Results 5,261-5,280 of 8,235 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I made it quite clear that my concern is where it is informal and where people are not registered, etc. That is the concern about where gaps arise. It is in relation to those who are not in the space of the registered adoption society or of accredited bodies. I would put it to the Minister that there is a gap, even in the example of psychiatric institutions that I have given to him. It is...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 27: “In page 14, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “(j) a relevant religious order;”.”

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 28: “In page 14, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “(j) relevant psychiatric institutions;”.”

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 29: In page 14, line 13, after “incorrect” to insert “or illegal”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to reintroduce it.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 30: In page 14, line 36, to delete “in respect of which” and substitute “regardless of whether”. This amendment is around the insertion of additional institutions. I am slightly widening the provision by replacing "in respect of which" with "regardless of whether" a public body has or had a regulatory or inspection function. The...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The concern is that, in the past, if an institution or public body did not adopt or perform a regulatory or inspection function, it could end up slipping out. I will reserve the right to come back to this on Report Stage. In general, it would be better to provide in the Bill the widest possible scope rather than relying on persons having to prove the exceptions to the rule because we have...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not agreed. Amendments Nos. 33 to 39, inclusive, 43 to 46, inclusive, and 49 to 51, inclusive, are all consequential on and related to amendment No. 69. I wonder, therefore-----

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We are discussing amendments that are consequential on an amendment that has not been discussed yet.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Sure.

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This grouping contains a few amendments. I think I support the amendment on age proposed by Senator Warfield. It relates to other amendments we have discussed to ensure that information can be accessed as early as possible. Persons who are 16 years of age should be able to have those records. That could be very important to a person coming up to that age of 18 when people make many...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept that matters have moved on with regard to the provisions, but I was here in 2017. I want to acknowledge former Senator Bacik, who, along with me and a number of others, spent many hours with the then Minister. We were told at that time that a veto was required by the Constitution. We were emphatically told that the Constitution interpretation of privacy at that time, which, again,...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As the Minister requested, I will clarify the position. Amendment No. 32 relates to a situation where someone makes an application to the register of births but no entry is found. Where a relevant body has received an application and does not hold the birth certificate, it will inform the applicant of that fact in writing and without delay. A person being told that there is no record of...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 32: In page 15, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following: “(5) Where no birth information is available, the Authority shall seize all records relating to the relevant person’s adoption and/or illegal birth registration and open an investigation into what transpired. The relevant person will be kept informed and will be consulted throughout the...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not see any alternative as there seems to be no engagement on the matter.

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (25 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As the Minister of State outlined, the context of this legislation is the transposition of the EU whistleblower directive and the amendment of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. There are many positive elements within this legislation but there are also concerns. Given that we are entering the period of legislative scrutiny, I will highlight some of the concerns. I know Transparency...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to follow up on something. I think Senator Sherlock mentioned it. There is a little bit of a red herring at play in some of the responses we have been having in this debate with this reference to the EU regulations. Regulation (EU) 2016/127, which supplements Regulation (EU) No 609/2013, relates to the compositional and information requirements for information on infant formula and...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister seems to have indicated that on the section dealing with media codes she will consider naming breast milk substitutes, formula milk and follow-on milk which would be good. If fat, trans fats, salt and sugars are named, it would be consistent. Formula milk and breast milk substitutes clearly meet the criterion of things that have a general public health interest for children....

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister mentioned that the commission will take on board legislation. However, this is legislation. We want this to become some of the legislation the commission takes on board rather than the alcohol Act that was not designed for the online space as we have outlined, and indeed other provisions such as the EU directive which do not address this issue of online marketing. While...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It was in the very first debate.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 106: In page 51, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(c) seeks to promote or advertise practices or beliefs which seek to compromise or invalidate a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including the advertisement or promotion of conversion therapy in respect of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” .