Results 11,261-11,280 of 11,872 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I certainly will raise it again. I echo comments made by colleagues on the Ryan report and the need for further debate on it. It was an issue on which many people expressed their views strongly and in very emotional terms. It was a real issue underlying the elections. Moreover, issues arise from the Ryan report which is not a report about history. In response to Senator Mullen, Deputy...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jun 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Members should consider who controls our schools. At present, both national and secondary schools are still controlled predominately by the churches and by the Catholic church in particular and there is no issue in this regard. Survivors of abuse, with whom I wish to express solidarity on their march today, may be highly dismayed to see reports in today's newspapers to the effect that the De...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: On the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, Senator Harris is correct to say that we will be judged by future generations on how we responded as a society to the needs of the victims and survivors of abuse. Horrific though the findings of the report are, it is clear that it is only the tip of the iceberg because the scale of abuse and the further revelations to come will...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I second it. I express gratitude to Senators O'Toole, McCarthy and Hannigan for proposing at my request that we debate today No. 12 on the Order Paper, the Climate Protection Bill. I introduced that Bill in October 2007 with the support of Friends of the Earth and a coalition of environmental and development non-governmental organisations, all of whom are very concerned that we would see...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Perhaps that undermines the idea about airbrushing posters and so on.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Sentencing has not been decided.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Who is Senator O'Toole accusing of air brushing?

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (28 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: He is not the only one.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support calls for a debate on NAMA. Having campaigned around Dublin Central, it is certainly clear to me that the real concern of people in that constituency and others relates to the problems with the economy and jobs. They are very fearful about job losses and about their future and that of their children. This derives mainly from the considerable uncertainty associated with NAMA. Dr....

Seanad: Order of Business (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Many of us feel developers have some nerve if they are thinking about challenging NAMA when it is their own profligacy and greed that has led to the problems we face. We need to debate this. We need to debate the role of the Seanad which has been coming under attack from all quarters, including Members of the House itself. Last week's outing by the Oireachtas golf society constitutes a...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: Can we have a debate on Seanad reform? It was unjustifiable that Members of this House were playing golf at Portmarnock Golf Club which has a notable policy against women at a time when many of us are trying to encourage more women to become involved in politics and enter both Houses of the Oireachtas.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support what Senator Fitzgerald said about an adoption matter. One Bill on which the Seanad has had a particularly good and robust debate in recent weeks has been the Adoption Bill. A number of us have been very active in tabling amendments. The Minister of State has considered them seriously. I really appreciate his consideration of many of the important amendments tabled by those of...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: We all want to see adoption law that has the best interest of the child at its heart, regardless of the child's origin. We are all very mindful of our own history, in which dreadful things were done to children by way of adoption and adoptions carried out without proper consent. I would welcome the Minister of State's coming to the House to debate this further.

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 68: In page 62, to delete lines 33 to 37 and substitute the following: "(2) The High Court, in respect of subsection (1)(b), in considering the fact that under the law of the state in which an adoption was effected, the adoption has been set aside, revoked, terminated, annulled or otherwise rendered void, shall review the status of the adoption order under the law of this...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to the Minister of State for giving a considered response. Clearly, there are still issues the details of which we are not fully aware. As I mentioned, we appreciate the sensitivities in this case and that the Minister cannot provide the full picture of what is taking place. As the Minister remarked, we are all concerned about the welfare of the child, whether in Vietnam or...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (19 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I support the amendment. Post adoption services will increase in importance. There is a great deal of awareness of the need for adults adopted as children to be able to acquire information about their past, their birth parents and their lineage. This is true for both national and international adoptions. Therefore, post adoption services will be of increasing importance. We have had...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) (14 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to Senator Fitzgerald for outlining the background to these amendments. I tabled them on Committee Stage and I was supported by Senator Fitzgerald, Senator Norris and others. The sense of them is not about changing the meaning of any of the relevant provisions but rather to change the language. The language used is based on the previous version of these provisions is...

Seanad: Adoption Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) (14 May 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I second Senator Norris's amendment No. 38, which would have the same effect as my amendment No. 4, which Members debated earlier. The amendment is to insert into the Bill recognition of the position of same-sex couples who are parenting children and who may wish to adopt. I reiterate the point that many children already are living in Ireland with parents who are same-sex partners and who,...