Results 5,221-5,240 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (17 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: The Taoiseach began by speaking about youth unemployment being discussed at the OECD meeting but he did not outline whether any concrete proposals came from the OECD regarding the scandal of the extent of youth unemployment throughout the European Union, particularly in the so-called peripheral states, the victims of austerity, where up to half the young people available for work are...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (17 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: I will be insisting that the Taoiseach comes in front of it himself.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Applications (17 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: 317. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding an increase in rent supplement in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 16. [25385/14]

Order of Business (18 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: I agree with Deputy Ó Caoláin. As the date of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 suggests, it is a full 16 years ago. The draconian measures deemed appropriate at that time, but with which I disagreed, have, even by the standards of the Government, long since passed. There should be appropriate time for a much deeper and more meaningful discussion on the dangers...

Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (18 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: The Bill updates the principal legislation, namely, the Mercantile Marine Act 1955. It is appropriate to revise existing law and centralise the registration of ships in the manner indicated by moving from the current diverse and scattered procedure in which some 12 different decentralised authorities are responsible for registration. It is also appropriate to commence the process of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Deployment (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: 67. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will report on the presence of a large number of gardaí at a peaceful community protest by residents against the installation of water meters at Tonlegee Drive, Edenmore, Dublin 5 on 12 June 2014; and if, in view of this and the presence of gardaí at other similar peaceful protests around the country, she believes it is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Deployment (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: I ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to justify the presence of large numbers of gardaí at peaceful community protests against the installation of water meters in Dublin and elsewhere, particularly in the light of the fact that the austerity programme that gave rise to water meters and water charges has been totally discredited and now has no mandate following the recent elections.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Deployment (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: In many parts of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and other areas around the country, ordinary householders and taxpayers have been peacefully protesting against the installation of water meters, because they know that these are the tools by which the Government is to impose yet another austerity tax upon them. These people have been forced to carry so much already, as part of the bailout of bankers...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Deployment (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: I put it to the Minister that she is coming at it from the wrong angle completely. The fact is that this new water tax, which will be a huge burden on families - the Taoiseach said the so-called full cost recovery will be €580 per household - is a tax too far and there is outrage about it. Fine Gael and the Labour Party learned that in the campaign for the recent elections....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Deployment (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: Is the Minister comparing residents to vandals?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Deployment (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: The Minister cannot compare residents and taxpayers with vandals.

Other Questions: Direct Provision System (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: 72. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will end the system of direct provision for asylum seekers; and her views on the number of children in the system, the length of time spent by asylum seekers in direct provision centres, the living conditions and standards, and the absence of independent inspection or complaints procedure. [26757/14]

Other Questions: Direct Provision System (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: I would like to ask the Minister to deal with the issue of direct provision for those seeking asylum and the unsuitability of continuing with those arrangements in view of the effect on the human beings who are the subject of this, particularly children.

Other Questions: Direct Provision System (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: Everyone agrees that decision-making needs to be significantly expedited. I thoroughly agree, but my question deals with existing conditions because the people in direct provision accommodation still face a long period of time in the system. Does the Minister agree that the living conditions enforced on people as a consequence of the current method used are inhuman? As she noted, 38% of...

Other Questions: Direct Provision System (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: I will not make any suggestion concerning how some of the horror stories we have heard in recent weeks about our past and how children were treated can be equated with what is happening today. However, I will make the general point that we have learned lessons from the horrors inflicted on people, including women and children, particularly in the past. Taking into account what I said, I put...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: 3. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet sub-committee on social policy last met since the Christmas recess. [10470/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: Which scheme does that come under?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: If I heard the Taoiseach correctly, he said that the Cabinet committee on social policy had met twice since Christmas. Is that correct?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: If I ask the Taoiseach what happened at those meetings I will be ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle, so I will ask my question in a different way. What is the point of the Cabinet committee on social policy when the whole thrust of the Government's economic and social policies is anti-social in terms of its effect on working people and poor people as well as middle and lower income...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Higgins: It is the public sector in which I am interested.