Results 4,941-4,960 of 8,229 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Mar 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Macken's comments about appropriate cropping are also interesting so that, as well as lowering the level of nitrogen needed, it seems it may also be useful for determining what the best and effective use of a particular soil might be. I thank Mr. Macken. My last question was on methane and the measurement of methane leakage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Mar 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am thinking of the life cycle emissions tracking, even of the energy that goes into those processes. It is not an argument for or against but it is about ensuring that part is tracked when it comes to the blunt emissions reduction schedule.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Mar 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There are some interesting ideas here but I am concerned about the overall frame. It is great to hear about the level of scientific work that is being done and the support for PhDs in some of these areas. Many of the areas our guests have talked about in the context of the mitigation toolkit are straightforwardly reducing emissions rather than trading emissions. I have concerns about the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Joint Meeting with Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action
Exploring Technologies and Opportunities to Reduce Emissions in the Agriculture Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Mar 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am back. May I be allowed to come back in? I will have to leave in five minutes. I have a concern about woody riparian strips. Something we have talked about is ensuring we do not end up with thin areas because we know there are new grant schemes coming in that area from the forestry legislation that is going through at the moment. We do not want people removing existing biodiversity...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Mar 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have been accumulating questions on other questions. Therefore, I may have lost some of my original questions in the processes. There are a few interesting threads that I want to take up, the first jumping from Ms Blackwell's point. She spoke about the importance of action on this new national strategy immediately. It should start immediately looking at everything that is already in play...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Mar 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be brief. It is almost on a positive frame piece. When we look to what the citizens wanted, that relates to dealing with violence but also, and ultimately, to inequality and equality of participation. Do our guests wish to comment on that? It is very relevant for the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which has a new development plan. The idea of public spaces and the right to participate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 60(6)) (Office of the Ombudsman) Regulations 2022 (6 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State. This is exactly the approach that should be taken. I have not seen, and I do not know whether we have received, a copy of the proposed regulations, which it would, of course, be important to see in terms of the detail. I am glad to see section 60 of the Data Protection Act and Article 23 of the GDPR used properly. Very often, when we are told things cannot...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Data Protection Act 2018 (Section 60(6)) (Office of the Ombudsman) Regulations 2022 (6 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will look at them with interest. I thank the Minister of State for illustrating how section 60 can be used. I hope we do not see either blunt attempts to suspend GDPR or those kinds of people who let their hands be needlessly tied in it. I hope we will see more use and appropriate use of that section.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the SEAI for the presentation. Retrofitting has become even more crucial in the current context. Of course the emissions reduction is our priority but we are also talking about safety, fuel poverty and energy security for families and households. I am a little concerned about the narrative around growing the market. As Dr. Byrne himself said, the ultimate goal is emissions...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Can I ask one last question? It is about disability allowance as a category. The carer's allowance is one of the categories to qualify for the warmer homes scheme. I ask Dr. Byrne to address the backlog in the warmer homes scheme. Should disability allowance be one of the categories as well? Is there space for a joint product, that is, retrofitting combined with adaptive needs for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Can it not do retrofits? Is there a role for the State to do retrofits?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Okay, but has there been consideration the idea of a joint retrofit that includes adaptive needs?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Has there been a conversation about rental protection attached to the landlord incentives?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I mean protection against evictions when works are being carried out. For Part 4 tenants that is a concern.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: First, on the general points, the Minister will see there are really strong feelings across this House with regard to this Bill. It is a little bit unfortunate that it is coming slightly prematurely when we had the digital services directive pretty much agreed yesterday. We know there are major areas of policy on which the expert group has not come back and, of course, it is a concern that...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have two really quick points. The Minister mentioned the online safety commissioner but, of course, there is not an online safety commissioner in the Bill as it stands. Again, that is the headline. That is what everybody goes out with. That is why we are being told we need to pass it. However, it is not there. I just need to be very clear. There should be, and will have to be, an...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a one-liner comment because, in fact, we did not actually speak to it yet, but we will come to it in a minute. In terms of the differences in advertising, one of the concerns is some of the things that are pushed out are included in this, even when looking at what has and has not been covered. The religious issue is included in this section, the way we discussed it in terms of...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: In page 9, to delete line 2 and substitute “ ‘commercial communication’ shall be interpreted as including advertisement;”. This is a concerning factor and leaving aside what areas we believe should be regulated the question is advertisement itself being regulated. Section 2 is clearly about advertisements yet the other sections we will...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister. I ask that we might have an opportunity to engage between Committee Stage and Report Stage because I want to know what is going to come in that regard. Let us have a conversation rather than just picking it up on Report Stage. I believe we could probably have some useful conversation in between. In that context I will not press amendment No. 3 at this point. I will...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is a key concern. While it is not the Minister's concern, I will certainly be raising it with the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight and others. It is pretty wild that amendments calling for definitions were ruled as a cost to the State. It is the case that the insertion of three definitions, including in one case a definition of something that is already referred to...