Results 2,001-2,020 of 3,425 for speaker:Emer Higgins

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: 171. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the booking fee that is charged to customers who pre-book a seat with Bus Éireann, regardless of whether the person has a free travel pass; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7297/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: 335. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the discussions that have been undertaken between the school building unit and South Dublin County Council to deliver the necessary access road to the permanent school site of a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6710/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Insurance Coverage (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: 367. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a school (details supplied) is covered by State indemnity insurance since 2012 and, as such, has not required separate building insurance from that date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7294/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Administration (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: 368. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the community contribution refund that is due to a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7295/23]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (15 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: 72. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 246 of 22 November 2022, if he will explain his statement that the Central Bank cannot dictate the pricing or provision of insurance products, given that it has recently banned the practice of price walking, thus intervening in the pricing of motor insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7712/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank all of our witnesses for being with us. I and most of us on the committee want this new Bill to amount to robust planning decisions as soon as possible, because that is how we need to respond to the housing crisis. It needs to do it through the delivery of homes and communities. That includes things like roads, public transport access, healthcare services and community amenities....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: I will start with two questions for CIF and Wind Energy Ireland that they have had much time to think about because I raised them in my first contribution. I ask about the zoned land and the simplification of that. I ask Wind Energy Ireland about the design envelope flexibility and how we bake repowering back into this legislation to make it work. I was interested to hear Ms....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: This was the question around zoned land and how there should be a presumption that all zoned land should be getting planning permissions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: I apologise for cutting across. They are saying a huge tranche of land should be looked at in the context of being there for future residential development. In my contribution earlier, I said that does not take account of the likes of, for example, protected structures or ecological factors. It is not site specific and does not look at whether that site is serviced from ESB and water...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: Mr. O'Connell got there eventually. Fair enough.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Nagoya Protocol: Motion (19 Jan 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for being with us to take us through this and also for representing Ireland at COP15 in Montreal. It is really important he was there. As it happened, he was only there briefly due to domestic matters but it was an important sign and signal of Ireland's support for everything that is happening on a biodiversity level. On the protocol itself, Article 5.2 and...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Nagoya Protocol: Motion (19 Jan 2023)

Emer Higgins: It is very good to hear what those next stages are going to be and what that implementation programme will look like. I am aware that the committee has quite a heavy agenda, but this is a very important issue. Could we ask the Minister of State and his officials to come before us on a twice-yearly basis in order to provide updates on the implementation programme, on how things are going...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2021: Office of the Ombudsman (16 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: The Department of Social Protection figure seems quite high, at 579 cases. Are there any trends regarding that Department? The Ombudsman delved into local authority cases and health complaints. I would be keen to understand whether there are particular trends. My main question concerns special reports, that is, what happens after they are published and how that changes things in a...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2021: Office of the Ombudsman (16 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: Given that there are nearly 600 complaints in this area, I will appreciate if the Ombudsman cannot answer my question or not know the relevant information offhand. Does his office receive any or many complaints from women around pensions? In my constituency, a wife is in receipt of a pension through her husband's pension. He is now in a nursing home and she does not qualify for the living...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2021: Office of the Ombudsman (16 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: Does the Ombudsman receive many complaints from people about the potential purchase of a property where there is a tenant in situsituation?

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2021: Office of the Ombudsman (16 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: That is good to hear. It is also great to hear that there is a constant loop, and they are constantly making sure that gap is being closed. I want to thank Ms Hanrahan for that, because it is not just about improving services and access to them; it is about improving and changing people's lives. I thank Ms Hanrahan for all that she and her teams do in that respect.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2021: Office of the Ombudsman (16 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Ombudsman and Ms Hanrahan for being with us today and all of their teams for everything they do. One thing which rings true every time I speak to anybody who has had dealings with the Ombudsman is the trust they have in him and his office and team. That is important. Unfortunately, trust sometimes breaks down with different elements of our public service and that is why people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank the witnesses for attending and for sharing their expertise. It has been especially interesting to hear from the councillor representatives, given they represent almost 1,000 councillors, who cannot afford to take out the time to read this lengthy draft Bill. I thank them, therefore, for coming and putting their views on record. A friend of mine was recently a member of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: I apologise for interrupting but I am conscious of the time. I might bring in Councillor Sheahan and return to Councillor Killian later.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (21 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: It is interesting to get that feedback. As I said, I worked on a couple of development plans, and I could not imagine having had to stay up until 2 a.m. looking into a computer screen and zooming in and out of maps. I know I would have found it unworkable, so it was interesting to hear Councillor Sheahan's experience.