Results 601-620 of 11,441 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to the Minister of State for giving a considered response. Clearly, there are still issues the details of which we are not fully aware. As I mentioned, we appreciate the sensitivities in this case and that the Minister cannot provide the full picture of what is taking place. As the Minister remarked, we are all concerned about the welfare of the child, whether in Vietnam or...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support the amendment. Post adoption services will increase in importance. There is a great deal of awareness of the need for adults adopted as children to be able to acquire information about their past, their birth parents and their lineage. This is true for both national and international adoptions. Therefore, post adoption services will be of increasing importance. We have had...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Who is Senator O'Toole accusing of air brushing?

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: He is not the only one.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: On the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Senator Harris is correct to say that we will be judged by future generations on how we responded as a society to the needs of the victims and survivors of abuse. Horrific though the findings of the report are, it is clear that it is only the tip of the iceberg because the scale of abuse and the further revelations to come will...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I second it. I express gratitude to Senators O'Toole, McCarthy and Hannigan for proposing at my request that we debate today No. 12 on the Order Paper, the Climate Protection Bill. I introduced that Bill in October 2007 with the support of Friends of the Earth and a coalition of environmental and development non-governmental organisations, all of whom are very concerned that we would see...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Perhaps that undermines the idea about airbrushing posters and so on.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Sentencing has not been decided.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I thank colleagues for their good wishes expressed yesterday and today on the election. I believe I speak for all Members who ran for election when I state it was a very positive experience. It was important to hear people's concerns directly expressed on doorsteps and the anger at the current Government is palpable. One concern to emerge from the election pertains to disenfranchisement and...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I certainly will raise it again. I echo comments made by colleagues on the Ryan report and the need for further debate on it. It was an issue on which many people expressed their views strongly and in very emotional terms. It was a real issue underlying the elections. Moreover, issues arise from the Ryan report which is not a report about history. In response to Senator Mullen, Deputy...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Members should consider who controls our schools. At present, both national and secondary schools are still controlled predominately by the churches and by the Catholic church in particular and there is no issue in this regard. Survivors of abuse, with whom I wish to express solidarity on their march today, may be highly dismayed to see reports in today's newspapers to the effect that the De...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2009: Second Stage (10 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I thank Senator Mullen for sharing time. I welcome the Minister and the opportunity to speak on the issue of criminal procedure. Issues about reform of the criminal justice system have been very pressing with recent murders really bringing it to the fore, the intimidation of persons who have been witnesses and so on. I welcome some of the measures in the Bill, in particular Part 2 which...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support calls made by other colleagues for a debate on some issues arising from the Ryan report. I found it incredibly moving yesterday to stand outside Leinster House with the many survivors and victims of abuse present, and to hear the names of over 200 Catholic-run institutions being read out while people stood in silence. Many were very emotional as the names of the institution in...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I join my colleagues in congratulating former Senator Alan Kelly on his election to the European Parliament. Not only did he run a great campaign but he was, I think, the only candidate to have his own rap song, which I understand has become a cult classic on YouTube. I also congratulate the councillors who were elected lord mayor, particularly Emer Costello, the new lord mayor of Dublin....

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: ——and we need to see them in this House. I hope we can debate them before the end of this term but I do not think we should hold our breath.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I echo the words of Senator Alex White in calling for a debate on the ownership of national schools. While Archbishop Martin's comments that the Catholic monopoly, as he put it, over schooling is not tenable are welcome, some caution is necessary. The archbishop referred, in the reported version of his speech, to the management of schools rather than ownership. If we are to have debate on...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: -----or any sort of promise as to whether they would be introduced. There has been a long lead-in for both Bills. We heard accusations of Ministers sleeping in the other House last week and there is a danger that Ministers might be seen to be sleeping on the job if the Bills I referred to are not introduced very shortly because there has been plenty of preparation time. I introduced the...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (17 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State. I declare my own interest in this matter as I have represented people before the Special Criminal Court and have, therefore, worked with the provisions at issue in the motion. I echo Senator Alex White's words by expressing some concern about the procedure and the low level of scrutiny we give to these measures. It is important we retain the power of annual...