Ivana Bacik

Order of Business

Senator Ivana Bacik: I support Senator Fitzgerald’s amendment to the Order of Business on the basis that the Seanad should be sitting longer. Recent days have shown the need for more sitting time. Yesterday, the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill was railroaded though the House.

(Interruption in the Chamber)

Second Stage was guillotined and speakers who wanted to contribute could not do so. We were unable to give any thought to amendments on Report Stage, which is a pity. Senator Mullen already referred to the House of Lords.

(Interruption in the Chamber)

I am asking the Leader why he cannot give more time, given that the House of Lords was able to block the 42-day detention powers in England.

(Interruption in the Chamber)

It is interesting that we could not put any amendments through in the Seanad last night. I also want to ask the Leader why we are not having time to debate the report of an bord snip nua. The Seanad should be sitting for that next week. We are all under the impression that the report will be published at some stage next week. There has already been widespread selective leaking of some of its recommendations. One in particular gives me great cause for concern — the report that the Office of the Ombudsman for Children may be merged with another office. I ask the Leader for a debate on that because, in the wake of the publication of the Ryan report, it is vital that we continue to have an office with an independent role in scrutinising conditions for children, particularly vulnerable children in care.

I also wish to ask the Leader for a debate on rape law and how we can improve conditions for rape victims. I have just come from the launch of the 2008 report of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which highlights the need for more debate on this issue.

I dislike ending on a discordant note, but I thought it was ludicrous of Senator Mullen to suggest that we should consider leaving the Council of Europe just because, as I understood him to say, three women are exercising their right to take a case to the European Court of Human Rights on an issue that is vital and which, they say, concerns a breach of their rights under the convention.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Justice, Crime, Human Rights, Child Policy, Women's Rights. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.