Ivana Bacik

Order of Business

Senator Ivana Bacik: I support Senator Alex White’s call for a debate with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on the issue of Internet and e-mail data retention which is being reported on in today’s edition of The Irish Times. I am delighted that Senator de Búrca also has called for this and I ask her to use her influence within Government to ensure this statutory instrument does not see the light of day because it seems to me to encroach seriously on the constitutional rights of accused people and on the rights of us all in that it appears to enable the Garda Síochána to request access to Internet and e-mail data for the investigation of any sort of offence which carries of maximum penalty of six months or more. This would undermine all the legal understanding of what constitutes a serious offence. In all other legislation, including the Bail Act, it is defined as an offence carrying a five-year maximum penalty or more. This is also of concern to business because the proposed statutory instrument would impose onerous obligations on business to retain such data for a period 12 months. We need to have this debated urgently.

I also ask for a debate on another issue relating to pharmacies. There has been much discussion in both Houses about pharmacists and the Health Service Executive. I wish to raise an issue which has been brought to my attention by final year pharmacy students in Trinity College. They are very concerned about the lack of placements available to them for professional training. These are students coming to the end of their undergraduate course who need to have professional placements. Usually about 80% of the class would have obtained placements by now but this year only about 40% so far have obtained placements. They have contacted the Department of Health and Children about this issue and requested that more training placements be made available within hospitals, which is within the remit of the Minister for Health and Children to do, or that additional funding be made available to secure placements for them. This is a serious issue which will impinge on the future qualification of sufficient pharmacists in this country. I ask for a debate on this issue.

A conference directed by Ivana is to be held in May 2008 with the theme of ‘East meets West’ - Burren Law School 2008: www.burrenlawschool.org. Speakers to include: John Hume, Lara Marlowe, Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, John Fingleton of the Office of Fair Trading UK, Maurice Hayes, Conor O’Clery and Mary Banotti. For further information contact Ann Lane at ann.lane@oireachtas.ie or see the Burren Law School homepage above.

Seanad Motion on Ingrid Betancourt:

Senator Ivana Bacik: I thank Senator Norris for sharing time. I also welcome the motion and I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted to have played a role in bringing about the unanimous motion that was passed in December calling for the release of Ingrid Betancourt and the other hostages being held in equally appalling and cruel conditions by FARC in Colombia. When I raised this matter in the Seanad in September as a matter on the Adjournment, I said at the time it seemed the release of Ms Betancourt and others was imminent. In the interim another hostage has been released by FARC. Sadly however, Ingrid Betancourt and others remain held by FARC and yet again we seem to be at a crisis point. As others have said, reports of her deteriorating health have caused great concern. This week France and other European countries have sent a humanitarian mission to Colombia to seek to see Ingrid Betancourt and assess her condition. Unfortunately FARC has rejected that medical mission and Paris has now called it off. Again we seem to be at a crisis point.

In a week when protests are being held in cities across the world, notably in France, it is appropriate that this House would express its deepest concern at the continued detention of a fellow democrat and a former senator, as Senator Norris has said. By highlighting Ingrid Betancourt’s case we do not belittle in any way the trauma and appalling conditions of the other hostages being held by FARC in Colombia. Pain is being felt by hundreds of other families whose loved ones are being held by FARC. As outlined in our earlier motion, the pressure being put on the FARC rebels and the Colombian Government to reach a solution for Ingrid Betancourt should also have a positive impact on bringing about the release of other hostages being held by FARC. To put it in crude terms, Ingrid Betancourt is a very valuable hostage for FARC. However, the conditions of the other hostages being held by FARC will also be affected by what happens in Ingrid Betancourt’s case.

As others have said, Ingrid Betancourt is a democrat. She was campaigning as a candidate in the presidential elections when she was kidnapped. She is being held in these appalling conditions because she believes in democratic rights. As democrats in this House we need to stand up in solidarity with her and to renew our call for the Government and the EU to put as much pressure as we can on the Colombian Government and the FARC guerrillas to negotiate to bring about the release of Ms Betancourt and other hostages.

The motion we passed unanimously in the previous term shows how strongly all of us on both sides of this House feel about the continued detention of Ingrid Betancourt and how strongly we feel sympathy on humanitarian grounds and great compassion for her two children, mother, husband and other family members who have been campaigning so strongly across the world for her release. We have already called on the Minister to do as much as he can to put pressure on the Colombian Government and on FARC. However, it goes further than that. On the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Ireland has much to tell other countries about how peace processes can be brought about. Senator Norris has mentioned the pressure Sinn Féin could bring directly. I believe the Government could do more than simply support the initiatives of others and should take its own initiative, if necessary including sending members of the Government to Colombia to seek to bring about Ingrid Betancourt’s release at the earliest possible opportunity.

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:

Senator Ivana Bacik:  At the risk of making another gendered call, I support Senator Corrigan’s call for a debate on MMR because I share her concern about the low level of take-up of the vaccination. That is an important issue as we face into the disturbing prospect of a measles epidemic.

I was delighted with the move towards to an all-party agreement in on motion 32 calling for the release of Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages in Colombia. However, this week her detention has reached a crisis. Protests have taken place across Europe and in other countries and it is looking very bad for her. It would be important for the House to discuss an agreed motion or hold a short debate on the issue in order that we can add our voices to the pressure building for her release.

I support the call for a boycott of the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in light of China’s treatment of Tibetan protestors. A surprising source suggested on a radio programme earlier that sport and politics are entirely separate. I was reminded of the old feminist slogan, “The personal is political.” Even a decision not to vaccinate one’s child is a political decision and we cannot separate the two. It is important that this sensible call for a boycott in light of the status of Tibet should be supported by us and we should have a debate in the House.

Senator Coghlan mentioned the electoral boundary commission and need for an all-party view to be taken on its report. Although I do not have a direct interest in this, I and the other Independent Members are conscious of the need to ensure the voices of Independent Deputies should be heard on whatever decisions are taken on the redrawing of constituency boundaries.