Results 5,161-5,180 of 11,469 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

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

Ivana Bacik: Amendment No. 91 was part of a previous grouping or did we change that?

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

Ivana Bacik: I apologise. I made that change. It had been in an earlier grouping.

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

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 86:In page 28, line 22, after "persons," to insert "at least one of whom must be of each gender,". Amendments Nos. 86, 87, 91 and 93 all deal with the same general principle of seeking to ensure gender balance among the Judiciary.Amendment No. 86 proposes to amend section 40 by inserting in subsection (2) the words, "at least one of whom must be of each gender", after...

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

Ivana Bacik: I am referring specifically to amendment No. 92, which seeks to amend section 46. The reason I have singled out this amendment is that it is somewhat different from the other amendments in this group. I will speak more generally about the gender balance considerations in the other amendments when I have explained the reasons we tabled amendment No. 92. We did not do so to change the nature...

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

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Senator. I want to briefly respond to Senator Norris's point. I would obviously bow to Senator Norris in matters of English grammar and I am happy to withdraw amendment No. 86 in any case to see if I can draft it a little more elegantly so I apologise for that. None of these provisions ties hands in terms of gender balance but in the same way as our 2012 political quota...

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

Ivana Bacik: I thank my colleagues for having taken the time to consider these amendments in such detail. In my initial speech I acknowledged the increase in the number of women serving as judges. I gave my current count of approximately 37% of our Judiciary being female, which is a huge increase from the time when we did our study some years ago. It is certainly a very positive sign in my view and, I...

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.