take that on board in his polemic against the amendment and against the policy at issue. The policy, so clearly outlined by...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: -----for example, that women engage in prostitution because the hours are convenient if one has children. I am sorry but that is just ridiculous.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: With respect, Senator Norris spoke for half an hour - I timed it - having already made extremely lengthy speeches on Committee Stage in attempts to filibuster this Bill. I am happy that we will be able to conclude Report Stage in the Seanad today. There is a fundamental contradiction in the Senator’s arguments because he disparages and insults, as well as belittles, those of us who...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: This provision is evidence-based. We have challenged every assertion Senator Norris has made on Second and Committee Stages. The 2013 Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality report unanimously endorsed on a cross-party basis also debunks the arguments he made. We looked at the 2010 Swedish evaluation of the law and visited Sweden in 2012. We looked subsequently at the Northern...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I note also that legislators in Northern Ireland, Canada, Norway and Iceland have followed suit with the Swedish approach, while it is under consideration in Britain and France, as it is elsewhere. The reality is that our model of law enforcement in prostitution is not working. A model which approaches it instead from the point of view of tackling demand, decriminalising the sellers and...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I commend colleagues for putting down these amendments. There has been a broad welcome for section 34. It has been hugely important to see for the first time in statute these very important provisions on disclosure of third party records, which have been such an important issue for so many complainants and for their legal teams, and, indeed, for rape crisis centres which have been working...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (21 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I add my voice to that of Senator van Turnhout and others to say how delighted I am to see the Bill pass Report Stage in the Seanad. I am also delighted that the Minister introduced the Bill as a Seanad Bill. I thank the Minister and commend her on her great work on the Bill and on bringing forward such a comprehensive and ground-breaking piece of reform. In particular, I thank her...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Leader for taking the all-party motion on medication for patients with cystic fibrosis, which is No. 19, motion 81, on today's Order Paper. I refer specifically to the provision of Orkambi for cystic fibrosis sufferers which is a hugely important and pressing issue for many people across Ireland. As I said last week, the matter is too important for it to be made a political...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: -----and for a limited period to register in the physiotherapist register and that after this period only qualified physiotherapists will be permitted to register. This is a sensible decision. It has been communicated to the Physiotherapists Registration Board and other interested parties and the Department of Health is preparing the necessary legislation to give effect to the Minister's...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: Like all of us, I am sure, I also look forward to the publication today of the report of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. I know we will have an opportunity to debate it tomorrow. Many colleagues will be looking at the process of conducting the inquiry and recommendations that apparently will be in the report as to how the legislation could be improved to ensure the...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (27 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the Labour Party, to offer tribute to the late former Senator, Brian Friel. I welcome those in the Gallery, particularly Brian Friel's family, friends and colleagues to whom I offer sincere sympathies. Others who knew Brian Friel have spoken eloquently but I will add a few words of my own. While he was a Senator here between 1987 and 1989, which is...

Seanad: Direct Provision: Motion (27 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, to the House and welcome the opportunity to debate the issue of direct provision which, as other colleagues have noted, Members have debated a number of times previously. I commend Senators van Turnhout and Mac Conghail and their colleagues from the Taoiseach's nominee group on bringing forward this motion, which is being debated...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jan 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to the Leader for clarifying that the Seanad will sit next Tuesday and Wednesday, no matter what happens elsewhere. I also welcome the fact that we will have statements on the Report of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis on Tuesday because that gives us the opportunity to read what is in the report. Having read preliminary reports of it and its key aspects,...

Seanad: Business of Seanad (2 Feb 2016)

Ivana Bacik: We just need to know.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome today's very good news that the unemployment rate has fallen again. There has been a remarkable month-on-month fall from 10.1% this time last year to the current rate of 8.6%. Some 5,125 new jobs were created in January alone. It is really impressive that, on average, more than 1,000 jobs are being created each week. I want to note this significant achievement. I am sure all my...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2016)

Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2016)

Ivana Bacik: On behalf of the Labour Party group I wish everyone well and thank the Cathaoirleach and Leas-Chathaoirleach and all the staff in the Seanad Office, especially Deirdre Lane, the Clerk of the Seanad, for all the work and help they have given us over the years, and I wish them the very best for the future. I thank the Leader, Senator Cummins, with whom it has been a pleasure to work. I thank...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2016)

Ivana Bacik: Far from it.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Bill 2012: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (3 Feb 2016)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for reading that explanation in the House. It was important to do so because group 6, in particular, dealt with some substantive changes to the Bill that were debated in the Dáil. I know there was some concern, particularly from the Irish Penal Reform Trust, regarding the fact that only one conviction can be spent. However, I accept that as the Minister said,...