Results 41-55 of 55 for "direct provision" speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Dec 2013)

Ivana Bacik: ...sides, particularly when we have not seen the text of the Bill. We will all take that on board. Yesterday Senator Hayden called for a debate on direct provision in the new year and I support her call. It is an issue that we have raised many times across the floor of the House, most recently in Private Members’ time. We should return to it because in years to come people will...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: ...One must also respect the statements by the families seeking privacy. A measured response is appropriate but I welcome the inquiries into the actions of the Garda. I welcome last night's debate on direct provision, for which the Minister, Deputy Shatter, was present throughout. It was a model of the type of debate that we do so well in the Seanad. It was a well-crafted motion put...

Seanad: Asylum Support Services: Motion (23 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: ...is particularly appropriate on an issue such as this that we do not take a partisan approach along party-political lines. It should be a matter of great shame to all of us that we have had a system of direct provision in place for 14 years, since November 1999, in which there may well be abuses. We are certainly conscious of inadequate facilities, at a minimum. There have been many...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Oct 2013)

Ivana Bacik: ...consumer confidence. However, the report is certainly interesting and we might well debate it in this House, with the Leader's permission. I support colleagues who yesterday asked for a debate on the direct provision system in the light of the reports of the inspectors on the centres in which asylum seekers are being held. There is genuine concern about the fact that 1,000 children are...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2013)

Ivana Bacik: ...arrived on the scene, helped to evacuate the residents from the apartment block as well. It was a terrifying experience for all involved. I join my colleagues who called yesterday for a debate on direct provision. I call on the Leader to arrange a debate on the matter early in the next session. It is worth our examining the issue in some detail. I am mindful that the number of asylum...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Apr 2013)

Ivana Bacik: I join with Senator van Turnhout, who has been raising the issue of direct provision for asylum seekers and their families in this House for some time. She also raised it as a matter on the Adjournment last week. I note the comments reported today of former Supreme Court judge, Mrs. Catherine McGuinness, in which she stated that in years to come, there will be major recriminations over the...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2013)

Ivana Bacik: ...in the case of the issue raised by Senator Norris, I will pass on the information on the issue raised by Senator Quinn to the Minister for Health. Senator Ó Clochartaigh raised concerns about the direct provision system, on which he and other Senators have previously called for a debate. I will again request the Minister to come to the House for a debate on that issue. I am aware of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Approval for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council: Motion (28 Nov 2012)

Ivana Bacik: ...about the concerns raised by the Irish Refugee Council. Will the increased funding available go some way towards addressing a number of the issues involved? I refer, in particular, to the children in direct provision centres. Some years ago I was involved with the Free Legal Advice Centres which, with several children's rights organisations, were seeking to ensure the children of...

Seanad: Address by President of the Irish Human Rights Commission (28 Sep 2011)

Ivana Bacik: ...of asylum seekers who are not habitually resident here. This issue has been raised by a number of groups such as the Free Legal Advice Centres. The rights of children of asylum seekers living in direct provision accommodation has ajlso been raised by AkiDwA. Equality of access to education for children has been raised from a number of perspectives by the Irish Traveller Movement, GLEN,...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2007)

Ivana Bacik: ...issue I have raised on a number of occasions. I launched a campaign over a year ago to seek to restore universal child benefit to the children of asylum seekers who are being dealt with under the direct provision programme. The campaign is co-ordinated by the Free Legal Advice Centres and supported by a range of non-governmental organisations involved in children's rights. As Senator...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Dec 2007)

Ivana Bacik: ...raised this before in the House and Senator McFadden has an amendment on it to the Social Welfare Bill. It is supposed to be a universal benefit but is denied to the children of asylum seekers in direct provision. A small number of children, the most disadvantaged in our society, are denied universal child benefit.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (28 Nov 2007)

Ivana Bacik: ...for the terrible situation in which these women find themselves. I renew my call for a debate on the restoration of universal child benefit to children of asylum seekers who are in receipt of direct provision. When I called for such a debate on the Adjournment last week, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs responded by stating asylum seekers were receiving direct provision in lieu...

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Nov 2007)

Ivana Bacik: ...benefit. The point made by FLAC and the other groups is that the deprivation of child benefit to the parents of such children has had a severe effect on them because many of them already exist on direct provision and are therefore already on extremely low incomes. They cannot afford to buy basic essentials such as food, schooling and medical requirements. Were child benefit restored to...

Seanad: Social Welfare Benefits (22 Nov 2007)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to ask a supplemental question arising from the Minister's reply and I believe I am entitled to so do. Am I to understand that direct provision is made instead of child benefit in cases where direct provision is made to the children?

Seanad: Treaty of Amsterdam: Motion (18 Oct 2007)

Ivana Bacik: ...and not fall short of other EU countries in doing so. We have, perhaps, been less than generous in our assistance towards asylum seekers in the past. In that regard, we need to look again at the direct provision rules, which have caused a great deal of problems for asylum seekers and have left many children of asylum seekers in some conditions of poverty. This regulation is very important...