Results 5,421-5,440 of 11,407 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: We can trade GRECO reports.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: The most up-to-date GRECO report of May 2018 refers specifically to the current proposals for reform from the Government.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: It is undeniable that GRECO has sought reform.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I would be the first to say that we need reform. I have always stood for reform. I did a report some years ago seeking reform of the judicial appointments process, at which time I did a good deal of research on the need for change to the process to ensure, in particular, a better gender balance on the Judiciary. I have no difficulty with reform and will be pressing for it. The excerpts...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: Nobody is scoring any points by pointing out that GRECO sought reform of the current process. We are all aware of that.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I will clarify the matter. I sought the degrouping of amendment No. 7 from the original grouping of amendments Nos. 6, 7 and 110. It seemed to me that amendment was different, which I think Senator McDowell accepted. Amendments Nos. 6 and 110 are Senator McDowell's amendments and they were dealt with earlier. We are now considering amendment No. 7 on its own because it is a specific amendment.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister of State but he did not answer any of the questions I had posed to the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and repeated in the presence of the Minister of State. When will we have sight of the GRECO report? Is the Minister willing to consider accepting the amendment or some version of it? We would be happy if it was in some way adjusted but it is important to have an explicit...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for his full response. I understood from what he said that we will see the GRECO report tomorrow after the Cabinet meeting has concluded. I hope that will be the case.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: That is positive and I am delighted to hear that. I understood that he said he will consider amendment No. 7 for acceptance.In the spirit of being constructive, I am happy to withdraw the amendment and resubmit it on Report Stage. I do not accept the terms of the amendment would tie the hands of the Public Appointments Service. I know in the other House my Labour Party colleagues,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I will. I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: The substantive amendment I have in this grouping is amendment No. 14 which is similar to that of Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, amendment No. 13, in that it seeks to address the question of the composition of the judicial appointments commission. Our amendment is slightly different from the Senator's. Like hers, it has the advantage of being coherent in terms of numbers, unlike the current...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I want to respond to the point the Minister made about the Attorney General. It is interesting that section 10 provides that the Attorney General will be one of the members of the commission. If amendments Nos. 15 and 21, in the Minister's name are made, the commission will comprise 17 persons. The reason the Attorney General referred to it as a dog's dinner is clear; the way in which the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: It is instructive to have an insight from someone who has served as Attorney General on JAAB. Senator McDowell brings that experience, which none of us have, to bear and it is useful to hear him speak of the presumed rationale behind the reinsertion of the Attorney General onto the new commission. I simply observed that it seemed somewhat anomalous that the Attorney General remains on the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: Yes, they are contingent.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 14:In page 10, lines 20 to 31, to delete all words from and including “(1) The Commission” in line 20 down to and including line 31, and in page 11, to delete lines 1 to 3 and substitute the following: “(1) The Commission shall consist of 12 members being— (a) the Chief Justice, who shall be the Chairperson of the Commission, (b) the...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that we would not take Committee Stage of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017 today. On behalf of the Labour Party group, I seek to put forward again the position that Senator Humphreys and myself put forward last Thursday that Committee Stage of the Bill should not be taken until we have sight of the as yet unpublished report that...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: The approach has made a mockery of the legislative process. We are being asked to legislate in the dark without sight of a report, significant excerpts of which have already been leaked into the public domain. I want to refer colleagues who may as yet be undecided as to what way they will vote on our amendment to four points that were raised in the GRECO report. First, GRECO expressed the...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: -----to respond to these very serious criticisms-----

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: -----by the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption, GRECO. Finally, I agree with Senator Boyhan that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport would be the first person to jump up and down in disgust if a Government, of which he was not part, tried to bring about much-needed reform in this extremely misguided and ill-conceived way. I urge colleagues to support my...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Jul 2018)

Ivana Bacik: Yes.