Ivana Bacik

Order of Business

Senator Ivana Bacik: Given that today is International Day against Torture, will the Leader facilitate a debate in the House on the use of extraordinary rendition and the role of Shannon Airport in this appalling practice? Amnesty International is holding a special event today in Buswells Hotel, to which colleagues would all have been invited, at which a number of Irish actors will be reading from a book entitled “Poems from Guantánamo: The Detainees Speak”, which contains poems written by inmates in Guantanamo Bay. This is an important event that will highlight the practice of extraordinary rendition. Amnesty International is calling on Senators and Deputies to participate in the formation of an interparliamentary group on rendition that would take up the issue and lobby government.

It is appropriate to debate this issue given that we heard this morning that the US Department of Homeland Security has, in an extraordinary move, requested permission to have a base at Shannon Airport for compiling data on persons on Irish private airplanes in the jurisdiction of Ireland. It is requesting unprecedented access and we should not give it. It is important that we debate this matter before the recess.

The Amnesty International event is at 11.30 a.m. in Buswells Hotel. On the way there, colleagues might consider dropping in to another event, which is being hosted by the All Party Oireachtas Interest Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development. The event deals with population, reproductive health, environment and the millennium develop goals. It is an important event at which experts will be present to brief colleagues on the links between population growth and the fulfilment of the millennium develop goals. I would like a debate on this, if not before the recess, certainly early in the autumn. Irish development aid has an important role to play in the achievement of the millennium development goals worldwide. We need to consider the issue of population growth very seriously and determine how best we can meet the goals and facilitate reproductive rights in the developing world, particularly those of women.

Order of Business 

Senator Ivana Bacik: I am not sure whether there can be a bit of a credit crunch. It is like a bit of an earthquake. Either there is a credit crunch or there is not.

Will the Deputy Leader arrange a debate on criminal justice in light of the three shootings in Dublin in the past 24 hours? Shockingly, one of those shootings took place at 1 p.m. yesterday in Drimnagh and one took place last night very close to where I live in the Coombe area of Dublin, the south inner city. We all should be deeply concerned about this. What we have learned from past experience is that knee-jerk reactions in terms of mandatory sentences for firearms offences, etc. do not have the desired effect of preventing these appalling shootings. We need a more measured debate on alternative responses to severe crimes such as these and more long-term solutions in the criminal justice system.

I have attended the fourth annual North-South criminology conference in the Dublin Institute of Technology over the past two days at which very measured academic presentations were given and which provide useful insights for policy makers on approaches which could be taken in the criminal justice system. These include simple matters such as changing and streamlining the way in which we run our criminal justice statistics gathering system. That is vital and I would like us to debate it.

On a slightly related matter, I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that he will not abolish early houses. Anyone who has frequented early houses will know they are generally fairly quiet places to which people go for a pint after a night shift. It is important that he has taken on board the recommendations of people who know the system of early houses and who have been able to advise him that there is not a public order issue. That is useful because it shows that knee-jerk responses do not always work. It was a knee-jerk response to real and serious problems arising from alcohol abuse which led to the suggestion that early house licences should be extinguished. The Minister is now taking a more measured approach to this by saying that the existing 50 licences in place will be retained.

Order of Business

Senator Ivana Bacik: I support my colleagues on this side of the House who have called for a debate on the economy. It is clear we are in recession. We have had enough of the patronising words of those on the other side of the House who suggest we are talking down the economy, and that we should not do so because it is harming the economy. It is clear who has caused the harm. It is interesting that Government speakers are trying to blame the current state of the economy on the international context. They were not slow to take credit for the boom years. When we had the boom, they did not point out that it had an international context. It is clear the Government has blown the boom, as other Senators have said.

I would like to be constructive, as the Minister for Finance asked us to be in his moment of self-pity last week. I suggest we should have a debate on what to do about this problem. Are there obvious ways in which the Minister for Finance could save the Exchequer money? As others have mentioned, an obvious way to do that would be to reverse the roll-out of the decentralisation programme. The programme, which has run into the sand, in effect, is costing the Exchequer a large amount of money without any discernible benefit. 

Perhaps we should examine crime policy as an area in which money could be saved. That is especially relevant this week, as we debate the enormous super-prison site in Thornton Hall in north Dublin. We have seen the move in recent years from a due process model of criminal justice to a crime control model. That costs a considerable amount of money and the benefits to us, and to victims of crime, are minimal and have yet to be proven empirically.

We can look at ways of saving money and improving the economic situation but I do not think we need to hear either whingeing from the Minister for Finance or pomposity and patronising from the Government on this.

Order of Business

Senator Ivana Bacik: Since everyone has been mentioning the Lisbon treaty this morning, with Senators on the Independent benches coming out of the closet to indicate the way they shall be voting, I declare that I shall be voting “Yes” . I note with concern, however, that a commentator remarked in the newspapers last week how few prominent women were coming out on the “Yes” side. This is yet another indictment of the very poor pro-treaty campaign being run by the Government. The strongest arguments in favour of the “Yes” position have come from the Opposition. The Government needs to be doing much more in the last few days of the campaign, in particular, putting women forward to argue for the “Yes” side, because they comprise a large group of undecided voters at this point.

Senator de Búrca commented on the odds in favour of the “No” side. I notice one punter placed a bet of €10,000 on the “No” side to win, so let us just hope he or she got it wrong. We do not know whether it was a sterling bet, of course.

The arguments in favour of the Lisbon treaty are very strong, from a feminist perspective, particularly because of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and also because of what the European Union has done to date in terms of promoting gender equality. That is very important and needs to be put on the record. However, it is also important to stress that the treaty will facilitate further expansion of the EU eastwards. That is something all of us should very much support and be in favour of. It is another reason for supporting the treaty, although I was slightly hesitant in declaring all this because I backed Hilary Clinton and it has been proven this week to be the wrong course, so perhaps I shall not be putting any bets.

On a more serious note I want to ask the Leader for a debate on No. 21 on the Order Paper, a motion which I have table dealing with the issue of genital mutilation. A report has been published by the Women’s Health Council of Ireland calling for legislation. It is a literature review which is examining this issue and which is particularly serious for women in developing countries. It is becoming increasingly serious in Europe for women who come here from other countries. Female genital mutilation, or cutting, is a brutal practice, which needs to be outlawed and specifically criminalised, even in European countries. I have been active on a campaign to do that. I have a motion on it before the House and the women’s health council is again saying that specific legislation is a necessary, although insufficient element, to counter this barbaric practice in this country.

Justice Committee - Discussion

Senator Ivana Bacik: I thank the Irish Penal Reform Trust for its excellent presentation and echo the remarks of Deputy Rabbitte. Last week in the Seanad the Minister stated a preferred bidder had been selected to construct the development at Thornton Hall which will have capacity for 1,400 prisoners on the new site. However, when referring to the big issue, he indicated that, in fact, it would have potential capacity for 2,200. In response to a question from me he also stated prisoners might be obliged to double up in cells. Will the delegation elaborate on what we can do as a committee about this?

Order of Business

Senator Ivana Bacik: Last night’s “Prime Time Investigates” programme investigated the so-called war on drugs and examined alternatives to the prohibitionist approach to drug misuse. The Leader previously facilitated a debate on this and I was one of the Senators who participated in formulating the motion. However, the debate lapsed into platitudes on what to do about drugs and we did not sufficiently address the question of alternatives to the current criminal justice or prohibitionist approach to drugs in our society. Last night’s programme clearly and coherently showed the case for a harm reduction model, as used in Amsterdam, Switzerland and other countries. Such alternatives should be examined rather than focusing on criminal justice and law and order. Too many platitudes and insufficient practicalities have characterised the debate on drugs to date. It is timely to have another debate not only in light of the “Prime Time Investigates” programme but also in light of the publication of a book next week by a colleague in Trinity College, Paul O’Mahony, entitled, The Irish war on drugs: the seductive folly of prohibition. He was quoted on the programme last night describing criticisms of the current approach to drug law in Ireland. It is timely, therefore, to have a debate on how best to progress harm reduction models to ensure addicts are treated as patients rather than as criminals.