Results 5,101-5,120 of 11,403 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Jan 2019)

Ivana Bacik: -----to adjudicate on it. I know that Senators McDowell and Boyhan will be aware of this. For a very long time women, and indeed other groups, faced difficulties in this regard. Senator Norris referred to class bias in the system, which was absolutely a fair comment. Disadvantaged groups are so called because they face existing disadvantages and there is not an equal playing field. If a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Jan 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I would like the Minister to respond to amendment No. 92 and the ranking issue because it is a somewhat discrete issue. Again, I will withdraw the amendment at this Stage and bring it back on Report Stage, but the Minister may have a view on the matter.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (22 Jan 2019)

Ivana Bacik: I will take the Minister's comments on board.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I thank all colleagues who contributed to the special debate on Thursday to mark the centenary of women's suffrage and note the contribution of the Vótáil 100 programme in the Houses of the Oireachtas. Now that the exhibition has been taken down from the Seanad anteroom I again thank all those who worked so hard to make the Vótáil 100 programme such a success, including...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I do not have anything further to add on the amendment.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 84:In page 27, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “ (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)(c), the Commission may, as the occasion requires, directly invite a particular person (including a person who is for the time being a serving judge or a relevant office holder within the meaning of section 41(5)) to make an application to be...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: That is fine. I wished only to ensure it was noted on the record in case I need to refer to it on Report Stage. The amendments seek to draw a distinction between those who are serving judges or relevant officeholders and other potential applicants, conscious that section 39 of the Bill provides for applications for appointment to judicial office through section 39(1), which allows for an...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: Before the Minister responds, I will add three further brief points. The first concerns the relationship to which Senator McDowell referred between section 38 and section 44. It is an important point. Section 44 refers to the most senior judicial appointments. Section 44(1) and (9) give the commission power to seek expressions of interest from eligible persons who wish to be considered...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: That is the point. If one reads section 38(c) in one way it seems to give the commission this wide power but it is subsequently contradicted by section 39. There is a difficulty with that. It is why we seek through amendments Nos. 84 and 85 to give the commission an explicit power to invite persons and that clears up any internal inconsistency or contradiction. My final point is on the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I have listened to the Minister’s response and Senator McDowell’s comments. It is very helpful to hear from Senator McDowell of the practice whereby the Attorney General has given the tap on the shoulder to potential applicants. In other words, direct approaches are being made, albeit in this rather informal and unstructured way. The Minister spoke about seeking to create a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: Section 36.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for his comments on the other points that I raised in respect of sections 36 and 44. As he has said previously, he will address some of those issues on Report Stage, for which I am grateful. I am sorry that the Minister is unwilling to accept my amendments Nos. 84 and 85. They would formalise what we know to be happening but they would do so in a way that could be of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 85:In page 27, lines 28 and 29, to delete ", inclusing a person who is for the time being a serving judge or a relevant office holder,".

Seanad: Conflict in Yemen: Motion (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I second the motion.

Seanad: Conflict in Yemen: Motion (19 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I support this motion on behalf of the Labour Party Senators. I commend Senator Higgins on her leadership in initiating this important cross-party motion about what has been referred to many times as a forgotten conflict. The appalling conflict in Yemen has been going on for more than three and a half years. All colleagues would wish to express in stronger terms our condemnation of the...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: Speaking on the passage of this historic Bill, I feel an overwhelming sense of relief, as do many colleagues and others watching the debate. At this historic moment, I am happy to speak on behalf of my Labour Party colleagues in the Seanad, Senators Kevin Humphreys, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and Ged Nash, and to say I am proud of the role the Labour Party has played over the 35...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I will speak generally to the group of amendments first and then address some of them specifically. My Labour Party colleagues and I are co-signatories to amendments Nos. 37, 42 and 43. Senator Norris has asked me to formally move and withdraw amendment No. 34 on his behalf. Broadly, all these amendments seek to address our concern to ensure, as expressed by Senators Ruane and Higgins,...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: We are on Report Stage.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: On a point of order-----

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2018)

Ivana Bacik: It is, actually. The point of order is to ask if we can put this amendment to a vote.