Results 6,961-6,980 of 11,477 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: Essentially, these amendments seek to do the same thing. Ours would extend the 30-year period to 40 years and Senator Warfield's would extend it to 50 years. I wish to respond to Senator Pauline O'Reilly. She quite rightly pointed out the importance of cost-rental models. It is very welcome to hear quite affirmative and positive responses from Senators Pauline O'Reilly and Cummins on the...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister of State for his very constructive engagement and for accepting our amendment No. 58. We really welcome it. It is a great testament to the power of debate in the Seanad and the power of constructive engagement. We really appreciate the thoughtfulness that has gone into that and the Minister of State's very full and comprehensive response to the amendment. We believe...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: Amendment No. 66 is a Labour Party amendment, tabled by Senator Moynihan, other colleagues and I. Along with the other amendments, it seeks to remove the profit motive from cost-rental to improve the model of cost-rental. I am heartened by the Minister of State's constructive approach and thank him for accepting our amendment No. 58. In the spirit of improving upon the model of cost-rental...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 66: In page 32, to delete lines 30 and 31 and substitute the following: “(4) The proposed minimum period referred to in subsection (3)(e)— (a) in a case where a loan is to be granted by the Housing Agency under section 41 for the development or provision of dwellings to be designated as cost rental dwellings, shall be a period of indefinite duration,...

Seanad: Right to Housing: Motion (4 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As Senator Moynihan has said, we support the introduction of a constitutional right to housing. It is so important that housing, the right to shelter and a home, is seen as a basic human right in our fundamental law. We support this wholeheartedly. However, we also need to see practical measures put in place, as Senator Moynihan has said, in...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: Just as we are cautiously reopening, in particular with outdoor hospitality returning, I commend all the businesses and individuals who are running such well-ordered establishments. I have had the opportunity to travel across Dublin Bay South a lot in recent weeks and it has been really great to see so many places reopening and such general delight at being able to socialise safely again out...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: The Senator will be welcome.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2021: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to the House and welcome the opportunity to debate Second Stage of this important Bill. I thank the Minister for his kind words of acknowledgement for the work I and my Labour Party colleagues have done over many years to bring forward similar legislation. Indeed, the Bill we brought forward seeking to address the gender pay gap passed Second Stage...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Ratification of Optional Protocol: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I thank our speakers for their presentations which are very useful for the committee to hear. I echo the words of others, following Mr. Harris's points, that the lack of clear timeframe for the ratification of the optional protocol is disappointing. We have all shared our concerns about that. I appreciate that it is difficult to give an exact time line but will the Secretary General say a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I call for an urgent debate on the future of the new national maternity hospital. I was one of the Oireachtas Members who attended the cross-party briefing with the Minister for Health last week at which it became apparent that proposals for the State to buy the site had been rejected. The situation has moved on over the weekend, however, and there have been further reports, including some...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome this Bill and the opportunity to speak on this important topic. As we know, a climate emergency was declared by the Dáil in 2019 so all of us are very aware of the pressing urgency of tackling the climate emergency at national and international level. We have all seen the impact of the increasing number of extreme weather events on people across the world, including our own...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, line 21, to delete “as soon as is reasonably practicable” and substitute “immediately”. This is in a similar vein to amendment No. 3 in the name of Senator Higgins. It has a clear meaning and rationale in keeping with my speech on Second Stage. I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome the opportunity to debate...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for his clear response and for his indication that he intends to have the regulations in place by the end of 2021. That is very welcome. As I have said, there is immense concern, despite the use of the phrase "as soon as is reasonably practicable", that there have been many delays since May 2017 when we introduced our Labour Party Bill. We want to ensure more clarity...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I think we all know we agreed the amendment would be pressed. I do not want to catch anyone out.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I withdraw the amendment in light of the Minister’s response.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: Our amendment No. 5 in this group seeks to do something similar, to ensure we capture the most pertinent data to form a comprehensive picture of the extent and nature of the gender pay gap. We believe the wording in amendment No. 5 is more suitable because it recognises it is not sufficient to compare just part-time men and part-time women workers. We know those working fewer hours suffer a...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I will speak on amendment No. 5. Noting Senator O'Reilly's point, it is important when we quote these figures, as I did, from the CSO on the breakdown between men and women working part-time that clearly nobody is judging any decision to work part-time or otherwise. We have to be cognisant, however, that people make decisions and circumstances not of their choosing. Where there is a very...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, to delete lines 13 to 18 and substitute the following: “(v) the difference between the mean hourly remuneration of part-time employees of the female gender and that of— (I) part-time employees of the male gender, and (II) full-time employees of the male gender,expressed in each case as a percentage; (vi) the difference between the median...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 9: In page 4, to delete line 25. These three amendments are interlinked and all seek to do the same thing. They would add another element to section 20A, one which we feel it is currently missing, by making reference to trade union involvement in drawing together gender pay gap data and devising remedial action plans or measures to tackle pay discrepancies on grounds...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for that very full response and for his nice words to the gentleman in Sandymount. Of course, I would love to be able to continue this work elsewhere and I certainly would not stop doing it if I were fortunate enough to succeed in the by-election. If I was not in the Seanad, I would of course be out talking with people in Sandymount, Ringsend and everywhere else across...