Results 3,881-3,900 of 8,482 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will take up where Senator Sherlock left off on the question of retrofitting because it is important. I will touch on some of the other environmental and climate aspects but retrofitting is one of the key issues here. It is something we could get right but I am concerned that the mechanisms with which we are approaching it at the moment are not the right ones. That comes down to...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I join other Members in thanking the survivors, the Irish First Mothers group, the adoptees and the human rights activists who have driven and demanded action on this issue. We owe them thanks because they have driven us to try to become a better State. I thank them for that. We owe them the absolute best response but, unfortunately, the scheme as it is set out now is not the absolute best...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not about individuals. It is about the State, the church, religious orders and the pharmaceutical companies and economic actors who took advantage of it. It was systemic and it has to be taken seriously. With all due respect to the experience of individuals in Bessborough, let us bear in mind that in the 1940s Bessborough had a mortality rate of 68% for children. That is what...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: These bodies have responsibility. They profited from this period, committed abuse and must be accountable if there is to be any sense that we are moving forward as a State. With respect to the Minister, meeting the religious orders is one thing but other legal measures should be looked at if necessary. Again, those who created shell companies to hide assets, not back in the 1930s, 1940s...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I wish to mention the deplorable actions that have been taken against the Wet'suwet'en First Nation in Canada. It is disgraceful to see rightful protests against an oil line on First Nations land being brutally suppressed. I urge us to have a debate in the new year on front-line environmental defenders, who are now front-line human rights defenders, given that the UN has recognised the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(f) in subsection (5A)(a), by the deletion of subparagraph (ii).”.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: These amendments are very practical. What they do is not just attempt to protect tenancies, which I know is the general goal of the legislation, but also to try to ensure the protection of tenancies is not placed at odds with other stated Government priorities, for example, in terms of retrofitting and, of course, in regard to the area which is not touched on as much, that of adaptation...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the clarity concerning the Disability Act. The proposals I have been discussing with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for a combination retrofitting and adaptation grant is something I think would be very useful. We may still need more clarity on that but perhaps it would be covered by this. However, while I appreciate the placing may not work in that this applies to RPZs,...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw it.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(f) in subsection (5A)(a), by the deletion of subparagraph (ii), (g) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5A): “(5AA) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (5), a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation provided under the tenancy shall...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I withdraw the amendment.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(f) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5B): “(5C) Notwithstanding subsection (5), in setting, at any particular time, the rent under a tenancy of a new dwelling in a rent pressure zone, where no tenancy in respect of that dwelling has previously...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are amendments Nos. 3 and 4 grouped?

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Perfect. On amendment No. 3, again, with respect, while the protections are there, they are not working. I will not go back into the previous area but I really urge that it be examined. While a tenant may make long-term energy savings, most tenants do not have the upfront money to risk a rent increase. They may have the future energy savings over a ten-year period but if it means they...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There are two fundamental issues there. First, with absolute respect and this is one of the flaws in much of the enforcement issues, the onus has been put on the tenant. Either somebody seeks to rent, because the nature of this is that these are new potential properties and new properties that are coming on stream, so one does not have a tenant who complains that the rent is too high...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 4: "In page 6, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “5.The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 24C: “Annual report on enforcement of rent pressure zones 24D.On an annual basis following the commencement of this section, the Minister shall cause a report to be laid before the House on the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This amendment relates to the issues of the powers and protections and their enforcement. I am hopeful that the Minister of State might be able to accept this amendment. I hope it is possible. The amendment goes to the fact that while the Residential Tenancies Board has different powers, the investigation and sanctions unit of the Residential Tenancies Board only sanctioned 29 landlords in...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is great to hear that more than 240 cases are to be confirmed but only 29 have been confirmed thus far. The monetary amounts may be large, but that only raises the alarm in terms of the money that has been potentially wrongfully taken from tenants. If that monetary amount is attached to only 29 cases, there is a really serious concern. It is good to hear that there are 250 cases in the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “Long Tenure notice period 7. Section 33 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following after “section 34”: “, and subject to a variable notice period determined by the duration of the tenancy. For a tenancy of more than two years duration, each additional...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: In these amendments, I am trying to address an issue of lengthy tenancies. Some people rent for their whole life. For persons who may have been renting for 15 or 20 years and older people there is a particular vulnerability for older people who may be trying to seek housing in a new market and may either have a very limited fixed income in terms of pension or, sometimes, a very insecure...