Ivana Bacik

Order of Business

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Senator Ivana Bacik:     I call for a debate in this House with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government on waste management, following the excellent “Prime Time” report last night on the fiasco concerning the incinerator at Poolbeg and the decision making by the executive of Dublin City Council against the wishes of the elected representatives on a number of matters to do with waste management. This takes in not just the incinerator but also privatisation of waste collection and the transfer of the service to Greyhound, which has led to enormous problems in waste collection across Dublin city. There is a real issue for us to debate at a broader level about where responsibility for waste management policy should lie. Should it be with the employees of the council or should it be referred back to elected representatives? I would like to see a debate here whenever the Minister can facilitate it.

…     I call for a debate on blasphemy law. There was an excellent briefing yesterday from Professor David Nash of Oxford Brookes University, a leading expert on blasphemy, who spoke about the international impact of the passage of the 2009 Defamation Act in Ireland, particularly section 36, which created a new statutory offence of blasphemy. There was an excellent debate on it in this House, and many colleagues participated in it. There is an issue as there was an adverse international impact, with certain countries adopting Irish arguments on blasphemy and using this to bolster prejudice against different religions, even Christian religions in Islamic countries. We have also seen that Ireland has gone against the EU norm in adopting a new statutory definition of blasphemy based on a definition of offence. It is outdated and I am glad it is up for review in the programme for Government. We must move forward by having a debate in the House on how we can ensure incitement to religious hatred laws are strengthened in the Statute Book. We no longer need an offence of blasphemy.

I will refrain from mentioning a report in The Irish Times that too much testosterone makes for bad decisions, with a study from University College London suggesting—–

An Cathaoirleach:     Is the Senator seeking a debate on it?

Senator Ivana Bacik:     —–that if there is too much testosterone in a meeting, co-operation goes out the window. As it happens, tomorrow we will debate the Electoral (Amendment) Bill with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, which will for the first time introduce enforceable targets for political parties to adopt in selecting more women candidates. I hope that will lead to better decision making in Ireland and less testosterone in meetings.

Order of Business

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik:     The Leader will respond to the Order of Business but in respect of developments in the eurozone, clearly things have moved on since we last met on Friday. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of detail as to what is in the agreement reached by the European leaders on Friday. We will need to wait and see the detail before we know for sure whether a referendum will be necessary here. The Taoiseach has already said it will be a number of months before that is likely. It is very much wait and see.

I understand Deputy Ó Ríordáin has raised a very specific issue with the Minister about the preservation of a small number of legacy posts in DEIS schools. It is fair to say the vast bulk of funding for DEIS schools was protected by the Minister in the budget last week.

I call for a debate on appointments. An issue was raised by a number of colleagues last week concerning the appointment of the Irish representative to the Council of Europe’s Committee on the Prevention of Torture. The person appointed from Ireland last week was the former Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality. Valid concerns were raised by colleagues about the outcome of the appointment process. It was understood somebody else would be appointed. I have asked the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality to investigate the matter in the new year as it is something it should do. The Minister for Justice and Equality should appear before the committee to explain the process by which the former Secretary General was appointed against what appears to have been the expressed preference of a sub-committee of the Council of Europe for one of the two academics also nominated by Ireland.

I also call for a debate on changing family forms. A very interesting study was published today by UCD and the ESRI on changing family forms. It shows the need for greater flexibility in terms of family leave arrangements from the workplace. It is something about which colleagues have talked. I have an article in The Journal.ie calling for paid paternity leave to be introduced. It is something for which I have been looking for a long time and it would make a huge difference to working families and in terms of fathers bonding with their children on birth. It is something for which I think there would be cross-party support.

Order of Business

Thursday, 1 December 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik:  I am calling for a debate in the new year on the reports that have been published by the Catholic Church’s own internal body, the National Board for Safeguarding Children, on a number of dioceses and child protection policies in those dioceses. Some of the findings are encouraging and demonstrate great improvement in practice but equally there are some that are very worrying about the dreadful and appalling recent failure by the church and its authorities in particular dioceses to protect children in those areas. We must debate that in light of the reports from within the church but also in light of the other reports that have been published over time about different failures in the church.

We also need to look at failures by the State in terms of inadequacies in State protections. Important steps were taken by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality which looked at the new legislation on withholding information to create a regime of mandatory reporting of child abuse. That was very welcome and we heard from a number of organisations, as we heard from organisations on the vetting Bill. It would be useful for this House to debate this in the new year to look at the panoply of legislative measures promised or in train by then. Not only have the heads of the vetting bureau Bill been published and comments made by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, we have made useful recommendations on foot of submissions made, will now do the same about withholding information and then see the Children First guidelines put on a statutory footing. All of this is in train and it is welcome the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs have moved so swiftly on this. It would be useful in this House to review what has been done in light of the reports.

I also call for a debate on community policing. We had the Garda Commissioner before the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality this morning to speak about community policing. Some of what he said was extremely informative, particularly on the closure of Garda stations in rural areas and other matters. He gave an interesting response to a question I asked about February 2012 and the retirements at senior level and their effect on front-line policing services. It would be a useful debate for us to have in the House.

Order of Business

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik:     I commend the Leader and the PCC’s public consultation process we undertook on Thursday. Nine different groups addressed us to advocate the rights of older people. It was an instructive and enlightening process. We have moved ahead hugely in terms of knowledge about what is required. We heard a great deal about the draft UN convention and the various needs of older people. It is an important part of Seanad reform to engage in this process, not only by having guest speakers like Mary Robinson, who was inspirational last Thursday, but to engage in public consultation with groups, such as the experts with whom we will engage this afternoon. I urge Senators to come in and listen to Professor Gerard Quinn and Professor Roseanne Kenny who are noted leading experts on the rights of older people. It will be an excellent session.

I support others who have called for a debate in the new year on domestic violence. We are in the fifth day of the Women’s Aid “One in Five Women” national campaign. This morning I had the privilege of launching a report by the Sonas housing association, entitled “A Safe Space”, co-authored by Ms Monica O’Connor and Ms Jane Pillinger. The report calls for the establishment of a women’s refuge in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area, which is currently without a full-time refuge. The report has found seriously inadequate provision of refuge spaces in the Dublin area and across the country generally.

 BACIK CALLS FOR JUSTICE COMMITTEE HEARING ON DOCHAS CENTRE REPORT

STATEMENT BY SENATOR IVANA BACIK
 Labour Party Seanad leader and Spokesperson on Justice
Thursday 17th November 2011

SENATOR BACIK WELCOMES RELEASE OF
DR RAFAH NACHED IN SYRIA

Senator Ivana Bacik today welcomed the release of Dr. Rafah Nached, the Syrian psychoanalyst, who had been detained since 10th September by the Syrian authorities.

Senator Bacik had raised the plight of 66-year old Dr. Nached on a number of occasions in the Seanad, and had circulated a cross-party Motion calling for her release. Senator Bacik had said that it was outrageous to see Dr. Nached, the first female psychoanalyst in her country, being arrested and detained as she was about to board a Paris-bound flight at Damascus airport to attend the birth of her first grandchild.

In welcoming Dr. Nached’s release today, Senator Bacik said,
 
 

“The release of Dr. Nached is long overdue. Her detention was outrageous and it provoked an international outcry and a major campaign for her release. The Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore had called for her immediate release on 4th October, and had associated himself fully with the 23rd September statement calling for her release by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton. Other parliaments and Governments had similarly called for her release.”

“However, although Dr. Nached has now been released, many thousands of others have been arbitrarily detained in Syria, and many have been subjected to torture in custody. I call for an immediate end to the repression and violence of the Syrian people and will continue to press the Tanaiste and Government for further efforts to support the movement for democracy in Syria.”

ENDS

Order of Business

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik:     On behalf of all of us, I congratulate the Irish team on the wonderful result in last night’s match against Estonia and I look forward to our participation, at last, in the championship next summer in Poland and Ukraine. That will be very exciting and a real morale boost for the country.

I thank my colleagues, Senators van Turnhout and Conway who, yesterday, raised the issue of St. Patrick’s Institution and asked what will be done to phase out the use of detention for 16 and 17 year old people in St. Patrick’s Institution. There is a commitment to do that in the programme for Government. We heard wonderful presentations last night from Professor Harry Kennedy and Ms Emily Logan, the Ombudsman for Children. I would like a debate in this House on St. Patrick’s Institution and a clarification of how it will be phased out for children.

Order of Business

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Senator Ivana Bacik:     I welcome the Leader’s announcement that a cross-party motion has been agreed on the sentencing to death of Pastor Nadarkhani in Iran, which is helpful. I remind leaders of the other groups that I have e-mailed an updated wording of a motion on Syria and would be grateful for cross-party support on that motion, particularly in light of recent reports of further abuses and killings by the Syrian Government and the suspension of Syria by the Arab League in a really dramatic move. This is a sign of how serious have become developments and how seriously repressive is the regime there. In this context, I would be grateful for an early response to the motion on the continued detention of the Syrian psychoanalyst, Dr. Rafah Nashed. The motion has been broadened to take account of other developments and of the repression and violence that has been used by the Syrian Government against peaceful protesters who have been protesting for democracy. I hope this motion also can be taken on an agreed basis.

I ask the Leader for a debate on prison policy in Ireland in light of the publication of the capital expenditure plan last week, which showed that further spending on Thornton Hall has been deferred. While many Members will be quite glad of that, they also need to ascertain what other resourcing can be done to ensure, for example, the phasing out of the brutal slopping-out practices in Mountjoy Prison. I acknowledge work is ongoing in Mountjoy as many members of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality will have seen in recent weeks. However, they need to know whether resources can be put in place to ensure that conditions in Mountjoy Prison will become better for inmates and staff alike, as well as to ascertain what plans are in place to move children out of St. Patrick’s Institution. The commitment in the programme for Government is to end the practice of detention of children, that is, those under 18, in St. Patrick’s Institution. However, those of us who visited recently saw that more than 30 children remain in detention there. In conclusion, I wish to inform colleagues that I will hold a seminar with Dr. Harry Kennedy and Ms Emily Logan, Ombudsman for Children, at 4.30 p.m. today in the AV room to discuss the conditions in St. Patrick’s Institution.

…I would be grateful for the support of colleagues of all parties on this issue. Again, it is a matter on which there was cross-party support in the last Seanad from both Government and Opposition parties.

STATEMENT BY SENATOR IVANA BACIK
 Labour Party Seanad leader and Spokesperson on Justice
Tuesday 15th November 2011

BACIK HOSTS OIREACHTAS SEMINAR ON ST. PATRICK’S INSTITUTION AND NEED FOR REFORM

Professor Harry Kennedy and Emily Logan, the Children’s Ombudsman, will be speaking today in Leinster House at a seminar being hosted by Senator Ivana Bacik and facilitated by the Irish Penal Reform Trust.

The seminar will be on the subject of St. Patrick’s Institution. The focus will be upon the continued detention of children in the Institution, and the need to ensure adequate facilities both for the boys over 18 detained there; and for the children who should no longer be detained there but who remain pending their transfer to more suitable facilities.

In opening the seminar, Senator Bacik will say,
 
 

“The Programme for Government contains a commitment to end the practice of sending children to St. Patrick’s Institution. However, on a recent visit to St. Patrick’s Institution with other members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, we were told that over 30 children continue to be detained there.  I urge the Government to act immediately to end the detention of children. Pending their move to different facilities, it is essential that the children have access to adequate accommodation, educational and other support facilities.”

“I look forward to hearing from Professor Harry Kennedy, who with his colleagues from the Central Mental Hospital has initiated ground-breaking work in recent months within St. Patrick’s and who will outline the emerging evidence from his team’s assessment of the boys detained there. I also very much look forward to hearing from Emily Logan, the Ombudsman for Children, who has undertaken a number of significant projects in recent years to highlight the experiences of the children who continue to be detained in St. Patrick’s.”

ENDS

STATEMENT BY SENATOR IVANA BACIK
 

 Labour Party Seanad leader and Spokespersonon Justice
Wednesday 9th November 2011

BACIK WELCOMES FIRST MEETING OF JUSTICE COMMITTEE SUB-GROUP ON PENAL REFORM

Senator Ivana Bacik today welcomed the factthat the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice had convened the first meetingof its Sub-Committee on Penal Reform.

Senator Bacik said,
 
“I am delighted that this sub-committeeon Penal Reform has been established, at my initiative, to investigatenon-custodial alternatives to imprisonment, to include so-called ‘backdoor’ strategies that involve some form of structured early release programmes.I am also delighted to have been appointed as Rapporteur to this sub-committee.

”The sub-committee at its meeting todayagreed to take submissions from relevant groups and to investigate differentmodels for early release strategies, to include release under communitysupervision; enhanced remission; and ‘earned’ temporary release. Thesub-committee work programme has been strongly influenced by the findingsof the recent Thornton Hall Review Group Report, and we hope to build onthose findings and make positive recommendations to government when wehave concluded our deliberations.”

ENDS