Results 4,461-4,480 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: The intent of the amendment is to make very slightly less onerous a massively onerous provision affecting a woman who presents in this acute situation. We should call on the Minister of State to recognise that the provisions in his Bill for three practitioners at the first stage, and three again at the review stage, present an obstacle course to women in a very difficult and traumatic...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: I will be succinct. Here we really get to the essence of the problem for myself and the Socialist Party. The Bill was supposed to legislate for the tragic circumstances of the X case, for which we fully support the provision of legislation. Unfortunately, the Government then went on to construct a Bill which was so restrictive that, rather than dealing with a problem, it created other...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: In respect of the refrain by the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, on the previous Bills put, the fact is that in one year the position has changed considerably in the State. First, there has been major education regarding fatal foetal abnormalities, as Deputies have just indicated. Second, the tragedy of Savita Halappanavar happened and educated everybody on the question of inevitable...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: I move amendment No. 12:In page 6, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:“ “incest” means the crime of sexual relations taking place between a male and female who are so closely linked by blood or affinity that such activity is prohibited by law within the terms of the Punishment of Incest Act 1908 as amended by the Criminal Law (Incest Proceedings) Act 1995;”.

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: I have a view on how we should conduct ourselves here. We had a very long day yesterday. We finished at matins and now we recommence at vespers, so to speak. It was George Bernard Shaw who wrote a long letter to a friend and apologised for not having the time to write a short one. There is a lot of wisdom in that because if a lot of thought is put into something it enables expression to...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: Amendments Nos. 12 and 16 give legal definitions of the horrific reality of incest and of rape, which are both extremely serious violations of a human person and of a woman for the purposes of this legislation. Incest often arises in a family context, in great secrecy and causing great trauma to the victim or victims. Rape, as we know, is a heinous crime perpetrated against women in our...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: Yes, very briefly. It is extremely regrettable that in setting out what he wishes to do in this case the Minister has once again narrowed it to the bare minimum. Like the Taoiseach, he has repeated the mantra that this Bill grants no new rights. The Minister, the Taoiseach and the Government have been at pains to minimise the scope of this Bill thereby refusing to take into account what is...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: I move amendment No. 123:In page 14, to delete lines 2 to 19 and substitute the following:"15. The Executive shall, for the purpose of monitoring and collecting data on the performance of medical clinical procedures, collect information on the functioning of Chapters 1 and 2 of this Act in accordance with standard Hospital In-Patient Enquiry procedures recognised by the World Health...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: We are coming very near to the end of this mammoth legislative debate. I will try to be concise because I know other Members wish to speak. It is utterly unacceptable that we would criminalise women in this day and age where they have undergone a termination in the State in circumstances that are not permitted under current legislation. I remind the Minister and Ministers of State that...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: I move amendment No. 158:In page 18, to delete lines 3 to 13.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 9. To ask the Taoiseach if the various Cabinet sub-committees have met in the last two months. [35070/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Official Engagements (16 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 29. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his meetings with other Heads of State during the last EU Council. [35071/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Official Engagements (16 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 30. To ask the Taoiseach if he has met with the Greek Prime Minister; and if they discussed the issue of unemployment in Greece and the European Union. [35072/13]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 424. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in respect of an event held in the Pearse Museum in St. Enda's Park, Rathfarnham, last autumn which was addressed by the Minister for State in his Department, Deputy Brian Hayes, regarding the planned works in the park, if he will provide information on the content of the meeting; the way it was advertised and by whom; the other...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Human Rights Issues (16 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 890. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to the allegations of forced human organ harvesting from prisoners in China; his views on whether there is a requirement to bring forward legislation to prevent such organs being used here in any way. [34636/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (17 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 88. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 163 of 7 May 2013 and correspondence to this Deputy, his views on the case of a person (details supplied) who has been denied free fees on the basis that the springboard foundation course they completed was itself a major award [35608/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homeless Persons Data (17 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 191. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons reported as homeless to local authorities in the first and second quarters of 2013; the way this compares to previous quarters statistics; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35712/13]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agriculture Schemes Payments (17 Jul 2013)

Joe Higgins: 229. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) in County Cavan will receive their REP scheme, single payment, disadvantaged area scheme payment and grassland sheep payment for 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35712/13]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Financial Sector: Discussion with AIB (3 Sep 2013)

Joe Higgins: In the information Mr. Duffy gave us, the total in impaired loans in the owner-occupied mortgage sector amounts to €4.892 billion and in the buy-to-let sector it amounts to €3.567 billion. What are the numbers of mortgage holders in each category?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Financial Sector: Discussion with AIB (3 Sep 2013)

Joe Higgins: That is not really the information I am seeking. On the point of impaired loans, it is roughly 75% of buy-to-let-----