Results 3,621-3,640 of 8,468 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will follow up on my colleague, Senator Flynn's points in terms of public transport. Research from the UK has found that bus drivers have higher levels of Covid-19 deaths than other occupations. We also have research that found that 41% of people polled said they were less likely to use public transport after the pandemic. I am really concerned that removal of masks as a requirement on...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Second Stage (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister to the House. She can hear the interest in this Bill as it is discussed. For a long time there was a little bit of complacency among some of the major players in the tech industry around the idea that they would always be slightly ahead of Government and regulation and that this was an area of such complexity. I remember being in a situation once when I was told that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have just a couple of questions. Mr. Finnegan mentioned better co-operation between national authorities. Domestic co-operation also seems to be key. In that context, Mr. Finnegan mentioned co-operation between the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department of Justice. In fairness to the Minister of State responsible for heritage, Deputy Noonan, he has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Senator McGahon’s point on having a lead agency is a good one. I was wondering which body would have primary responsibility. I want to follow up on two or three words. Mr. Finnegan referred to the idea of tightening the offences. While he said the offences will still be unlawful, I am a little concerned that the tightening of offences might mean excluding certain things that would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to confirm that we can get a little more information in writing around environmental impact assessment resources. It would probably be a very poor mark for Ireland if we tried to opt out of progress on environmental legislation, whatever about the UK. I do not think we should use any threat of that to dilute ambition collectively in Europe. That would certainly not be something we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To be clear, I was not saying that it might be deleted. My concern is that we might seek to dilute it. We should be part of it. In further, we have committed to being part of improving standards. I do not want to delay things further, but I ask for clarification in writing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I asked for details on how to support EIAs. When the absence of them becomes a criminal penalty, we will of course need to make sure we know about the public resources to support EIAs, how they have changed in the past year or two and how it is planned that they will change in the future.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: You are right, Chair, that there are so many interesting questions arising from this discussion already. Deputy Cronin's framing of this is really useful, and I think it would be useful if that were the framing at EU level. We should start mentioning green hydrogen every time we mention hydrogen. One of my concerns relates to the issue of green hydrogen and the important role hydrogen can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I believe we should be giving a political contribution in relation to this matter because alarm bells are ringing around 2049. If we are signing contracts on fossil fuels up until the year before we are meant to be at net zero, it could be seen as very bad faith. We have seen rapid changes in ambition over the last few years and we would effectively be in a situation where we have contracts...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (22 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Chairman and Senator O'Reilly covered a few of the points I was hoping to raise. One relates to LNG. It is positive that there is an inquiry and a focus on emissions at production point, as the witnesses mentioned. It is in line with some of the scoped rethinking around emissions captures. There is huge concern around methane emissions from fracking, in particular. It is the question...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 24, to delete “This Act” and substitute “Subject to subsection (3), this Act". Amendment No. 1 facilitates amendment No. 2, which proposes the insertion of a substantial new subsection into the Act. The subsection proposed in amendment No. 2 is a longer amendment than I would usually submit. That is because there is a...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is what it says. Unless it is a certain size, there are certain trees that can be planted, and, just to be clear, there is also the description of a "native tree area". That is still a forest under the EU definition of "forest". The Forestry Act is also very clear that a threshold of anything under 0.5 ha can still be a forest. The EU forestry strategy is clear that is a forest. We...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With respect to the Minister of State, the fact is a scheme will come after the legislation, whereas we should be looking at that before we pass the legislation. We talk about enabling legislation, but to enable us to trust the legislation, we need to know exactly what we are signing off on. While I do not doubt the Minister of State’s personal interest in native forestry, the fact...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would point out that the issue is precisely the fact that things might get taken out. I do not think we want to see anything taken out through a scheme, we want to see the measures that are necessary and that are basic in the law. It is precisely because of that idea of the Minister of State going back and forth taking things out. One can add extra provisions or protections through...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Just before I do that I will point out to the Minister of State that I could have added in a number of factors to amendments Nos. 1 and 2. I did not put in everything. There are many things I could have put in. I really have put into this amendment the minimum that should be required and I will reserve the right, on Report Stage, to put in the other factors that I think we should be...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(3) Section 9 shall not be commenced until the Minister has laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas: (a) a report on areas where there are sensitivities where unlicensed planting would not be permitted, including on— (i) area sensitive for biodiversity, (ii) areas sensitive for...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be brief because I want to speak to some of the same issues, but I will speak them under section 7 because that is where a lot of the detail about the transition is. We have to do more to make it just. I refer to this section because it is around the animal welfare component. I would note that this the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. A Bill...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I had held back, but I want to offer something in the crucial debate we are having. We will end up debating these points again when we discuss section 7. The question about just transition is important. Senator Lombard put it well when he talked about the idea of the template. I believe there are two layers to just transition. One is that it is a transition towards justice, towards...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Ombudsman. It is great to see the work already kicking in. I am also a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters and the Joint Committee on Climate Action, where this is also an area of concern. A few of my questions are around the intersection of those areas. Mr. Deering pointed to the distance that needs to be travelled in terms of public transport reform....