Results 3,741-3,760 of 8,468 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Personal Transport for People with Disabilities: Office of the Ombudsman (16 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Ombudsman and welcome him back. We have taken on our previous engagement with him and we have been pressing in regard to the Wasted Lives report. I have had the opportunity to meet the next Ombudsman through the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure Reform and Taoiseach. At that committee I was glad to see there was a commitment to follow through on all the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Personal Transport for People with Disabilities: Office of the Ombudsman (16 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Mr. Tyndall.

Seanad: TRIPS Waiver: Motion (15 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move: “That Seanad Éireann: notes with concern: - the ongoing global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; - the lack of equitable access to vaccines for many countries in the global south, particularly African countries; - that it is an injustice that only 5.88% of people living in Africa are fully vaccinated and only 27% of healthcare workers across Africa are fully...

Seanad: TRIPS Waiver: Motion (15 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I sincerely thank colleagues from across the House for their engagement on this issue. I thank them for their heartfelt, genuine and intellectually rigorous contributions. So many of the points I wanted to make about why compulsory licensing does not work were made extremely well by others, including Senator Garvey. This is a crucial...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 16, to delete line 5 and substitute the following: "(6) The following limitations apply to the discretion of the Minister to commence by order the operation of provisions of this Act— (a) Chapters 1and 3of Part 9shall come into operation on the establishment day, (b) Section 79shall be excluded from any commencement order— (i) until the...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is important to clarify that this amendment does not seek to delay the commencement of the Bill. It simply relates to certain sections of the Bill. It is a substantial Bill and a huge amount of work needs to be put in place, including entire new bodies that must be constructed and so forth in terms of the maritime area regulatory authority, MARA, and others. It is important to be clear...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: “In page 17, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “ “excluded consultation periods” means that the following days are not included in the counting of any public consultation provided for under this Act or required by any action or decision taken under this Act where they fall within the public consultation period proposed:...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept the Minister of State's bona fides in respect of amendment No. 3 because I know there has been movement on that. In the text of amendment No. 34, subsection (3)(b)(iii) deals with the administrative burden that is placed on the public. There should be no battle or difficulty in terms of the administrative burden that is placed on the competent authority versus the public and its...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: What about other Members who are not on the joint Oireachtas committee?

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am afraid I will have to ask the Minister of State to give a further reply. His response is not accurate in the sense that this amendment does not preclude the addition of further measures. I note that it is quite specific in stating "shall include at least the following". It does not close the list and it is very clear. I was not going to belabour it, but the amendment sets out...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Coastwatch Ireland would not be excluded by the text of the amendment. That text simply says "shall include". It does not say it shall not include any others.

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 6: In page 20, line 3, after “record” to insert the following: “, but a record shall not be confused with information held, particularly for the purposes of Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC or the...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister of State will be aware there is consideration regarding the issues of rights of way and the foreshore. That area will be considered by another Department next year. I want to signal the issue of the nearshore and how it relates to access to the foreshore, which is a key consideration under the review of conveyancing legislation under the question of prescriptive and other...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 9: In page 24, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “(j) any interim measures to protect areas of the marine environment as agreed by Government.”.

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister said these are high-level principles. Surely if high-level principles are revoked or modified, it merits the same kind of process and scrutiny given that Ministers change. We do not want to have lots of debate and discussion around what those high-level principles should be in terms of marine policy planning, be it the precautionary principle, and then for that policy statement...

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: What about the Oireachtas?

Seanad: Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As I understand it, the approval of the Oireachtas is required regarding a marine planning policy statement so, again, there is a difference between being able to give a submission as a member of the public and having that agreement between the Parliament and the Executive. Could the Minister of State provide some clarification? I believe it is the case that the approval of the Oireachtas...