Results 8,681-8,700 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will come back to this in a moment because it raises significant issues for Ireland, which I am surprised have not been addressed previously. On the other question of where these weapons come from, there is a requirement that 65% of the moneys drawn down be spent on European military production. Is it being tracked as to where the predominance of that money is spent? Are there measures...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There will be a threshold of up to 35%. We should remind ourselves that we are dealing with very large amounts of money. I am looking at amounts of €3 billion and €14 billion, which are extraordinarily large. I note €16 billion will be drawn down by Hungary. I think it was mentioned earlier by one of the speakers from the Department that we have had concerns about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There are no regulations, carve-outs or caveats at the moment and no criteria attached. We know there will be a decision on implementing it but there is no conditionality to the military expenditure attached to these loans, for example, that the military equipment purchased may only be used in a certain manner. Is that the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To go back to the question again, it is another part of the tracking. Are there measures in place around tracking the flow of weapons through third countries? We know there have been situations and we heard from the Ukrainian ambassador who attended the committee on foreign affairs this week. She spoke about the concern Ukraine had about Russia's ongoing access to weapons through third...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To be very clear, there are not those checks and safeguards in terms of ultimate use or human rights concerns within the SAFE regulation. I might come to the other question I had asked about Hungary. Has there been consideration or is there concern due to one of the largest drawdowns of funding for military expenditure being made by a country in which there are concerns about the rule of law?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Coming back to the other point Mr. Knauer made about procurement, we have heard from the Irish Department that Ireland is engaging in the joint procurement component of SAFE. That joint procurement can also include joint procurement with non-EU countries where there is a security and defence agreement. Will Mr. Knauer confirm that? We know Ukraine is currently included and it is possible...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It has been mentioned that countries can be added. What is the process to be added in that way? Does it go through the Commission or through the Council?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Coming back to the other COM, which is COM (2025) 123. This is the redirection of cohesion funding. Apologies to the representatives of the Department. I am conscious that our guests from the Commission are time-bound and that is why I am focusing my questions on them but their moment will come. This one is quite striking because redirecting what had been social cohesion funding towards a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Can Ms Dinkova confirm there has not been the use of an escape clause in the Stability and Growth Pact in relation to climate expenditure?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Perfect. If possible, I would like to get a follow-up note confirming that. I would also like a follow-up note on my question about tracking the expenditure. Ms Dinkova has described it as an industry-support measure but there is a question of potential imbalance if the industry tends to go to one or two countries with large-scale arms manufacturing. Has there been a tracking of where the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It related to SAFE, specifically the €150 billion. We know which countries are drawing it down; the question is where it gets spent. Some 60% of that will be within the EU. Will it be within particular countries? How is that balance determined? Much of it has been framed as industry support. That would be useful supplementary information. My time is up and my colleagues have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That may be a supplementary discussion. The actual Chair of the committee and I have engaged quite a lot in relation to the Stability and Growth Pact but it might be too much of a sidebar given the current focus on these two COMs. Ms Ralph wanted to come in but perhaps she can come in later on the cluster munitions legislation nationally and the concern she expressed about Hungary and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights at the United Nations: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and for the work they have been doing in their specific actions and in their advocacy as they have described. It is important to acknowledge from social rights and environmental perspectives that indigenous peoples occupy a small portion of the world, but a huge portion of the world's biodiversity and environmental richness has been in areas...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights at the United Nations: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To Mr. Jiménez Villalta maybe first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights at the United Nations: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Not from Dr. O'Connell. I just know I had specific questions for him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights at the United Nations: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Should we ask the EU not to block in the case of Ireland?

Seanad: Higher Education: Statements (21 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister to the House and look forward to engaging with him. I know he will bring a lot of thought to one of the most exciting briefs we have. I am going to go into a couple of issues. I will start with a piece the Minister knows, which is that higher education plays a crucial role in shaping not just the careers of the individuals who move through it and the economy, but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Climate Change Targets 2026-2030: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We had some engagement in the previous climate committee on the report on circularity. A lot of that report on circularity ended up focusing on the construction sector. Has progress been made on some of the things that would have been recommendations from the committee at that time? A couple of the areas the witnesses have touched on point towards that. They spoke about shifts in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Climate Change Targets 2026-2030: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have heard a figure from the UK that it can sometimes take up to 80 years to replace the savings of the emissions that came from demolition.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Climate Change Targets 2026-2030: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Oct 2025)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There is 15% vacancy. I want to go to the Green Building Council on the question about the regulation now in terms of energy performance, and maybe a last one on procurement, if people want to comment more on public procurement driving the standards piece.