Results 241-260 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Excuse me, I am entitled to speak to the Bill and this is my slot to speak.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have to make a number of points that relate to the Bill because they relate also to what the Bill is not doing that it had the opportunity to do. I will not speak at length on this issue but I will point out that the proposals were within the OECD guidelines and were part of that wider package of pension reform that was debated in great depth on Committee Stage in this House. The...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My simple request is that as unfortunately, we have no opportunity today to put this forward as part of the Bill, the Minister should indicate how he will-----

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: -----meaningfully move this issue forward.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It has been indicated-----

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I understand that. We have a pattern-----

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Apologies, I was told this was the end of the Bill.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is the end of the Bill.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is a relevant matter.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes, the Social Welfare Bill. This is me speaking to the Social Welfare Bill. I am also not just speaking to this Social Welfare Bill but also to the Social Welfare Bill from last year and the one from the year before, in each instance where this issue has been flagged. If this is not the home for that amendment or not the home for that action, I urge the Minister to find a home and find a...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There will be a board meeting, and there are meetings happening now and I also urge there would be meaningful engagement with the trustees and the Pensions Authority, not simply a fait accompli.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is a plea to the Independent News and Media board. I will conclude. I am moving away from that issue. This is my point, and it is the point we made extensively on Committee Stage - and I will come back to those point - which is pensions should not be a crisis, this is the most predictable issue. We know that people grow older. It is even more predictable than people being born and...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: -----in relation to it. I ask the Minister to introduce those measures on the public contributory pension and I ask him to champion the kind of long-term thinking, shared responsibility, planning and trust with regard to the other areas. That would be fundamental to the introduction of any universal supplementary scheme in the future. We need to rebuild trust in this area. I urge the...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not see anything in the amendment that dictates which parts of the country things would take place in. The amendment says this is a substantial tax expenditure. It allows for a shortening of tax from 12.5% to 6.25%. It is a significant expense that may well be worthwhile but we need to evaluate its benefits. The amendment seeks to simply say we should have ongoing cost-benefit...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is really unfortunate because we are going with the Minister on this. This an attempt to extend the application and to ensure that the knowledge box is not just available to international companies but to Irish companies too. In principle, we are already recognising that it is important that there be benefit in Ireland so I find it of concern that we will not have any information...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is the Minister's concern around the retention of regional or local information or is it a question of the place of production as against the location of research and development? Is she saying that this Bill relates to research and development and not to the place of production? It is important we have a sense of where research and development is taking place regionally. It may be that...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I support the amendment, which is important in terms of good archival practice. The issue was highlighted recently by Catriona Crowe, the former head of the National Archives, and others. In terms of good archival practice, we must ensure that the records are kept for a future controller or in case there is a concern in relation to a controller and another has to replace him or her or if...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a number of amendments in this section. I anticipate the Minister's concerns over my amendment No. 6 and I will be happy to work around it. It suggests that the report the Minister receives from the controller should be made publicly available. It comes to the same crucial question. If we are to have this knowledge box and it is an expenditure, as it is, the case for it needs to be...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendment No. 9 relates to the Minister having the information I believe she needs to have. I was concerned to see that the Bill provides that the controller simply shares information on the number of reviews. It is a set of numbers that could almost be put on a Post-it. It is simply the number of applications received; the number withdrawn; the number in respect of which a certificate was...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There is money. Why would there not be a tax related to money?