Results 4,581-4,600 of 8,220 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Horticultural Peat (Temporary Measures) Bill 2021: Second Stage (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not compatible with EU law or with the achievement or maintenance of 1.5°C of global warming. Peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store. They store more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. Damaged and drained peatlands are no longer a benefit or a carbon store, however; in fact, they become major emitters. It is estimated that between...

Seanad: Horticultural Peat (Temporary Measures) Bill 2021: Second Stage (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This debate is to be adjourned and will be resumed.

Seanad: National Development Plan 2021-2030: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will take up where Senator Sherlock left off on the question of retrofitting because it is important. I will touch on some of the other environmental and climate aspects but retrofitting is one of the key issues here. It is something we could get right but I am concerned that the mechanisms with which we are approaching it at the moment are not the right ones. That comes down to...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I join other Members in thanking the survivors, the Irish First Mothers group, the adoptees and the human rights activists who have driven and demanded action on this issue. We owe them thanks because they have driven us to try to become a better State. I thank them for that. We owe them the absolute best response but, unfortunately, the scheme as it is set out now is not the absolute best...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not about individuals. It is about the State, the church, religious orders and the pharmaceutical companies and economic actors who took advantage of it. It was systemic and it has to be taken seriously. With all due respect to the experience of individuals in Bessborough, let us bear in mind that in the 1940s Bessborough had a mortality rate of 68% for children. That is what...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Statements (30 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: These bodies have responsibility. They profited from this period, committed abuse and must be accountable if there is to be any sense that we are moving forward as a State. With respect to the Minister, meeting the religious orders is one thing but other legal measures should be looked at if necessary. Again, those who created shell companies to hide assets, not back in the 1930s, 1940s...

Seanad: Covid-19 and the New Measures (Education): Statements (2 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister to the House. She will understand that there has been some frustration. A concern throughout this crisis so far has been that, in the area of education, there is a mix of very rigid measures and a lot being left to fall on the shoulders of individual boards of governance in schools. Individual boards of governance are left to figure out how they are going to implement...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets: Engagement with the Climate Change Advisory Council (7 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Ms Donnelly. Turning to carbon budgets, I am one of those who have a concern about the timing of the two budgets. I am a strong believer of the bird in the hand. In an area such as climate change, where there is that cumulative impact and we hit tipping points, there is no negotiation backwards. Given we cannot control what is happening elsewhere, we should front-load what we can....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets: Engagement with the Climate Change Advisory Council (7 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a question on investment because I will not be able to get in on the second round as I must leave.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets: Engagement with the Climate Change Advisory Council (7 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Ms Donnelly mentioned the front-loading of investment. In areas like transport, for example, the plans do not seem to be a decade down the way. She might comment if this was something the council looked at. Given that low-interest capital financing is available with 0% loans from the European Union, should we be front-loading infrastructural investment in areas like transport to deliver...

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021: Motion (8 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: If the Minister wants to keep that one minute, I will give one minute to Senator Ahearn and I will take three minutes.

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021: Motion (8 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am. I will take three minutes.

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021: Motion (8 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am, unfortunately, going to have to oppose the motion. My concerns relate to greyhound racing. The Minister will be aware that I aired those concerns when the greyhound legislation went through the previous Oireachtas. That was an opportunity for a root-and-branch overhaul of the industry and I regret that it was not fully taken. It is regrettable, for example, that the amendments we...

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021: Motion (8 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Time could be taken from the Minister.

Seanad: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021: Motion (8 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.

Seanad: Antarctic Treaty: Motion (8 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the motion and the spirit in which it is put forward. I will support it. There are parts of it I would ask the Minister to embrace and move further on. The tradition identified in terms of Shackleton and others is important. It is also important to note there is now credible evidence of the Maori people visiting the Antarctic more than 1,000 years ago. In the celebration of the...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (9 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move recommendation No. 1: 1. In page 3, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “Report on engagement with the Commission 2.The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining— (a) engagement the Minister has had with the Commission with regard to remuneration for those employed...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (9 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Several points have been raised and prior to the Minister replying I want to add to them. The Oireachtas Library and Research Service has been mentioned. This service is fine for planning a Bill in the long term but if we get an agenda on Thursday that will mean speaking on seven different policy areas on Tuesday, and then we receive phone calls all day Monday about it, they will be dealt...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (9 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to ask the Minister for clarification on two key points. The Minister has given us, to some degree, his interpretation of the Act but there have been ambiguous interpretations of that Act, including within the process that SIPTU has been engaging with. There has been some sense that the human resources department has to go and talk to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (9 Dec 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Apologies, and just to belabour the point, the Minister's understanding of the legislation is that the members of the commission are empowered to develop a proposal and to bring that to him. Is that correct?