Results 6,001-6,020 of 8,235 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jul 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Professor O'Hagan for her attendance. A number of years ago, I had a chance to travel to Glasgow and look at some of the work being done by EBAG, and others. It has been a really important initiative. The example she gave was really useful. One of the issues we are looking at in the committee is the different kinds of families and how they are treated. It captures that question...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jul 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To be very clear, these things are all really important. It is just a matter of how we provide the momentum such that they can build on one another.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jul 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I just wanted to be clear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Jul 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It would be great to get a copy of that. An example of those templates would also be very interesting. I have a question on the local authorities, which is an area that was identified and relates to this. The question relates to how the public duty on equality, which we have had in Ireland since 2015, and equality budgeting tend to intersect. Is it the public duty helping to drive the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister identified the wider factor. The energy crisis is taking place inside a climate crisis, which has not gone away and which is intensifying. He mentioned dependence on fossil fuels, which, of course, includes gas, with the single exception of green hydrogen, which is a minority option. Gas is a fossil fuel and one that is extremely volatile in terms of pricing as well as being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister mentioned local authorities. Why, when they have taken the initiative, such as South Dublin County Council, for example, which has said concerning data centres that it wants a pause to get things in terms of its concerns, has the Government pressed against that rather than supporting it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is there analysis of the kinds of data processing? When it comes to the crunch, are we talking what gets prioritised? Is it Amazon Web Services, for example? I do not mean any one company. Is it around a commercial profiteering? Where is the analysis on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Just because of my time constraint, I would like the Minister to address the position that Ireland will take at the meeting on 9 September.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: And the Energy Charter Treaty?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Will the Minister ask for a risk analysis to be done on the Energy Charter Treaty and exiting from it? I ask because Ireland has not conducted one in terms of our own context.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I note we still do not have a risk analysis for Ireland, and that is an issue. We should not have a situation where an area that has been identified very strongly as a risk is without a risk analysis, even though such an analysis has been requested repeatedly over recent years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We have had this conversation a number of times during previous appearances by the CRU at this committee. I am not looking for a response on a surge or on a particular day when we need emergency back up. I am looking for a response on the general issue of demand reduction, not demand flexibility.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Again, those measures addressed issues of surge or security of supply during a particularly difficult time but there were no measures relating to general demand reduction. Having back-up generators, for example, was one of the measures.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I ask Mr. Gannon to confirm that gas is not considered within that frame of renewables, when we are discussing it-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Apologies but it was just a little bit of a blurring of the lines.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We have seen it on sustainability.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would like an answer from Mr. Foley.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The question is on the issue of demand and the expansion of demand. Mr. Foley mentioned that he thought 9% was a reasonable level of expansion for a prosperous, growing, sophisticated western economy even though we have heard that this increase in demand is entailing the continuation, sustaining and bringing back online of fossil fuel generators. It also involves back-up generators,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes, but my specific question is whether it is acceptable that we would continue to seek to meet an increase in energy demand. Mr. Foley is saying he is okay with a 9% increase in energy demand even though the kinds of measures that are meeting that involve fossil fuels. I am placing that in the global context. Mr. Foley said that because we are a prosperous western economy, it is okay but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Supply and Security: Discussion (30 Aug 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On retrofitting of social housing, what measures will be taken to expand and bring forward the 30,000 ambition, which was quite low, within the Government retrofitting scheme? Rather than looking to loans and the market development, there is an opportunity and need this year to ensure the most vulnerable users, namely those in social housing, have retrofitting accelerated this winter. ...