Results 2,261-2,280 of 8,212 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. White and Mr. Reid may be aware that we held a joint sitting of this committee and the education and health committees during which we discussed the obstacles for persons with a disability in accessing employment. The workplace adaptation grant was raised and the Department referred to it. I was quite shocked at the low allocation to the workplace adaptation grant. Is there a large...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The exclusion of not-for-profits is discriminatory to the organisations themselves but also to the individuals, such as Mr. Reid, who want to work in social care by finding employment in the not-for-profit sector.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Reid is locked out in terms of his choice of how he wishes to contribute. Is the application from the potential employer or does it come from the individual? If I apply to three, four or five companies in a particular area, is there anything that would allow me to say I had received sanction for a workplace adaptation grant, which I could bring with me to the job?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The employer has to apply in respect of a particular individual.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: An employer could not apply on the basis of wanting to adapt their workplace. The way it is done, which I imagine adds pressure, is that it only comes into play if an employer advertises a role. Employers generally want somebody to start within a month or two, but there is effectively a delay which makes it difficult for the applicant and creates a reluctance. I wanted to tease out that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will take the concern on board. It is an extraordinarily low allocation for something I have heard trumpeted as a wonderful solution which is available to both persons and organisations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a final question about an issue on which the committee has placed a strong focus before and which is worth teasing out. As the delegates will be aware, my colleague in the Civil Engagement group, Senator John Dolan, works with the Disability Federation of Ireland; therefore, there is an overlap. As we push forward and make a case, it would be useful for us to have a sense of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I read the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's budget submission with great interest, as it includes a number of strong proposals. I was glad to see a focus on private rental accommodation and particularly those who are dependent on either rent allowance or the housing assistance payment, because there is huge vulnerability. A few issues were mentioned in that regard, including energy poverty....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Before we move to the issue of lone parents, I completely agree with Dr. Keilthy that the idea of undertaking the work needed on every property that the State owns incrementally seems foolish, as we pay for it in our carbon fines. The refurbishment of local authority housing seems to be extraordinarily slow.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not something that should be done as part of a ten-year plan, rather it should be done in the next two to three years. We should look at the entire stock of housing. Is Dr. Keilthy proposing or outlining the possibility of a carrot and stick approach being taken, whereby there would be an incentive for those who offer long-term tenancy security, that, in effect, there would be a stick...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Will Dr. Keilthy, please, follow-up on the lone parents issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will ask my last question and then pass over to the Chairman or anyone else who wishes to ask questions. I concur on the issue of income adequacy. I would have preferred to have seen the word "adequacy" included in the terms and conditions of the Low Pay Commission. I regret that it was not. It is the fundamental test of pay. On the working family payment, under the early...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Dr. Keilthy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. White has put it very strongly, in terms of the large companies coming in, that this could be one of the conditions attached. I just want to ask a really specific question on the issue around workplace adaptation grants. As well as the increase in budget for workplace adaptation grants, is there a difference to be made in policy whereby somebody can hold provisional approval for a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: You are satisfied with that.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Environmental Schemes (1 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I ask the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, in light of Ireland's climate change targets and the likely impact of increased fuel prices on tenants in particular, what his plans are to accelerate the retrofitting of social housing and raising energy ratings of private rental accommodation while protecting existing tenancies. We know Ireland has been a laggard with climate...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Environmental Schemes (1 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Unfortunately, he did not answer my question about the amount of money that is planned to be invested. He has stated only that investment will be made "as resources allow." We are not standing still on this issue as every year we fail to retrofit, there is a cost to the public and individuals. That is the reason I question the split incentive. It is a straw man. The real issue is the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Environmental Schemes (1 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: They may avoid a fine in so doing.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I echo the pleas Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell made about personal assistance services and home care supports. These are key proposals within the pre-budget submission of the Oireachtas disability group, of which I am proud to be a member. I also welcome the proposal to ensure that history is a fundamental part of every citizen's understanding and skills for the shaping of the future. I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As we are not having a full debate on the Sinn Féin proposal perhaps we should refrain from attempted summarising of it.