Results 2,661-2,680 of 8,211 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We were meant to have a statutory entitlement to home care but it was not delivered. I used to sit on the disability committee, which I had to give up to come to this committee. It seems the debate has moved on from personal needs assistants. That was in the recommendations of the citizens' assembly, which referred to that choice of care.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My question was about the lack of individualisation, for the record.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would add a note of optimism because I think you can in fact measure quality, but it has to be done in a different way. It cannot been done through a grid. There are the technical specifications or requirements and then it is just done on price. That is the lowest-price approach. The model in the Netherlands, which is the model I am trying to bring in in Ireland, uses price and quality...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am looking at the 2016-2017 system, which there are attempts to commercially undermine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That would be useful.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is definitely 100% the better, and this is also what citizens are looking for with public provision. Professor Lynch is right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I like what the Professor has said about it being relational rather than transactional. With regard to nursing homes, there is an issue that has not been raised but it did come up with the Committee on Disability Matters. If we do bring in these rights to care, it is important that when we start providing personal needs assistants, home care or community care that those who are in nursing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We should follow up on the algorithm because there are new EU directives around automated decision-making and artificial intelligence. It is really important that we try to push back on that point. If Mr. Dunne wanted to provide something in writing, that would be useful.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Vaccination Programme (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: In December 2020, we had a moment of optimism when, following a massive global effort and up to €93 billion in public funding, we heard about vaccines that had been developed and were going to address and alleviate the devastating impact of Covid-19. There was also knowledge at that point about how we could work collectively to address this as a global health crisis. There was the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Vaccination Programme (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I reject the suggestion that vaccine hesitancy and distribution mechanisms are the main obstacles here. The fact that these countries have not been able to have public heath vaccine programmes has been a key obstacle and they have not been able to have public health programmes on an organised basis because they have not had a reliable supply of vaccines. I reject the Minister of State's...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Vaccination Programme (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To frame this as a demand issue, after artificially delaying supply for 18 months, adds insult to injury.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Senator Ruane has outlined the details of each amendment. I will make an overall point. I feel strongly about these amendments because they are about the idea of what family and relationships mean, which is something that we have discussed at length. Ireland, as part of its evolution in this area, is trying to move away from a very patriarchal and hierarchical version of the family that...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the amendment No. 37: In page 35, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “(iii) obtaining personal information or records relevant to the person which are held by the relevant person,”.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the amendment.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I know the Minister is committed to public information campaigns. It was regrettable an amendment simply stating a campaign should be in plain English, given it is Government official policy that its communications would be in plain English, was ruled as being a cost to the State. This is a wider issue which people will be aware I have been raising. The idea of having an information...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will do my best. I will be coming back on Committee Stage. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, to the House. The legislation is part of a wider set of proposals in Ireland and at EU level to address the climate and biodiversity crisis. This Bill is focused on the economy and how it fits within the planetary boundaries and our fair share of them in terms not just of...