Results 2,501-2,520 of 8,212 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Would it be more difficult for us to shift our economic focus if we commit to a PCI?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review 2019: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It seems that most of the research in this area has happened over the past decade and that matters are evolving.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Deputy Stanley has touched on some of the issues I will raise. I will group my questions and then ask one follow-up question on a different issue. Perhaps Dr. Haughey will respond on the nitrates issue as we have heard mainly from the Department. In the IPCC report, one of the most significant changes in land use in the past 50 years has been the 800% increase in the use of nitrates. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I was surprised when I heard that figure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My apologies for my mistake. Under the Heritage Act, where persons cut hedgerows for road safety reasons, they no longer have to report doing so to a local authority. Has that affected the accuracy with which we can measure hedgerows? Is it anticipated that, under CAP, the measurement of the carbon sequestration role of hedgerows will be done alongside their habitat role? Will we have a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My problem is that we do not know as much about hedgerow coverage as we used to because hedge cutting for road safety purposes is no longer reported to local authorities. Biogas has been specifically mentioned. I see a potential tension in the future. When methane was discussed last week, we heard that it acts faster. There are concerns that methane, in particular, may need some capping...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am happy to follow up on it. The question of rewetting peatlands was not answered. Are peatlands currently designated for agriculture or forestry to be restored as peatlands environments? We know that greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands are higher when used for agriculture and forestry. Will Teagasc rewet them?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use: Discussion (16 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is the rewetting of forestry land that had been peatlands and was drained on the agenda?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would add to the concerns expressed earlier in regard to defined benefit schemes in respect of the semi-State companies. In 2016, we proposed an amendment to the Social Welfare Bill which would have addressed some of those anomalies. It was an opportunity to do it in a timely way and it is very regrettable that, for the last three years, we have not seen promised legislation to give...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am pressing it.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 16:In page 4, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:"(c) carry out an assessment, in the area under consideration, of:(i) the scale of biodiversity present; and (ii) the quantity of carbon sequestered.”.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are amendments Nos. 16 and 17 being taken separately?

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister of State has already recognised the importance of carbon sequestration as a general principle for reviews. This amendment deals, however, with the process involved in the making of particular decisions. It seeks to apply a stronger test to proposals arising from the review process, including an assessment of the "scale of biodiversity present" and the "quantity of carbon...

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 17:In page 4, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:“(c) assess the potential for restoration of biodiversity.”.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendment No. 17 concerns the natural heritage areas that are being considered for dedesignation and provides for an assessment of the potential for restoration of biodiversity. There has been an acknowledgement of the need for a new set of actions and perspectives on biodiversity, and I understand that some resources, albeit inadequate, have been allocated to work in respect of...

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 18:In page 4, line 26, after “subsection (4)(b),” to insert “any recommendations as may emerge from any relevant Oireachtas Committee in relation to climate action,”.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendment No. 18 mirrors the previous language by referencing recommendations that may emerge from any relevant Oireachtas committee relating to climate action, and it tries to ensure we have a joined-up approach. I have raised my concerns about this Bill going through today when on Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Climate Action will be discussing peatland strategy. We are putting forward...

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The core problem here is that while any individual can contribute to a public consultation on a specific bog, he or she can only do so after a review and after proposals for specific designations or dedesignations have been made. It fragments the process and does not allow for the policy in respect of natural heritage areas to take people's considerations into account. I accept that my...

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Oct 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The public consultation comes subsequent to a review of the process, and will be on the proposals arising from the review.