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

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I know why section 33 specifies "where there are moneys due and owing by a household to a housing authority under any of the provisions to which this section applies...". It applies to earlier legislation under which money may be owing and so forth. My difficulty, however, is that section 20(5) gives no discretion to a housing authority. It simply states a "household shall not be eligible...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful that the Minister of State has indicated he will refer it to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. I ask that the latter might advise on the interaction between section 20 and section 33 and whether it would be possible to import some measure of discretion into that currently absolutist language in section 20(5). If the Chief Parliamentary Counsel will advise on this, we are...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 40: In page 18, subsection (6)(b), line 3, to delete "need;" and substitute the following: "need. In particular housing need assessments must have regard to the need for housing of people who— (i) are homeless, (ii) are members of the Travelling Community, (iii) are living in accommodation that is unfit for human habitation or is materially unsuitable for their adequate...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I do not intend to press the amendment but I reserve the right to come back to it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 41: In page 18, subsection (7), line 6, to delete "may" and substitute the following: "shall, within one year of the commencement of this section,". This is self-explanatory. It seeks to amend section 20(7) not to make any change to its purpose but to provide a time limit within which it would take effect. I have changed "may" to "shall, within one year of the...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I reserve my position until Report Stage and will not press the amendment now.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 42: In page 18, subsection (7), line 7, after "of" to insert "annual". This amendment appears somewhat similar but is much more forward-looking. It provides, again, for an amendment to subsection (7) that the Minister would make regulations on the carrying out of annual social housing assessments. The purpose is to ensure there is a more regularly updated review of...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I should have said the two amendments are being discussed together because amendment No. 44 would delete paragraph (d), which refers to the frequency of reviewing and updating assessments. This is a particular issue because the review and updating of assessments is carried out only every three years. That does not take into account changing circumstances. We are all seeing how rapidly the...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: While I hear what the Minister says, it is important to be a little more specific about how regularly updates and reviews take place. Paragraph (d) refers to frequency of reviewing and updating assessments but it gives no commitment to more regular updating. The tri-annual system is not efficient enough and does not take into account changing circumstances. I would like the Minister to...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 33: In page 17, subsection (4)(e), line 27, after "alternative" to insert "and appropriate". The purpose of the amendment is to ensure "appropriate" is inserted after the word "alternative" to ensure accommodation would be not only alternative but appropriate to the household. It is not a large amendment, but it is sensible to make the provision to ensure accommodation...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I ask the Minister of State to indicate that he might at least consider accepting this amendment and that we might resume our discussion on it on Report Stage. As Senator Norris has said, to reject this amendment is somewhat grudging. While the terms of subsection (4)(e) clearly specify that the alternative accommodation would meet the housing need of the household, to say it also would be...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2008)

Ivana Bacik: It does not alter the tone or main thrust of the provision but gives it a nuance which would be important for particular households in seeking accommodation.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I support Senator Twomey's call for a debate on legislation to provide a regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction and in particular in vitro fertilisation, which is long overdue. A former Member of this House, Dr. Mary Henry, was very active in trying to get the matter placed on the Government agenda. I call on the Leader to have that debate as a matter of urgency. I ask the...

Seanad: Stem-Cell Research (Protection of Human Embryos) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to share time with Senator Norris.

Seanad: Stem-Cell Research (Protection of Human Embryos) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to set some context for this debate. Embryonic stem cell research is a relatively new area of research. It is within the last two decades that scientists have begun seriously to carry out research on embryonic stem cell lines. Contrary to some of what we have been hearing, the weight of medical and scientific opinion internationally is...

Seanad: Stem-Cell Research (Protection of Human Embryos) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: May I finish on this point? The key here is to achieve a balance. We must achieve a balanced approach. We do not know whether life has begun with a two week old embryo, but we know that a two week old embryo left under liquid nitrogen storage indefinitely is not the same as a seven year old girl with leukaemia——

Seanad: Stem-Cell Research (Protection of Human Embryos) Bill 2008: Second Stage (26 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: ——a 32 year old woman with multiple sclerosis or a 55 year old man with Parkinson's disease. I want to refer to a letter from a senior neuroscientist in Trinity College who made that comparison directly and who pointed out that all those patients — patients are not mentioned in this Bill — deserve as much help as possible from society and it would be far more morally wrong to close a...

Seanad: Charities Bill 2007: Second Stage (26 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to share time with Senator Quinn.

Seanad: Charities Bill 2007: Second Stage (26 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: I broadly welcome the Bill because the regulation of the charitable sector is long overdue. The legislation has been some years in preparation and I am delighted to see it. Like other Members I urge the Minister of State to take on board one point: to extend the definition of charitable purposes to include a charitable purpose that is beneficial to the community, namely, the advancement of...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Nov 2008)

Ivana Bacik: Will the Leader arrange a debate on equality in health care provision? I note from reports yesterday that the Minister for Health and Children will intervene to ensure that older people will not have to pay massive premiums on foot of the Supreme Court decision on risk equalisation. It would be timely in that context to discuss equality and universality in the provision of health care....