Results 5,661-5,680 of 11,469 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: We could have this debate all night. I want to make one very simple point. These are two separate offences, which are separately drafted. I have already pointed out to Senator McDowell that in section 22 the burden is heavier on the person in authority to raise a defence - I am right about that - than the defence available in section 21 or the onus on the prosecution in section 21. It is...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: It is not my report.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to repeat how strongly I support this section and section 25, which we extensively debated on previous occasions in the Seanad. I am listening carefully to what colleagues say, particularly those who did not have an opportunity to speak in the previous Seanad. I hope those who have expressed doubts have looked at the justice committee report from June 2013, which was a report of the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I did not interrupt Senator McDowell.Senator McDowell suggested that, in some way, the sellers of sexual services who are not currently criminalised would become criminalised under this legislation but that is not the case. In fact, the seller will be decriminalised. In respect of his argument on aiding and abetting, Senator McDowell referred to the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act but one...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (14 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I am glad Senator McDowell agrees because it is indefensible. The current law on prostitution is indefensible. The vast majority of those appearing before the courts are people who are selling sex, usually women, who are the most visible and the most easily targeted by gardaí. They are, of course, prosecuted for the offences of loitering, soliciting and a failure to move on and so...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Leader for organising tonight's debate with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in attendance, on foot of the requests made here yesterday. Clearly, many more questions need to be answered on the political events of the past week, the differences in views and the alternative facts, one might say, expressed by different Ministers on what happened at different meetings.As...

Seanad: Civil Law (Missing Persons) Bill 2016: Second Stage (16 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and commend Senators Colm Burke, Marie-Louise O'Donnell and Ruane on proposing this important Bill. In particular, I commend Senator Colm Burke who has worked on this issue for a good deal of time. It is good to see this Bill come before the House on this agreed basis. I echo Senator Ruane's comments that it is a sign of the Seanad at its best...

Seanad: Recent Education Announcements: Statements (21 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome the opportunity to debate the subject of education with him. I thank him for his opening statement. As he said, it is an exciting time for education in Ireland. We are facing immense challenges but some very positive developments also, in particular as we are coming out of the recession and seeing an increase in resources available to...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I would like to join with others, on behalf of the Labour Party group, in expressing sympathies to the family of the late Deputy Peter Mathews on his sudden passing yesterday. I call on the Leader, as other Senators have done, to arrange a debate on the State's response to the reports of abuse committed against the child known as Grace while in foster care in Waterford over a long period of...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I appreciate his assistance.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I ask the Leader again for a debate on the State's response to the abuses perpetrated on this child while in foster care. We should also hear why it took so long to publish the Conal Devine report and the Resilience Ireland report. There has been a five-year delay since the reports were prepared. We must also hear about the other children who were placed in the home. We now know from the...

Seanad: Domestic Violence Bill 2017: Second Stage (1 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House and I commend her on her long-standing commitment to reform in this area. I know from many engagements with her on this issue just how much of a personal commitment she brings to the issue of domestic violence, to tackling it and to seeking to ensure better legal treatment of the victims and survivors of this appalling violence. I commend her on that. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: Like others, I wish to highlight the horrific findings the commission of investigation has made regarding the remains of infants and babies in Tuam and the appalling suffering experienced in that institution by them, their mothers and siblings, many of whom survive and who have spoken movingly in recent days about their grief and distress at the findings. We all should commend the commission...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters Relative to Disability Service in the South East and Related Matters): Motion (9 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State and I also welcome the opportunity to debate the amended terms of reference of this important commission of investigation. Others, particularly Senator Kelleher, have eloquently outlined the appalling and horrifying litany of abuse and neglect suffered by Grace over 20 years in the foster home that is the subject of the investigation. I am glad that the order...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Implications of Brexit for Foreign Policy: Dr. Karen Devine, DCU (9 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: Schengen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Implications of Brexit for Foreign Policy: Dr. Karen Devine, DCU (9 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I thank Dr. Devine for her very stimulating presentation and giving us the opportunity to engage with her on this important question. There are many issues and a great many implications of Brexit for Irish foreign policy. As she said, she is really just touching on some of them in her paper. It is interesting that she emphasises the flaws in EU governance and the implications of EU...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Implications of Brexit for Foreign Policy: Dr. Karen Devine, DCU (9 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: And the Workers' Party.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: Listening to colleagues, I am conscious of what a sad day it is, with so many condolences being offered. On behalf of the Labour Party group, I would like to join with others in offering condolences to the family of Martin McGuinness and to his Sinn Féin colleagues here in the Chamber and elsewhere on their sad loss. As others have said, his legacy as a key negotiator and facilitator...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: It is great to see that after 20 months of campaigning for justice. Many of us stood on the protest with the Clerys workers, who were treated so abominably by Natrium. I am glad to see a settlement has been reached to the satisfaction of the workers. I ask that we would have a debate in early course on the need for legislation to ensure this sort of thing does not happen again to workers...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2017)

Ivana Bacik: I second that.