Results 201-220 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I formally second my colleague, Senator Ruane’s amendment to the Order of Business. I support Senator Gavan’s recommendation about our nurses, from student nurses up to those who are trying to put together teams who are managing entirely unwieldy situations in our hospitals. We need to look at a crisis not only in recruitment but also in retention of our nursing staff. For a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I listened to some of the debate. I apologise if I repeat some of the questions that have already been asked. I was trying to make sure I was on the premises in order to contribute. I will begin with the Office of Government Procurement. Ms Stewart spoke about developing the criteria, which is really important work. She referred to what the OGP will use for assessing green public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Of course there is individual discretion and, even in my legislation, the individual discretion of the procurement officers is there. What would indicate a change? What would give us the shift we need? Ms Stewart might also address the question of the technical specifications. There are two pieces: the technical specification, which is included within the details, and there is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The witnesses might provide the committee with figures on life-cycle costing and the extent to which that is being done. I know it was touched on a little bit but it would be good to get it in writing, particularly some examples of the kinds of weighting given to environmental criteria and a sense of the extent of life-cycle costing. I have two specific questions, one of which comes back...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I know another Senator has arrived. On the SEAI, there is something I cannot understand. The witnesses spoke about the €96 million that has been invested in the HSE and the fact that ten buildings are being done. It seems to me that again, we are operating within a particular timescale. It seems that 2030 is almost the bar for how we achieve things. It seems to me that the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes, of course.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is interesting that 80% of industry emissions are from 250 companies. There are two things. One is the business case. A concern I have about the climate fund is that this is where most of the resources are going. When a business case is being made, is there scope in that for preventative spending? Is there a narrative of "We are spending so that the State does not have to spend in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am referring to what occurs above that level. Let us say it is about the State leading.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With regard to energy choice, for example, surely we should not be connecting anything to gas at this point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not want to pre-empt our report but I will just mention it. The recertification of materials – Mr. O’Brien mentioned certification – is a matter that the committee looked into. It would be of great assistance if there were a recertification mechanism.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It strikes me that there is potentially a role for in-house skill development as well. It is not just a case of the public sector being a customer but we need to build in-house skills within that area whereby people could even be employed by the State. Expertise could then be transferred from project to project. It sounds like that might be another way this could be addressed. My last...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion (15 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Excellent. I asked Mr. O'Sullivan about the potential for a State body which would ensure that we have in-house skills available for some of those areas in which we are going to need people for the next 30 years.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We need to be clear about what is in front of us. It would be misrepresentative to present it either as the reform we need of the Seanad or even as a first step towards that reform. What we have now is not the beginning of a path to reform; rather, it is the latest play in what has been a litany of blocks, delays and obstructions put in the way of Seanad reform by governments for a long...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Exactly. I am aware of that. That is why I am acknowledging that. The public said they care about the Seanad and want a say in the Seanad. That was the mandate from 2013. As a result of that, there was a brief acknowledgment. There was the Manning report, which was initiated to look to the ways in which we can widen and open the Seanad, make it more inclusive and ensure that people...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (10 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Seanad Bill 2020 is also before the House. I want it acknowledged that it is on the Order Paper and in front of the Houses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (9 Oct 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I begin by saying I share the regret that others have expressed regarding the Central Bank's poor decision to remove its unit of consumer protection and regulation. I understand the functions. I do not need to have the elaboration again. The functions are taken up across different areas. However, very often in this committee, key issues of financial regulation that need to be highlighted,...