Results 4,361-4,380 of 8,220 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: From Accessibility to Universal Design: Discussion (14 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will add one line, as I know others are going to come in. Mr. O'Herlihy has touched on something there. Quality criteria are important in order that we are not just procuring in the context of the lowest cost and meeting the basics and that we are in a position to award tenders that raise standards and, maybe, even offer more in terms of quality and inclusion than might have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: From Accessibility to Universal Design: Discussion (14 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Ms Smith. This is where the danger of the term "adaptable" being too loose arises. It really needs to be the case that it works.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: From Accessibility to Universal Design: Discussion (14 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Ms Carthy. I do not have any more time now but I want to indicate something we might be looking at later. I refer to finance and mortgages, and the obstacles relating to accessing mortgages. We will not have time to discuss it now, but I ask people to send on their thoughts on this matter in writing. This is an issue that has arisen for people in the context of adaptation grants...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 are a different approach, but build on the discussions we had on Committee Stage. I also want to recognise the engagement of officials in the interim period between Committee and Report Stages. That has been very constructive. Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 relate to a core aspect of the Bill. Saying that a person can have a defence is very different from saying that a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This comes down to a very large transfer of responsibility for the policy outcome that we wish to achieve towards the discretion of prosecution. If we believe that as an outcome, persons engaged in humanitarian actions should not be prosecuted for an offence, and if that is what we are hoping will happen, we should reflect that in the legislation rather than hoping that will come out from...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for his engagement. I urge him to reflect further on where the balance might be. If we are going with what I regard as the risky strategy of relying on prosecutorial discretion, I suggest that we put measures in place to track how that pans out. I also recommend a review. The review we proposed had a number of caveats but there is nothing to stop the Minster...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, to delete lines 22 to 25 and substitute the following: “ ‘international force’ means the United Nations or an International United Nations Force to which a contingent or a member of the Defence Forces may be assigned to for service outside the State for any purpose specified in section 3 of the Act of 2006;”. The amendment...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I note that in the Minister's own example he gave there, he spoke of a United Nations force commander, which is one of the examples he gave on Second Stage. The core point is that this may not be a United Nations force commander. I accept there may be some constraints in this framing and the Minister will note that some of my later amendments explicitly deal with certain areas of secondment...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The point is, when you transfer command, there is a very significant consequence. That is why it is very important to know who you are transferring command to, what their criteria will be and what the means and mechanisms as to how you relate to them will be. Any force is simply too wide in this regard. I note the Minister's point on time constraints. I know we have limited time for this...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: What is the timing for the debate, a Chathaoirligh, because I am just keen to ensure we get through all of the amendments?

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Cathaoirleach for the clarification. I do not believe the Minister and I will agree on this so perhaps either or both of us may come back with revised amendments on Report Stage on this matter. I point to that core issue of the fact that "any force" is wider than the definitions we had previously of international organisations or of other groups. I urge the Minister to consider...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 2: In page 4, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following: “(5) A delegation of operational control by the Minister under this Act shall only exceed a period of eight months, where a Minister has laid a motion before, and that motion has been passed by, both Houses of the Oireachtas authorising an extension of such a delegation of operational...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I know the number is increasing, but the core point is that it has been increasing only partially. I believe there is scope in that regard; nonetheless there have to be checks and balances on this. Amendment No. 2 is extremely reasonable. It states that where there has been a delegation of operational control under the Act, that delegation - and this seeks to account for, as the Minister...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: For clarification, perhaps it was not clear for Senator Ward. I am happy to try to tighten the language if that helps him. Under this amendment, the Minister would be able to delegate operational control but simply not for a period longer than eight months without coming back to the Oireachtas. It was, therefore, specifically trying to address that issue of the emergency action of June or...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes, I know there are time restraints.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is not what is opposed.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will certainly be happy to bring one but perhaps the Minister would like to bring forward an amendment that clarifies matters with regard to UN missions. I do not believe that is the concern and the Minister will see from my many other amendments that UN missions are not the main concern. I accept that we seek to influence them and we have sought to influence UNIFIL. I believe that...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The concern we have is not what we have currently but what we might have. There is a new element in this, which is that the Minister can delegate to any force. It goes back to that phrase "any force", and it is not any force as constrained even by the definition of international organisation in the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006, although I personally think that is quite wide. It is any...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We had a bilateral arrangement with Italy. It was an Irish command and it was not delegating command to the Italian coast guard but working in collaboration with it.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (20 Oct 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I know that, but that mission was under our direct command, whereas we delegated operational control under Operation Sophia. The nature of the mission changed and that is where circumstances changed. It is good that when it was decided under Operation Sophia to stop doing search and rescue completely, we withdrew ships. However, this amendment would mean that if we had a situation such as...