Ivana Bacik

Order of Business:

Senator Ivana Bacik:  Those of us who have been calling for a debate on the Olympic Games have been calling for a debate on whether there should be a political boycott of the opening ceremony, not a boycott of the games or a boycott by athletes.

I renew my request to the Leader to ask the Minister for the Health and Children to come to the House for a debate on alcohol advertising, the issue of the football shirts from premiership clubs and the fact that replica jerseys with alcohol brands displayed across the front of them are still on sale in Irish shops. I raised this issue previously when Liverpool FC was not as much in the headlines as it is this week. I have since been assured by the Irish drinks industry that it operates a voluntary ban here on any alcohol branding on children’s jerseys or children’s merchandise. That is welcome but unfortunately it does not extend to products manufactured in the UK. I was informed only this week that Celtic and Rangers have stated they will withdraw their alcohol company sponsor from their children’s replica kits. This means we should put pressure on the Minister for Health and children to explain why there is not a similar ban in place here. If the industry here will not extend its ban to cover products manufactured in the UK, there should be a legislative remedy. I would like the Minister for Health and Children to come to the House to explain to us why that has not yet been done.

I also ask the Leader to arrange for a debate on the issue of childhood vaccinations, which a number of us raised here two days ago. I raise not only the issue of the take-up of the MMR vaccine and the concern many of us have about a measles epidemic, but that a pressing issue for many parents of very young children is the availability of the BCG vaccine. This vaccine protects against tuberculosis, a disease that is on the increase. The vaccination is normally given to babies or infants just after birth in maternity hospitals. There is a problem with the supply of the BCG vaccine with the result that newborn babies are not being inoculated in hospitals. I have been informed that the HSE is doing all it can to ensure every child is getting this vaccination but there is a backlog. The Minister for Health and Children should come to the House to allay the concerns of many parents about the availability of the vaccine and to reassure us that all children will be vaccinated.

Order of Business:

On 19^th March, 2008, Ivana raised on the Seanad Order of Business her concern at the continued sale in Ireland of replica children’s jerseys for English football clubs carrying names and logos for alcohol companies.  Shirts or jerseys in the name of clubs like Liverpool FC are on sale in children’s sizes in sports shops all over Ireland, bearing ads for well-known alcoholic drinks.  

These jerseys continue to be sold here in Ireland, despite the fact that they are no longer available in Britain since 1^st January 2008, when a new rule was adopted there forbidding replica sports kits in children’s sizes from carrying sponsors’ names, where the sponsor is an alcoholic drink company.  

Ivana commented in the Seanad: ‘At a time when we are clearly seeing the terrible violence and destruction caused by alcohol abuse on our streets, it is a disgrace that children who wish to wear football kit for particular clubs are walking around advertising alcoholic drinks. Just this morning, in a city centre sports shop, I bought a Liverpool FC jersey for a 9-10 year old bearing the logo of a well-known beer. The Minister for Health has responded to previous queries about this issue by saying that no legislative remedies are available that could restrict or stop the sale of these jerseys. However, this is simply not good enough.

Political leadership is needed to ensure that children are not exposed in this way to alcohol advertising. I call on the Minister for Health to take urgent action to ensure that this practice is ended in the same way that it has been ended in the UK.’ 

Order of Business:

Senator Ivana Bacik:  We have heard much about U-turns. The difference between a U-turn and a climbdown is as clear cut as the difference between a statutory instrument and a ministerial order or the difference between a whip-round and a dig-out. All these terms are vaguely defined.

The decision on water charges for schools is a welcome U-turn by the Government. There has been another welcome U-turn for the funding of subvention for community child care schemes.

I am seeking a debate from the Leader on the need for another U-turn on the policy on children. There is a need for the removal of the habitual residence condition on child benefit. I have 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.

The Government needs to do another U-turn on this matter. For Senator Mary White’s information, the chair of the Irish Childcare Policy Network stated the new announcement by the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith, does not go far enough to meet the needs of the community child care providers. Further U-turns are needed in this area.

Senator Ivana Bacik: I wanted to raise an issue that the House has already debated. On a day that we are due to debate integration, it is appropriate to ask the Leader to convene a debate in the new year on the Government’s child care policy, in particular the changes proposed to subventions to the community child care scheme. I and other colleagues from both Houses attended a very helpful briefing yesterday organised by the Irish Childcare Policy Network, which is a national group of child care providers from all over the country. We were briefed on the clear consequences of the changes that will come about if such changes are implemented next June as proposed. The group is concerned that community child care providers all around the country will be forced to close as a result. Even if they do not close, there will be serious implications for integration in communities, as it will mean effectively the segregation of children of persons on social welfare.

It is important that we return to this issue in the new year and debate it again. The ICPN made a very specific request that this decision be deferred until the end of next year to enable further negotiations and consultations to take place with the Minister and other interest groups. We could help that process in this House by debating it.

I would also like the Leader to respond to the motion that was agreed on Ingrid Betancourt. I know the deputy Leader of the House had emailed Members about it and I wanted to know what had happened to that motion and whether we could bring it before the House to ensure consensus on it.

Senator Ivana Bacik: On this auspicious day for children’s rights Senator Fitzgerald referred to the issue. On a related matter I ask that the Minister for Health and Children attend the House for a debate on the fact that the Government does not have child benefit as a universal benefit. The habitual residence condition deprives up to 3,000 of the most disadvantaged children in the State, and these are largely the children of asylum seekers or persons to whom leave to remain in the State has been refused. This has a detrimental effect on their schooling, nutrition and general upbringing.

While the numbers are small, a campaign has been in place for the past year, which I had the honour of launching, run by the Free Legal Advice Centres and supported by the Children’s Rights Alliance, Barnardos, the Vincentian Refugee Centre and others. All argue the Government should restore child benefit as a universal benefit, given that Ireland has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We have an obligation to ensure social welfare policies are applied in the best interests of the child and without regard to the status of the parents. This is a small matter but has a big impact on a relatively small number of children to whom we are clearly neglecting in our duties.

Senator Ivana Bacik: I support the request by my colleagues, Senators Norris and McCarthy, for a debate in this House on the Civil Partnership Bill. We should all support the Civil Union Bill which the Labour Party is to bring before the Dáil today but it should be also noted we have a Bill on the Order Paper for this House which deals with the same matter and which would also give a route to legal recognition for same-sex relationships. This is a matter in which Ireland lags behind other progressive countries and we urgently need that debate.

I also support Senators Buttimer, Twomey and Mary M. White in seeking a debate on child care. In examining the provision of child care, Ireland lags very badly behind other progressive and developed countries, as there is a lack of support for parents who work outside the home. I have raised this issue previously and we should consider it as part of an overall package of measures, including paid paternity and parental leave, which we do not yet have.

I note the National Women’s Council of Ireland, in its pre-budget submission launched last week, called for a package of measures to support parents who work outside the home in a variety of different ways, including a greater provision of child care and support for child-care facilities. The Irish Examiner report demonstrates the need for regulation of existing child-care facilities. That is a vital issue, particularly for parents who work outside the home.

I will mention the debate on crime sought last week. In particular, comments were made on the other side of the House about the need to introduce draconian measures to fight gangland crime. There were even calls to bring back internment. It is important we do not succumb to that sort of knee-jerk reaction to the appalling gangland murders we have seen in recent weeks.

Last week, the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill was rushed through because it was necessary to correct an inadvertent slip made in earlier criminal justice legislation rushed through without adequate debate. On the criminal justice side it is important we consider much more comprehensive and long-term measures to fight the spectre of organised crime in Ireland. Knee-jerk calls, such as for bringing back internment, are not the correct answer.

Senator Ivana Bacik: I support Senator O’Malley in her comments about CURA. The concern is that CURA is not co-operating with the Crisis Pregnancy Agency policy and that it is not providing women in crisis pregnancy with all the information on all the options available to them. I would be concerned that an organisation should receive State funding if it is not co-operating with an agreed body such as the CPA.

I also echo the comments by Senators O’Malley and Corrigan regarding the family. The calls made yesterday for debates on parenting may have missed the point. I have already called and I again reiterate a call on the Leader to institute a debate about how the Legislature can support parents through the provision of paid paternity leave to enable fathers to take time off from the workplace. It is a scandal that fathers have no right to paid paternity leave at present. It is also a scandal that we have such a poor provision of pre-school child care. As a Legislature we should be concerned about the quality of provision for children and the best interests of the child. I was very concerned at views expressed yesterday that showed a certain prejudice towards a particular type of parent, which is not helpful in a debate. We should consider what is in the best interests of the child, which is the quality of the parenting, and not who the parents are or the nature of their relationship and whether it is based on a legal bond. We should call for a debate on what the Legislature can do to support parents, be they single, married, same sex or opposite sex parents.