Results 3,721-3,740 of 8,212 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I withdraw it and reserve the right to bring it back on Report Stage.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is kind of fundamental. We talked about not having a commercial director involved, and certainly not the commercial director of a real estate investment trust. That is why they want a model wherein, after a period of 40 years, they get an asset in addition to the cash-out and the money along the way. The key thing is that a local authority can have that flexibility. What I like about...

Seanad: Right to Housing: Motion (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the motion and the fact that a Bill to address this issue was introduced in the Dáil. This is a sign of the momentum and demand that is there in respect of housing. However, I will not deal with the initial parts of the motion. There are counter-motions on the different parts of housing policy, but I will focus primarily on the constitutional referendum. We know the UN...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Chair for allowing me to join the meeting. When we speak of the years that have gone past in developing this, we know that our responsibility is to the years of the future. It was the European Commission's decision to try to incorporate these elements on a combined basis, which was then challenged and overturned in the ECJ in 2017. The combination of investor court systems and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Very succinctly, it is still the case that legitimate expectations, which are not just about contracts, but also about planning permission and exploration licences, remain the grounds. The grounds still are about fair and equitable treatment. There was mention of the Philip Morris case. We know that very few cases are decided, but the fact of those cases seems to create the effect. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The last thing is that this sunset clause is not a fact of life. It is actually a decision, so we can choose to have one or not. There are lots of facts of life but that, maybe, is not one. Apologies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Others have spoken to the concerns around the process and the way decisions are being made. I want to begin from below. We have spoken about the context of the pandemic. The decisions are also happening in the context of the end of some of the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, the unravelling of FEMPI, the wider issue of the public pay review and the restoration...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It needs to be more than understanding. We see a great inflexibility between and within the layers. I mentioned health. In the case of the pay request for student nurses, for example, there was a conversation about whether there would be a knock-on effect and whether student gardaí would also need it. We have been hearing the knock-on argument used in relation to those on lower pay...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is the policy issue. Mr. Fraser mentioned that he would like if there was a process in place. That recommendation was made in 2017 or 2019. There was a recommendation from the pay commission which Mr. Fraser is a member of that a new mechanism be put in place for senior pay. The review body on higher remuneration in the public sector had been disbanded at the beginning of FEMPI....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Sorry, I meant the Public Service Pay Commission.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Nonetheless, regardless of whether Mr. Fraser is on the Public Service Pay Commission, the recommendation of that commission would be that a new review body on higher remuneration in the public sector be put in place. Given that Mr. Fraser is somebody who is being called upon in terms of his experience in this area, is that not advice that he could have given? He informed us that this is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: TLAC has been mentioned. Does a concern arise when one sees a 40% hike? Could Mr. Fraser comment on that percentage? What message does that give compared to the 4% increase over a period of time for a public servant on €25,000?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am trying to point out that we are still missing the rationale for the 40% increase, one that would definitively show us we would not be able to get somebody. With respect, the single experience of recruiting for the CEO of the HSE is not a sufficient benchmark, rather than the many other benchmarks that have been offered from across Europe. The reason I am highlighting the damage that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Fraser might come back to that rationale and where we can find it, aside from in the experience of recruiting for the CEO of the HSE.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are actual individuals looked at or are they hypothetical individuals? Are they amalgamated case studies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Remuneration of Senior Civil Servants: Discussion (2 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It sounds as if it is based on specific people.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Tánaiste mentioned there is more regulation all the time and there are still many trade agreements. However, as there is more regulation, particularly in the area of the environment, more cases are taken by investors for compensation in respect of that investment. Some 80% of investor claims have been taken in the past 15 years. The number has increased year-on-year. As we have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To clarify, I was asking about what the process will be to assess whether there is a risk of a case being taken for unfair and inequitable treatment in respect of a policy. On NGOs and companies, everybody can take a case in our courts. Under CETA, only companies may take a case. There seems to be a bit of a contrast where the climate Bill has an explicit clause limiting liability in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I asked what the process will be to assess whether there is a risk relating to new areas of policy and new legislation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Does the Tánaiste not agree that a national court is required to interpret other aspects of the law, for example, to balance environmental law against the financial concerns of those seeking compensation, but as the Tánaiste described very eloquently, an investor arbitration court is solely concerned with the compensation question? In that regard, it is very different, which is why...