Results 4,501-4,520 of 8,220 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 11: In page 6, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “(3A) The Minister shall, in the prescription of information under subsection (3), have due regard to the public duty on equality and human rights.”

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 12: In page 6, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “(3B) The Minister shall, in the prescription of information under subsection (3), have due regard to the need to prioritise the delivery of social housing in the State.”.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 13: In page 6, after line 41, to insert the following: “(5) Where a planning authority consults with a person under subsection (4), a written record shall be taken of such a consultation and kept by the planning authority and a copy of such record shall be placed and kept with the documents to which any application in respect of that proposed development relates.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 14: In page 6, after line 41, to insert the following: (6) With respect to information provided under subsection (3)(a) with regard to student accommodation, the Minister shall provide for consultation with educational institutions, representative student bodies and local residents set out conditions in respect of student accommodation, which the planning authority...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not think it is a consent process. There may be an argument in that regard to amendment No. 19. Amendment No. 14 relates to the powers the Minister is giving himself in the Bill. In section 32B(3)(a), the Minister already allows that he might prescribe information around, for example, "the proposed types of houses and student accommodation units and their design, including proposed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets and Climate Action Plan: Engagement with Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister opened by mentioning the question of the carbon budgets. We should be front-loading more action into the first carbon budget. We do not have the balance right. For any of us in politics, the moment we are there in a room and able to act is the moment to do so. On page 23 of the action plan, there is a reference to the sequestration potential of trees. The latter will only...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets and Climate Action Plan: Engagement with Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Will Ireland champion and promote a loss-and-damage facility, as was called for by 136 countries and blocked by the EU and a number of others in Glasgow? Will we be using this year to ensure that the EU and others support such a facility at the next COP?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets and Climate Action Plan: Engagement with Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is for schools and hospitals, rather than directly funding retrofitting. Some €49 million is going to banks to give loans, rather than, for example, rooting that into direct retrofitting of schools and hospitals. Why should they be taking loans with the profit share that gets added to that? That is not economically efficient for us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets and Climate Action Plan: Engagement with Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is not my question. My question is why are the environmental aspects being done through private loan systems and off-balance sheet loans, rather than through direct public investment in retrofitting our infrastructure, which will, as the Minister said, pay dividends in the long term for the State, when we currently have access to 0% finance directly?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets and Climate Action Plan: Engagement with Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: But we are paying for that risk reduction.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets and Climate Action Plan: Engagement with Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Apologies. The key is that we are paying for de-risking. Why are we paying €49 million?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets and Climate Action Plan: Engagement with Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister will be aware of the concern about the ranges and the fact that the upper end of the ranges only barely add up to the 51%. I hope he will consider revising that because we need to leave space for more ambition. I am concerned about that. Should the achievement of 51% not be the middle of the range we are providing for each sector?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I strongly support these amendments. In particular, the meeting as described will add immensely to the quality of the decisions being made and, crucially, to the outcome in terms of the quality of the residential developments that emerge from the process. It is not sufficient that individual representative members of the authority might be able to put in submissions. It is crucial that...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We need to stop trying to make a virtue of past mistakes. There were mistakes on the strategic housing developments. We highlighted exactly what would go wrong and it went wrong. There is the headline item here that we are bringing back planning. However, let us be clear: the Minister is partially bringing back planning but what happened with the strategic housing developments created...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This relates directly to this question. Many strategic housing developments were badly planned which led to judicial reviews because they were badly designed because they did not go through the proper scrutiny at local authority level. Many projects that did get planning permission were not commenced. Over half were not commenced. Councillors were not holding them up. They had planning...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 17: In page 8, line 11, after “make” to insert “appropriate”.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 19: In page 8, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: "Insertion of section 32I into Principal Act 32I. In respect of student accommodation which receives LRD planning permission, the local authority in which the proposed development is located shall in consultation with educational institutions, representative student bodies and local residents set out...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 20: In page 8, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: "Insertion of Section 32J into Principal Act 32J.Within 18 months of the commencement of sections 32A to 32G inclusive, a review shall be conducted by An Bord Pleanála and where new regulations with regard to planning, including regulation in respect of the environment and disability, supplementary...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept the Minister's point regarding the wording of amendment No. 20. I share that concern. There is a point that is in between, however, that is not necessarily retrospective. I am referring to the point in between the granting of planning permission and the commencement of a project. That is the point that I want to get at in the context of amendment No. 21. I again appreciate that...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 21: In page 8, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “Insertion of section 32K into Principal Act 32K.(1) Where new European Union Directives are issued in respect of building standards or planning, applicants who have received LRD permission must provide supplementary documentation tothe planning authority demonstrating how the applicant has...