Results 1-20 of 277 for long speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...the moment, some of which are internal, are those jobs with commensurate rights and experience? We have concerns that people will be transitioning to short-term contracts from what were previously long-term contracts or long-term employment.

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We spoke on this amendment such a long time ago so I beg the indulgence of the Chair. I seek clarification for those who have not signed the amendment which is quite long and complex and who may wish to put forward their own version of a road safety amendment on Report Stage. This is a complex amendment which includes a number of provisions. Will we still be free on Report Stage to put...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “Long Tenure notice period 7. Section 33 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following after “section 34”: “, and subject to a variable notice period determined by the duration of the tenancy. For a tenancy of more than two years duration, each additional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: An earlier question I asked on long-term education was not answered. What is the protocol for those who say this is not the right option for me and who are interested in education? To what extent are long-term educational options offered as opposed to six-month options? What is the protocol for those who prefer not to deal with a private company and wish to return to the Intreo system?...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (28 May 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 12: In page 8, line 26, after “and” to insert the following: "support the long-term sustainability of diverse communities, including the intergenerational sustainability of urban communities, and". I thank the Minister of State and colleagues across the House who have recognised the importance of sustainability and diversity. There is a common...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (26 Sep 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...look at the entire stock of housing. Is Dr. Keilthy proposing or outlining the possibility of a carrot and stick approach being taken, whereby there would be an incentive for those who offer long-term tenancy security, that, in effect, there would be a stick in that at a certain point, if a private rental property was below a certain energy rating, it is something which might need to be...

Seanad: Finance (European Stability Mechanism and Single Resolution Fund) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (4 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...services rather than through direct public investment or provision, and ... an analysis of the costs associated with such an approach, including the opportunity cost of short-term expenditure versus long-term investment. We could list these, from Irish Water, which had to be done off balance sheet, creating much tension around the concern it was not being done through our public...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (10 Nov 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I support the extension of the university franchise and I have done so for a long time. In that context, of course, I cannot but support the Bill and its proposals. I specifically commend several choices which were made. I support seeking a wide single six-seater university panel. That is important. Another decision which I support, and which was something I and Senator Warfield pressed...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...must establish, maintain and operate internal reporting channels and procedures. It proposes a shift in the timeline from 17 December 2023 to 30 June 2023. It just shifts the time because we have waited a very long time for this. Something that is 18 months away feels too long and 12 months is more than adequate. These are companies with 250 or more employees, so they are quite large....

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The periods here are just too long. We have suggested a range of different dates in the amendments. Senator Warfield's amendment suggests 1 January 2022 and I have given a slightly lengthier period and suggested 1 October 2022, which sees us through another winter, spring, summer and autumn. I have also suggested, in a few different places, the date of 1 January 2023. The date of 1...

Seanad: Communications, Climate Action and the Environment: Statements (6 Jul 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister. His brief strongly combines both urgency and a long-term perspective, even beyond that of other Ministries. That urgency and long-term perspective was addressed to the area of broadband. Obviously, urgent action is needed and I commend that. However, I join others in expressing concern in terms of the long-term implications in regard to the issue of privatisation....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Maternity Hospital (8 Mar 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...who matter, whom the State should have to accommodate or please, are the women of Ireland. It should not have to negotiate with others. A stronger approach is needed. Ninety-nine years is not a long time in the context of the generations to come. The structures are clear. It could be the case that a company with its own motivations could have mortgaged properties, could have created...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Performance Report: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...perhaps do not have thoughts on it for now and nobody is really engaged, perhaps they could follow in up writing. The semester process became very much about the annual indicators and the long-term timeframe was lost. As a result, I believe Europe lost a decade when it should have been investing heavily in the green transition and, indeed, areas like the digital transition. That is one...

Seanad: Electoral Reform (Amendment) and Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (10 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...it was complicated and needed to be teased out. We teased it out. We produced solutions. We now say all of that teasing out, which we were told was important, has been set aside. Meanwhile the long-awaited electoral commission is only building up to an issue which has been the pressing democratic deficit in Irish society since 1979, the year the Taoiseach was born. That is not good...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jul 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...currently the requirement for the working family payment, which is a vital subsidy for many people, is that they would be working 38 hours in a fortnight, that is, 19 hours in a week. That has long been a problem in respect of one sector, namely, childcare, whereby most people are on 15 hour contracts. The fact that childcare is only for 15 hours means that those who are reliant on that...

Seanad: Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023: Report Stage (Resumed) (28 Mar 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ..., the improvement of the monument or supporting the monument. It can be a completely different category of relevant works which is simply there because it used to happen previously. It could be a long-term project of building a completely different public development that happens nearby, so it may not be Tara but it might be the wall next to Tara. There are things like that and it may...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ..., but not for the period of time within which resolution or a response is to be given or in which redress should be provided. People who have made a whistleblowing complaint often wait a very long time, as the Minister has heard. I am glad he gave some acknowledgement in his earlier amendment. Some people who made a complaint many years ago are still awaiting the information on what...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Sep 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...a key role. Of course I also thank the Cathaoirleach himself for his work in that regard. I would like to make an appeal that this temporary movement of the Seanad Chamber be accompanied by long overdue movement on the issue of Seanad reform. We know that such reform is in the programme for Government and that it has been committed to repeatedly by all parties, yet we have still not...

Seanad: Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jul 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a couple of matters to raise. The problem is not so much whether people are long-term unemployed but rather how we have been treating the long-term unemployed with the JobPath scheme. I am sure as the Minister enters her brief she will look back and see the litany of testimony from the social protection committee around the concerns arising from a narrowing of options associated with...

Seanad: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 18: In page 10, line 38, to delete "the need to promote" and substitute "Ireland’s commitments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the need to promote long term". We do not need to go over this again. This amendment is about the need to promote Ireland's commitments under the United Nations sustainable development goals and the need to...