Results 6,501-6,520 of 8,235 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to speak in support of Senator Boyhan's amendment. I will pick up on a couple of points the Minister made. His position needs re-evaluation. He mentioned that the penalty point system is designed to tackle dangerous driving. He said the parking offence is dangerous parking. The Minister described dangerous parking as parking that is a danger to vehicles. Dangerous parking is...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have an amendment in this grouping. With respect to the Minister, the definition that has been put forward in terms of PPTs is not necessarily clear that it is solely designed in terms of e-scooters. My concern relates to cargo bikes, such as those that may be used by families, as well as the definition of pedal bicycles here. Where do cargo bikes fit in? I have sought to include them...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not clear because there is no reference to the carriage of goods. The only reference to the carriage of goods is a prohibitive reference that is attached to the PPT. There is no positive reference to the carriage of goods in the definition relating to bicycles. It is unclear. It is sometimes the case that if one kind of vehicle is prohibited from carrying goods but it is not made...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 26: In page 44, line 32, after “goods,” to insert “except for pedal cargo bicycles,”.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is the wrong direction of travel. It is literally saying any tool can be used for any kind of data. It does not clarify. The definition for cameras has been extended to include "other data-gathering devices" The definition of "data-gathering device" proposed by amendment No. 36 is extraordinarily vague, wide and dangerous: "‘data-gathering device’ means any device,...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: We could all come up with many forms of data-gathering devices. If toll tag readers or speed guns are needed, then specify them. To say technology evolves all the time and moves so fast that we might need to use it before we have time to legislate for it is a very dangerous message to send. The Minister has recognised the concerns about artificial intelligence, the use of algorithms and...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is the same thing. It is not simply a matter of saying we do not want to use the facial recognition technology on all this data that we gathered for whatever reasons. This is the thing with data. One does not get to gather data, potentially any kind of data, without having clear purposes as to why it is being gathered and what is being done with it. Again, we do not have the mechanisms...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be very brief. The Minister is the one seeking to expand the scope of this Bill. This is us responding to the expansion he has proposed. Frankly, his expansion includes every single thing. That is what the definition he is proposing effectively is. One could argue we should not try to have to name every single thing but the answer is also not to use every single device which is...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Data Protection Act.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister might wish to respond to Senator Ruane's proposal. It is a really good compromise. It is not as strong as my proposal of naming each device but it is making it very clear that it is only to devices attached to a very particular and explicit purpose, namely, the investigation and prosecution of particular offences under the Road Traffic Act. That does not tie it to the device...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I think we just have a fundamental disagreement. I hope there can be conversations between this Stage and Report Stage but this definition is extraordinarily wide and there does not seem to be a willingness to look to narrow it in an effective way.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: The issue is the data is being gathered. People will not be aware. This legislation creates a circumstance where persons may have large amounts of data gathered around and about them of which they will not even be aware. Their consent will not have been sought. A legislative basis will be used as the rationale, namely, we are gathering data about you based on the Road Traffic Act but...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: Under the GDPR, there is a need for a legislative basis or a consent basis for the gathering of data. The concern here is we have legislation being proposed that will give a very much wider permission for the gathering of data and that creates that dynamic. There are questions about the compatibility of the legislation with the GDPR in that context but we can come to that.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: To identify each device was one solution. Two solutions were put to the Minister. There is no amendment which states that each device should be identified. We have clarified that the problem is the Minister's proposal that all devices of any kind that gather data should be allowed and included under the definition of "camera". We have suggested two solutions. One is that we specify only...

Seanad: Family Courts Bill 2023: Second Stage (2 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I join with others to express my broad support for the Bill. It is significant and a long-awaited milestone in the reform of the family justice system in Ireland. My colleague, Senator Ruane, who is also a member of the Committee on Justice, has tracked the Bill for a long time. She would like to have been here for the debate today, but cannot attend. She is, however, engaging an...

Seanad: Address by H.E. Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament (2 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On behalf of the Civil Engagement Group I welcome President Metsola to the Oireachtas for the important discussions we are having to mark Ireland's 50 years of participation in the collective project that is the European Union. One of the reasons for the positive views of so many members of the Irish public towards that project has been the role that the European Union has historically...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: The programme for Government already existed at that point. Our guests have talked about demand growth. We are hearing demand reduction mentioned. The witnesses mentioned legislation. Do they have any further written notes on legislation anticipated in one of the areas of the commission's work plan for 2023? There has also been a lot of talk about demand growth and how that growth will...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disaster Response (9 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am sure the Minister of State will join me and many others in expressing our deepest condolences to all those who have been affected by the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. As of last night, the death toll had reached almost 16,000.The World Health Organization estimates that the death toll could go higher than 20,000 in the coming days, with hypothermia adding to the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disaster Response (9 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister of State mentioned the incredible bravery of the humanitarian workers who are in the area. We also witnessed scenes such as the seven-year old girl protecting her brother's head for 17 hours. Humanitarian workers are working at great danger to themselves and, therefore, it behoves us to think about those who would have us turn our back on those in need, our fellow humanity....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disaster Response (9 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: However, there are NGOs on the ground.