Results 3,161-3,180 of 8,445 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 27: “In page 14, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “(j) a relevant religious order;”.”

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 28: “In page 14, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “(j) relevant psychiatric institutions;”.”

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 29: In page 14, line 13, after “incorrect” to insert “or illegal”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to reintroduce it.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 30: In page 14, line 36, to delete “in respect of which” and substitute “regardless of whether”. This amendment is around the insertion of additional institutions. I am slightly widening the provision by replacing "in respect of which" with "regardless of whether" a public body has or had a regulatory or inspection function. The...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The concern is that, in the past, if an institution or public body did not adopt or perform a regulatory or inspection function, it could end up slipping out. I will reserve the right to come back to this on Report Stage. In general, it would be better to provide in the Bill the widest possible scope rather than relying on persons having to prove the exceptions to the rule because we have...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not agreed. Amendments Nos. 33 to 39, inclusive, 43 to 46, inclusive, and 49 to 51, inclusive, are all consequential on and related to amendment No. 69. I wonder, therefore-----

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We are discussing amendments that are consequential on an amendment that has not been discussed yet.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Sure.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This grouping contains a few amendments. I think I support the amendment on age proposed by Senator Warfield. It relates to other amendments we have discussed to ensure that information can be accessed as early as possible. Persons who are 16 years of age should be able to have those records. That could be very important to a person coming up to that age of 18 when people make many...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept that matters have moved on with regard to the provisions, but I was here in 2017. I want to acknowledge former Senator Bacik, who, along with me and a number of others, spent many hours with the then Minister. We were told at that time that a veto was required by the Constitution. We were emphatically told that the Constitution interpretation of privacy at that time, which, again,...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As the Minister requested, I will clarify the position. Amendment No. 32 relates to a situation where someone makes an application to the register of births but no entry is found. Where a relevant body has received an application and does not hold the birth certificate, it will inform the applicant of that fact in writing and without delay. A person being told that there is no record of...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 32: In page 15, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following: “(5) Where no birth information is available, the Authority shall seize all records relating to the relevant person’s adoption and/or illegal birth registration and open an investigation into what transpired. The relevant person will be kept informed and will be consulted throughout the...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not see any alternative as there seems to be no engagement on the matter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank our guests. I will follow up on a couple of matters. Legislation on procurement went through the Seanad yesterday that included the matter of price-quality ratios in public procurement. Procurement is an area where it is very important we empower procurement officers to use quality criteria and assessment criteria. I note there seems to have been a fear of applying those measures....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is about the importance of effectively knowing, where there is a coalition of business interests, all the members of it so we are aware of who we are speaking to, even if the actual member we might speak to may be a voluntary member. That relates to heads 5 and 6. I would love comments on that. I am also interested in section 22. It seems the Bill will allow for investigation of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have two further questions, one for SIPO and the other for Mr. Devitt. The witnesses will be aware that my colleague, Senator Ruane, tabled the Electoral (Civil Society Freedom) (Amendment) Bill. There is a concern about how the definition of “political purposes” has been widely interpreted in charities regulation and so on. There is consideration – I believe it may...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The shareholding issue was not addressed there, so someone might put some supplementary information in writing for me. I am interested in this matter. It is one that is not as tightly regulated as it could be. We can revert to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Regulation of Lobbying (Amendment) Bill 2022: Discussion (19 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a final question for the commission. Our group and I am sure many others made submissions in regard to the consultation on Ireland’s statutory framework for ethics in public life. One of the key areas identified was putting certain principles on a statutory basis, including public interest. Does SIPO have comments on how this Bill fits into that wider statutory framework on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (19 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It might be useful if we could get, even in writing, a supplementary response laying out that timeline. I think we would all like the second level programme especially to be accelerated. There is also the question of opt-outs - for example, parental opt-outs - from these subjects. Maybe it would be as useful to get responses on those matters in writing because I will focus on a couple of...