Results 4,721-4,740 of 11,719 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 12: In page 11, line 7, after “request.” to insert “This subsection is without prejudice to the entitlement of the Commission to exercise its powers under this section in any such case of its own motion.”.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Ivana Bacik: This amendment speaks to the enforcement powers, a crucial aspect of the Bill. I was initially somewhat critical of this. Our original Bill had provided for more extensive enforcement and accountability powers through building on the legislative framework for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC. While I welcome the fact that section 5 of the Government Bill will give a...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for confirming again that IHREC will retain the power to intervene of its own accord and of its own motion. That is very important. It may prove to be very important in ensuring the legislation's effectiveness in the future. When drafting our own Bill on the gender pay gap four or five years ago, the Bill introduced in this House in May 2017, we were very conscious...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Ivana Bacik: Now.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Acting Chairperson and welcome him to his new role as Chair of the Seanad. It is a good day to take over, when we are passing this important Bill. I thank the Minister for his efficient steering of the Bill through the legislative process and for his courteous and full responses. It has been good to work with him and with all colleagues in the House on this important...

Seanad: National Maternity Hospital: Statements (2 Jul 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank her for coming in, on foot of a request I made last week to the leader of the Seanad, to have this important debate. I ask her to relay our concerns back to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, as I know she will. This has been a long saga. We have seen many years of obfuscation, Byzantine legal deliberations and much lack of...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage (2 Jul 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and welcome this urgent and practical Bill. Clearly, it is important that we have certainty and clarity in the law around outdoor hospitality for licensed premises. It simply was not good enough, either for the Garda or for those running such premises, to be told that it would be left to the discretion of gardaí. Nor, indeed, was it good...

Seanad: Offences against the State Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (22 Jun 2021)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to the House. I am pleased to speak for the Labour Party on the annual renewal motions. Like other colleagues, I have spoken for a number of years now on these motions as they come before us. I also have a particular interest in this, having practised for several years in the Special Criminal Court in different trials as a defence...

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...

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

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 11: In page 4, to delete line 34 and substitute the following: “employer’s case, and (d) employers who are party to a collective agreement negotiated with a recognised trade union or staff association to consult with the trade union or staff association concerned both prior to and following upon the publication of the information referred to in...