Results 8,021-8,040 of 11,668 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is important for everyone.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Ivana Bacik: There genuinely are differing views in my own party and in Fine Gael on this issue. People are entitled to personal views and retention or otherwise.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Ivana Bacik: However, given the referendum is proposed and is likely to take place in the early autumn and given there will be a detailed and comprehensive debate on the subject, one must make sure it is conducted in a respectful manner.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Jun 2013)

Ivana Bacik: The Order Paper contains a motion regarding the construction of Cork Prison that will be taken without debate. I welcome the fact that a new facility will be built on a site that has been condemned for many years for its poor prison conditions by international and national inspectors. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on the greater and more general issue of prison building and...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House. It is proposed to take Committee and Report Stages on Thursday. Accordingly, this list of amendments is circulated in advance of the conclusion of Second Stage. That is extraordinary notice to give on a Bill. I refer to some of the points made in the Minister's contribution. He cited his attempts to ensure fairness. He challenged the idea that there...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: On a point of order, that is enough of the personal attacks.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: This is just soundbite stuff. Let us talk about the substance of the Bill.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House. I welcome the opportunity to debate a Bill about which there has been extensive public debate. I also welcome the opportunity to speak after Senator Cullinane and take on some of the outrageous myths and fabrication he put forward by way of substantive speech. To hear someone from Sinn Féin suggest the Government is guilty of strong-arm tactics is...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: To resort to personal attacks on a particular Minister is outrageous. Sinn Féin Members should be able to debate the substance of the Bill but it is typical of the negativity of Sinn Féin and the way it has been thriving on people's misery throughout the past two years-----

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It has been nothing but negativity. I have listened to Sinn Féin spokespersons being negative about every single piece of progress and every advance the Government has made.

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Let us look at the substance of it. Senators Cummins, Hayden, Gilroy and others put forward the substance of the Bill. It is clear, as the Minister said in his opening statement, that none of us wants to be in a position of introducing the legislation. No Government would introduce cuts to public sector pay by choice. This is a circumstance in which we are in and these are circumstances...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: To be fair, the previous Croke Park agreement was negotiated by the previous Government. I pay tribute to the unions that engaged in the process and stayed with it. I pay tribute to the Labour Relations Commission, which facilitated the process that led to the Haddington Road agreement. It is an agreement that, as others have said, protects the core pay of 87% of those working in the...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Many people on this side could see how difficult the economic situation was and how little finance was available to Ireland. That is what we are trying to get out of through this sort of measure, which is not palatable or something that appeals to any of us. We see it as a necessary way to achieve the economic recovery we are aiming for and working towards. The Government greatly values...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I am glad the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will be in the House later. Colleagues, particularly Senator van Turnhout, sought this debate yesterday and I am glad we have been able to arrange a debate at such short notice on the pressing issue of child care standards following the broadcast of the "Prime Time" programme last Tuesday night. Colleagues will appreciate the opportunity...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Margareta Wahlström (29 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I too welcome Ms Wahlström to the House. I was fascinated by her presentation and was struck, in particular, by the point she made that disasters are not just happening in poor countries but are also very much a feature in wealthier countries too. In that context, she made reference to the US, New Zealand and Japan. How does that change the nature of Ms Wahlström's role and of UN...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Clearly, there was abusive behaviour. We saw some desperately harrowing scenes last night. We should be mindful of the hurt being felt by the parents whose children were shown in the footage and who could be identified by those who know them. I commend RTE for its decision which was taken in conjunction with the parents not to put the programme on the RTE player and not to repeat it. The...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: We need to be mindful of this in our response to the programme, which is one of absolutely justified outrage. I know the Cathaoirleach will make a ruling under Standing Order 30, but separately I will ask the Leader to arrange a debate at an early stage with the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, on the measures to be taken in response to the concerns raised in the programme. Senator David...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I am afraid I am not privy to that information. Senator Aideen Hayden and most other Senators raised the child care issue, which I have addressed. Senator Terry Brennan spoke about the decision to provide funding for Narrow Water Bridge. It was nice to have a good news story. I pay tribute to the Senator, his colleagues from the Louth area and the other people in the local community who...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: Senators Jim D'Arcy, Mary White and Mary Moran have also been very involved in this issue.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 May 2013)

Ivana Bacik: It is great news for the Cooley Peninsula and the Mourne area. It is also great news for North-South relations. Senator Mary Moran put it well when she said it was a positive sign of North-South co-operation that this was finally taking place. The new bridge will bring enormous benefits, as Senator Terry Brennan has pointed out. It shows that 35 years of hard work can really pay off.