Results 6,481-6,500 of 8,235 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am speaking specifically about data centres.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With respect, the context was not that different in that we still had the climate goals and were in a climate crisis. In the public consultation, it was one of the issues that was raised strongly. Again, in 2021 two decisions were made. First, there was an option to have a moratorium on new connections until we had full safety but the decision was made to continue with new connections but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a final question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My very final one is about-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ----moving away from gas. We have been behind on two areas. I would like a note on gas. Why are we still having new private and domestic gas connections?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We are putting that on top of all of those gas-powered facilities we have agreed to in the past two years, however.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have just three questions and maybe one short comment which was a kind of a question I had asked the last time. A huge subsidisation has been made from 2010, a permanent rebalancing. During the 2021 consultation on a potential moratorium for large energy users when the public had their chance to give their views on large energy users, why was the relevant information not given to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We have heard a lot about the decarbonisation and the potential for green hydrogen down the line. We may look at certain limited uses for green hydrogen in particular targeted areas. Decarbonisation is one part, but we should be reducing reliance on gas and exiting from it. The gas sector as a whole should be shrinking. Even if green hydrogen comes on stream the general advice...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With absolute respect, I would suggest this is an area where CRU is very much behind the curve again. In two years' time we will probably hear that we should have done more about reducing reliance on gas, which is what we have had on each of these issues. They have all been well flagged. We are losing two to three years and we do not have many years. We have about ten years to get to our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I asked two other questions on standing charges and smart meters.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes. Is it not essential that the standard charges be addressed? Otherwise, the benefits from schemes will be reduced significantly. We have heard a great deal about the advertising of smart meters and my other question related to people who wanted to remove a smart meter. What are their options? That standing charges can increase in an unregulated way is undermining the uptake of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes. I am not being reassured that people can choose to move away from having their information transmitted. People may sign up and later decide that they do not want to continue with that system. Under GDPR, it does not seem proportionate to require half-hourly information to be transmitted. I hope people engage and believe people are engaging in energy-efficiency practices but there is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: So, having no credit record is not a barrier?

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 9, line 7, after “number” to insert “or their passport”. This relates to suitable forms of identification for the purpose of making a vehicle licence application. I am seeking to include passports. As drafted, the subsection provides that, where a person does not already have a driving licence, a learning permit or a foreign...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept the Minister's point about passport numbers. It is a valid point, but I reserve the right to table an amendment on the matter on Report Stage. A passport is a form of identification that can be used in obtaining a driving licence. The Minister spoke about looking for a driving licence number, but it is not a requirement that someone have a public services card in order to obtain a...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will speak to a couple of these and indicate that there are a couple of areas where I may reserve the right to bring amendments on Report Stage, should these amendments be successful. I imagine they will be. I also have a couple of questions for the Minister. He has already partly answered one of them in relation to the question of a fleet. I was wondering where that fit in terms of...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I might come back on the hauliers issue at a different point. On data protection, specifying what the information is one part of it but specifying who is accessing the information and for what purposes is the other part. The GDPR is not simply about being clear what the information is but being clear what purposes it is used for and who is accessing it. We might have the same information...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 13: In page 21, to delete lines 24 to 27. This amendment seeks to remove from the Bill the provision that would permit An Garda Síochána to enter "any place including the curtilage of a dwelling" without a warrant or to seize a vehicle a garda believes has been, is being or will be used dangerously.Curtilage includes gardens, paths, driveways, yards, garages...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am not suggesting that vehicles need to be taken in full flight. If we start to go down a slippery slope, however, where will we stop? What will we not enter a dwelling or its curtilage to take? There are many things that would be much easier if gardaí had access to people's homes or homes' curtilage without a warrant but there is a reason there are caveats and protections in this...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am still not fully reassured on the wording "is likely to be driven or used" but I will leave it for now. I propose to withdraw the amendment and introduce a more targeted one on Report Stage. Since I am not fully reassured, I ask the Minister to continue to think about this between now and Report Stage.