Results 6,661-6,680 of 11,469 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: Tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I did not hear what Senator Mooney said, perhaps it is just as well. Senator O'Neill advises me that the issue might be best addressed first by the joint Oireachtas committee. It is really the sort of area where we would want to hear experts who would put different sides of it. To have a debate on the report from the joint Oireachtas committee might be the better way to approach it. It is...

Seanad: Standing Orders: Motion (10 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I move: "That the Report of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges on the adoption of new Standing Order 103N and the amendment of Standing Order 90 be adopted, laid before the House and printed."

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: In response to Senator O'Brien, I agree that we need a debate on pension provision. I am happy to look for that. I also agree with his comments on the intimidation of councillors and staff at Fingal County Council. I was horrified to hear about it. I heard some reports on the radio, but had not been aware quite how sinister is was until the Senator spoke. To identify and single out...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: Senator Norris commented on the arrest yesterday of a number of individuals, including one Deputy. I do not want to get involved in discussing that. It is important that we do not in any way look like we are politicising what is in fact an ongoing criminal investigation. That is all I intend to say on it. Senator Norris also spoke on Syriza and on Greece. The Irish Government is...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: Senator D'Arcy referred to the ferry service from Greenore to Greencastle in County Down. The Senator has raised similar issues on many occasions and I am happy to invite the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, to speak about ensuring there are strong links between Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. It is important that we ensure those links are strong, to...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: The Order of Business today is No. 1, motion re the Report of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges on the adoption of new Standing Order 103N and the amendment of Standing Order 90, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; and No. 2, Gender Recognition Bill 2014 - Committee Stage (Resumed), to be taken on conclusion of No. 1.

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I join Senator Paschal Mooney in marking the Stena Line decision to close its Dún Laoghaire-Holyhead ferry link. I think all of us have memories of taking that boat from Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead. Certainly the growth of the cruise market in Dún Laoghaire has been very positive but it is none the less worth marking the end of an era in terms of that particular route. I ask...

Seanad: Mediation Services: Motion (4 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I agree with Senator O'Donovan's words on the Seanad and the advantages of commencing the Bill in this House. I again welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, to the House, and commend Senator Conway on introducing this motion. It is in keeping with his general interest in this area, of which I am aware because I am a colleague of his on the Joint Committee on...

Seanad: Mediation Services: Motion (4 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I would be delighted to second this motion. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin to the House.

Seanad: Mediation Services: Motion (4 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2015: Second Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I also welcome the Bill. Everyone has given it a general welcome. All Senators agree that there is a need to consolidate the current set of procedures to deal with employment rights, workplace relations and so forth. As has been acknowledged, these issues developed in a piecemeal fashion over several years and, therefore, are unduly complex...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: This group of amendments is all about the undue medicalisation and pathologising of transgender persons, which we were critical of on Second Stage and today. As others have done, I urge the Minister of State to accept the spirit in which these amendments were moved. I wish to speak on amendment No. 13, tabled by my colleague, Senator Marie Moloney, which I fully support. To delete the...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I am sorry I had to leave to attend a meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, but I listened carefully to the debate before and after I left. Some substantive and eloquent points were made, as the Minister has acknowledged, and moving experiences recounted. This is an area that is moving. I re-read the joint committee report, the pre-legislative stage, which was just in...

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for his willingness to accept the principle. We are all delighted to hear it, and it augurs very well for the future, given that it is the first amendment. Let us hope there is more of that. It shows the Seanad working at its best and in a constructive and collegiate fashion.

Seanad: Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Committee Stage (3 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House. I welcome also the groups represented in the Gallery who I know have worked very hard on progressing this legislation. I refer to TENI and LGBT Noise, among others. Senators Zappone and Norris, with customary eloquence, have put the case for a review very strongly, and I agree. The idea of a review is a sensible one and would address some of the...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I refer to the discussions about the potential sale of Aer Lingus. Of course, matters are at a very early stage and there is no offer, but I have already put on the record my opposition to the sale of the Government's 25% stake in Aer Lingus. Indeed, I opposed the sale of the rest of what was the Government's much larger stake in 2006. I welcome the good news today of the Accenture jobs...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jan 2015)

Ivana Bacik: Senator Wilson is making the request.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jan 2015)

Ivana Bacik: I ask the Leader for a debate on the Action Plan for Jobs 2015. I welcome today's publication of the action plan, which Chambers Ireland has welcomed. It has been widely welcomed and it is undisputed that the plan is working. Since the first launch of An Action Plan for Jobs at the initiation of the Government's programme, approximately 1,000 actions have been implemented across Government...

Seanad: Universities (Development and Innovation) (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (28 Jan 2015)

Ivana Bacik: Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.