Results 2,481-2,500 of 8,445 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins
- Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister of State will know I hold the view that it would have been better to take this Bill in two months' time because we are making all these decisions and taking all these votes on the policy of how we manage our peatlands with the designation or de-designation of bogs just two weeks ahead of the Joint Committee on Climate Action giving consideration to a peatlands strategy. We will...
- Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Those are Government strategies and initiatives and some of them are welcome. The funding for them is too low, given the scale and speed of the crisis. I know the levels of funding are not entirely within the gift of the Department but I would like to see more funding in those areas. Nonetheless, while those are positive initiatives arising from the original Joint Committee on Climate...
- Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I am pressing the amendment.
- Seanad: Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I speak in support of the Bill. I am incredibly proud that the Civil Engagement group has been able to push it forward. I commend Senator Kelleher, in particular. I also commend Mr. Oein de Bhairdúin who worked with her, the advisory group and others who have moved the debate forward. As Senator Kelleher said, they have opened up the debate on multiple fronts and begun important,...
- Seanad: Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I hope the Minister will be able to champion it. The Minister mentioned a money message. Regardless of whether a money message is required, it is effectively meant to be an administrative formality. It is not a matter of a condition affecting whether a Bill can pass. If the Minister says he wants a money message produced, he can push for one to be produced. A money message was originally...
- Seanad: Sustainable Tourism: Statements (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I will not avail of the allotted time.
- Seanad: Sustainable Tourism: Statements (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I would love to stay to hear the full debate but I must attend a meeting of the Joint Committee on Climate Action that is taking place. I will look back on this debate with great interest. I will highlight a few specific issues. They include sustainability of the industry, which has been mentioned already, and the quality of employment. Part of recognising and valuing a quality tourism or...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: They are in two sets. Could the Chair indicate when I am halfway through my time and I will switch to the other set? My first questions are brief and relate to economic matters. Like others, I have been struck by the fact that €90 million is peanuts. Given the many strong cases being made about areas that will need transition support, I have been struck by the difference between...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: That is all on that matter. I will move to a different topic.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Is the professor referring to all of it?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Building on that and in light of the environmental externality argument, the tax applies to carbon, but does it not also apply in respect of other greenhouse gases that are part of the fuel mix, for example, to methane, which is a large component of shale gas? The costs relating to methane as a greenhouse gas are being carried socially and environmentally by society and that should be...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I am specifically referring to other greenhouse gases that are parts of fuel. Does the same environmental externality not apply to them?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Partially.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Its carbon content is one thing. This is a core issue. The UNFCCC has said that 1 tonne of methane is equivalent to 34 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Professor Howarth made a very clear point to the committee last week. It is interesting that the EPA does not measure carbon dioxide in its national emissions inventory, it measures carbon dioxide equivalent. Should we be measuring other...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: The levels do not seem to match. We are adding 75 cent on natural gas at the moment, versus the increase in carbon tax. If that is the case, I accept that. I will come back to Professor FitzGerald. I was very surprised about the letter the council sent to the Department. I was not just surprised by the content of the letter but its timing. The council is an independent body...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: In one of those caveats, Professor FitzGerald mentioned that natural gas is a suitable alternative back-up technology. However, we are now looking at importing LNG and, wherever emissions happen, they affect the global emissions piece. The Professor will know that if that becomes a project of common interest, PCI, it will come with expectations, for example for higher priority access to the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Economically speaking, can we get out of the commitments that we make under a PCI without extra costs?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: If a PCI commits Ireland to the import of LNG, does that make it more difficult to reverse the emphasis-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: We are considering a terminal for its importation.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: In that regard-----