Results 4,361-4,380 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2021: Central Bank (3 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There has been a push for a senior executive accountability regime because we have seen cases in the past and the responsible individuals, or those who played a role, were effectively able to move pretty unscathed through the process and go on to other very lucrative opportunities. I have a small concern that through this legislation, we may again be tying it back to the role but that the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2021: Central Bank (3 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be very brief. Where are the knock-on effects? Very quickly, will the witnesses speak about where there is an inquiry into somebody who has a particular function in an organisation and is a senior executive? For those who hold multiple roles, will this trigger an inquiry into the other roles they hold? We heard about this from Deputy Farrell. This is something that has caused...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2021: Central Bank (3 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Ms Cunningham.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament (2 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am glad to welcome all the MEPs, and some of them back to the Seanad. We are here at a key moment for Europe. Much of the connection that Ireland has - much of the pride that people have for the European Union - is in its history in driving forward workers' rights, women's rights, environmental progress and disability rights. However, much ground and trust was lost during austerity...

Seanad: Energy Security: Statements (2 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On energy and the energy crisis, I will come later to the question of supply and demand but also the question of costs. It is really important we begin by acknowledging fossil fuels have been costing us the Earth, quite literally, already. The fact the costs on fossil fuels are high now is in some ways only a reflection of the fact fossil fuels are literally costing lives and costing...

Seanad: Energy Security: Statements (2 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The date has been extended beyond the scheduled closing date.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “Report on the rights and protections of the smuggled person 5.The Minister shall, within 12 months of the passing of this Act and on a bi-annual basis thereafter, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining— (a) the steps which have been taken to ensure that the State...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We could have separated this grouping of amendments, but I am conscious we are constrained by the 90-minute time limit. I agreed to the grouping in that context. The amendments relate to three separate issues. As we discussed at length on Committee Stage, these are the potentially negative consequences of the legislation, which I believe are unintended on the part of the Minister of State...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am glad that there is engagement on this area with civil society organisations. There was a lot of disappointment that so many of the recommendations made by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, were not reflected in the Bill. I hope there will also be engagement with it on the human rights obligations outlined. The Minister of State may not be able to come back to the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will press the amendment.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 2: In page 8, line 10, after “profession,” to insert “whether for profit or otherwise,”.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am pleased. It will certainly give some support or assurance to some of those working in the voluntary sector. I thank the Minister of State, and I thank him for the engagement of his officials on this matter. On amendment No. 3, I accept some of the concerns. I note that amendments Nos. 7, 8 and 9, which are forthcoming, explicitly do not include section 8. I recognise that there is...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This relates to this amendment. I am saying-----

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We are discussing amendments Nos. 2 and 3. I am saying that this is in response to-----

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will move ahead. It is fine. I am simply saying, in response to the question of the discretion, that if we are to leave so much to discretion, it is appropriate we monitor how that discretion is used. That is my simple concluding point. I think it is a relevant one. Again, I thank the Minister of State for accepting amendment No. 2.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “(3) For the purposes of section 6, 7and 8assisting the entry into or transit across a state does not include the provision by another person, in the ordinary course of his or her business, trade or profession, of a good or service to the person.”.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 4: In page 11, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “(8) Where a person who produces, possesses or controls a fraudulent travel or identity document does so in respect of a family member, and that person is themselves the object of people smuggling, they shall not commit an offence.”.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendments Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, relate to a core issue. On Second Stage the Minister of State was extremely clear that his intention was certainly not that a smuggled person would end up potentially facing prosecution under this Act, and I know that that is not the intent. I highlighted on Committee Stage the inadvertent risk that, as the Bill was phrased, a smuggled person -...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for his engagement and welcome the fact that he is looking to ensure that that clarification, if it is inserted, will be a little wider than the issue I have addressed of documentation but will look also at sections 6 and 7. That is positive. I again emphasise that I do not believe the humanitarian defence is appropriate in respect of a smuggled person because...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 5: In page 11, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “(8) Where a person who produces, procures, provides, possesses or controls a fraudulent travel or identity document does so in respect of a family member, and that person is themselves the object of people smuggling, they shall not commit an offence.”.