Results 801-820 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It will be resubmitted on Report Stage.

Seanad: Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I join other Senators in commending the Minister, Deputy Harris. I would also like to take a moment to commend the former Minister of State, Deputy Corcoran Kennedy, who did extraordinary work in preparing this Bill and was a great loss to Government. I would like to briefly correct a point that seems to have been taken up erroneously across the House. As for the cabinets proposed, be they...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Will the Leader convey our concern that people who often live from payment to payment, week to week, have been told they cannot access their pensions without a public service card, despite an answer from the Minister this week in which she assured us that An Post did not require the public service card of people accessing pensions and other payments? The Data Protection Commissioner is...

Seanad: JobPath: Motion (15 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank the proposer of the motion and the proposer of the amendment. There are certain things with which we can all agree. For example, the idea that it is important people are given supports to access appropriate routes out of unemployment, be that education, training or employment and that there is a need to give people a range of skills and...

Seanad: JobPath: Motion (15 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have not said a fraction of what I want to say. We have a serious concern about how JobPath was set up and we have serious concerns about how it has been rolled out. As I have only one minute left I will focus on one of my key areas of concern but I will raise all of them again and at meetings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection. I am seriously concerned about the...

Seanad: JobPath: Motion (15 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The missing piece in this is the local employment services which provide the kind of holistic wraparound services and supports which we saw in the youth guarantee. That is able to give the big picture of supports. I am very concerned that local employment services are not an option for people. I am concerned that none of the motions tonight talk about education as an option for unemployed...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: European Security Strategy (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State. Will he assure us that Ireland will not sign up to permanent structured co-operation, PESCO, on security and defence at a European level? What are his views on the concerns raised regarding Ireland's neutrality, our triple-lock system and our crucial role in peace-building and arms control if we did sign up? I also ask him to address the position regarding...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: European Security Strategy (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will conclude.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: European Security Strategy (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I ask the Minister of State to respond.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: European Security Strategy (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The potential for PESCO is part of the treaty, but it is not a sanctioning of PESCO. That is a separate recommendation.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: European Security Strategy (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is a very sad day. In times of far more pressure during the 1940s members of the Minister of State's party and other parties met to discuss the role Ireland would play. I was looking back on those debates from the 1940s, in which one Member said, "This country belongs not to the Government or to any political party: it is the common heritage of Irish men and women of all classes." These...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to highlight three areas of international co-operation on policy for Ireland. The first issue I want to highlight is the European pillar of social rights, as unveiled last Friday by EU leaders, including the Taoiseach, at the EU social summit in Stockholm, which was the first such summit for 20 years. I welcome this document, even if it is not perfect. If the EU is to thrive, it...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Regarding PESCO, the opt-out was what was debated in terms of-----

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It was not a mandate for-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Restructuring: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not want to go over the same ground. I would simply note that it is not a matter of the committee simply disagreeing with the decision of the Citizens Information Board. It is that we raised concerns about the public interest, including the concern that an appropriate cost-benefit analysis had not been done. I will only touch on the two other issues because Ms Mangan has raised them....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Restructuring: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On page 13, in respect of the assignment of premises, a figure of €727,545 is given but it does not really address the concern that Deputy Carey rightly raised that there are cases where the organisation is not paying a market value rent and a very significant example is the extraordinary high value that is given in the discounted level for the premises in Dublin for the Dublin citizen...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Restructuring: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to come to the conclusion. I will be briefer when addressing the other two questions, but they are important. The reduced volunteer time is a key issue. On the new salaries, it is really unusual that having first of all said the payroll does not count the report says that by paying people it is somehow a benefit to society. As a result, those who compiled the report have managed to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Restructuring: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am not making any assumptions here. All of the facts and figures I have put forward reflect the facts and figures contained in the Citizens Information Board's 2010 report and other reports. I do not believe that the committee or the board should be intimidated by professionals having produced a report. We need to take this issue very seriously. The figure relating to front-line staff...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Restructuring: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Although Ms Mangan does not see a direct value in terms of the contribution of board members, in her own report the value put on that voluntary time is estimated at €4.92 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Money Advice and Budgeting Service Restructuring: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Ms Mangan may take issue with the figures in the report but they are what have been provided and what we are using.