Results 4,761-4,780 of 8,482 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I withdraw in the hope that some version of these may come from the Government on Report Stage.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 64: In page 32, line 21, after “maintenance” to insert “or adaptation”. I withdraw this on the same basis as the preceding amendment.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 65: In page 32, line 28, after “a” to insert “binding”. It is to insert "binding" and is about strengthening the agreements that might be there. I will withdraw this one and hopefully have a discussion on it within the same suite of discussions. This is around the detail of how the costs and the agreements might operate over a lifetime.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I withdraw it and reserve the right to bring it back on Report Stage.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is kind of fundamental. We talked about not having a commercial director involved, and certainly not the commercial director of a real estate investment trust. That is why they want a model wherein, after a period of 40 years, they get an asset in addition to the cash-out and the money along the way. The key thing is that a local authority can have that flexibility. What I like about...

Seanad: Right to Housing: Motion (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the motion and the fact that a Bill to address this issue was introduced in the Dáil. This is a sign of the momentum and demand that is there in respect of housing. However, I will not deal with the initial parts of the motion. There are counter-motions on the different parts of housing policy, but I will focus primarily on the constitutional referendum. We know the UN...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Accessibility in Planning and Delivery of Transport Projects: Discussion (3 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and the supplementary documents, which have been useful in detailing different aspects of the programme. My questions will build on what has already been asked. If we look at what is already there, what is coming next and the new plans, is universal design part of what the NTA and TII are planning? I know it was referred to as being a part of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Accessibility in Planning and Delivery of Transport Projects: Discussion (3 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I know that. It is part of the Local Link service.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Accessibility in Planning and Delivery of Transport Projects: Discussion (3 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My final point was about the staffing of stations. It would make an immediate difference if we had staff in stations on a busy DART line, rather than phoning to arrange the attendance of staff.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Chair for allowing me to join the meeting. When we speak of the years that have gone past in developing this, we know that our responsibility is to the years of the future. It was the European Commission's decision to try to incorporate these elements on a combined basis, which was then challenged and overturned in the ECJ in 2017. The combination of investor court systems and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Very succinctly, it is still the case that legitimate expectations, which are not just about contracts, but also about planning permission and exploration licences, remain the grounds. The grounds still are about fair and equitable treatment. There was mention of the Philip Morris case. We know that very few cases are decided, but the fact of those cases seems to create the effect. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The last thing is that this sunset clause is not a fact of life. It is actually a decision, so we can choose to have one or not. There are lots of facts of life but that, maybe, is not one. Apologies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Others have spoken to the concerns around the process and the way decisions are being made. I want to begin from below. We have spoken about the context of the pandemic. The decisions are also happening in the context of the end of some of the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, the unravelling of FEMPI, the wider issue of the public pay review and the restoration...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It needs to be more than understanding. We see a great inflexibility between and within the layers. I mentioned health. In the case of the pay request for student nurses, for example, there was a conversation about whether there would be a knock-on effect and whether student gardaí would also need it. We have been hearing the knock-on argument used in relation to those on lower pay...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is the policy issue. Mr. Fraser mentioned that he would like if there was a process in place. That recommendation was made in 2017 or 2019. There was a recommendation from the pay commission which Mr. Fraser is a member of that a new mechanism be put in place for senior pay. The review body on higher remuneration in the public sector had been disbanded at the beginning of FEMPI....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Sorry, I meant the Public Service Pay Commission.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Nonetheless, regardless of whether Mr. Fraser is on the Public Service Pay Commission, the recommendation of that commission would be that a new review body on higher remuneration in the public sector be put in place. Given that Mr. Fraser is somebody who is being called upon in terms of his experience in this area, is that not advice that he could have given? He informed us that this is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: TLAC has been mentioned. Does a concern arise when one sees a 40% hike? Could Mr. Fraser comment on that percentage? What message does that give compared to the 4% increase over a period of time for a public servant on €25,000?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am trying to point out that we are still missing the rationale for the 40% increase, one that would definitively show us we would not be able to get somebody. With respect, the single experience of recruiting for the CEO of the HSE is not a sufficient benchmark, rather than the many other benchmarks that have been offered from across Europe. The reason I am highlighting the damage that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Fraser might come back to that rationale and where we can find it, aside from in the experience of recruiting for the CEO of the HSE.