Results 2,361-2,380 of 8,482 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I was not on the premises so I could not speak until now. We have covered so much, I am not going to get the witnesses to repeat things. What was mentioned about Independents is interesting, speaking as an Independent Senator within an Independent Senator group who are all women. There is something there around the signal it sends and the signal that gets sent. I have a specific...

Seanad: Breastfeeding: Motion (12 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I warmly welcome the motion and congratulate Senator Pauline O’Reilly on it. It is great. It is very long - at three and half pages - because it is filled with practical, specific and real measures that could be implemented and would make a great difference to women and to breastfeeding. As the Senator has mentioned, the recommendations in the motion relate to matters like...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We might be better to have separate responses. I have very specific questions. I welcome the Taoiseach to the committee. In his opening statement, he specifically mentioned committing to holding a referendum on Article 41.2 of Bunreacht na Éireann but, as he will be aware, the recommendations of the citizens' assembly relate not only to Article 41.2 but also, crucially, Article 41.3...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On Article 41.3, the specific aspect I want to focus on is the recommendation on the family. Under Article 41.3 at the moment, the definition of "the Family" really only entails the marital family. That has a very real impact. We have spoken about lone parents where 25% of all the families in Ireland are single-parent households. That is 25% of all our families who are not recognised as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I must also mention what is useful for us. To be honest, there is very wide agreement in this committee but the information we do not have is on the questions or concerns that the Government has, including from the Attorney General and others. This is why we have constitutional experts who are coming to meet with the committee and who have spoken to us. We have legal experts on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank our guests. I have lots of questions. It is a point worth making that we have had this delay factor from IBEC, unfortunately, on lots of factors of progress. I was looking at it historically and one of the things that came up is that the Federated Union of Employers opposed the granting of equal pay in principle and had to be forced to change that position through a sit-in at its...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Did we not see during the recession, for example, lots of employers pulling out of the joint labour committees, JLCs, for key sectors? We had cases where we had sectoral negotiations under way and the employers pulled out. Employers should not be able to pick and choose whether to engage in sectoral discussions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will raise a new point. It was interesting to hear in respect of the right to remote working that it would be the exception to justify a refusal of it rather than just the right to request. Will the witnesses comment on the right to disconnect as potentially an important part that links with that? There have been concerns about the overtime expectations that sometimes come with remote...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will ask a tiny additional question because Ms Buckley has reminded me of something important, that being, the phenomenon of hostile scheduling. Women with teenagers and so on have often spoken about being slightly better paid and slightly further up the ladder but sometimes getting pushed out by aggressive scheduling. Union membership can help to alleviate this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Staff are also dealing with higher energy costs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The ESRI clarified that even where there were hour reductions, research shows employees' wages stayed the same. They may have been working slightly fewer hours but they received the same or greater pay than previously. That is important to note. It is useful to clarify that we already have a mechanism for companies that show an inability to pay. It is time we moved past the anecdotal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a follow-up question on pensions in the context of what ICTU is saying about them. It is not so much about what the Government or others are saying. We know that tax relief at a marginal rate predominantly benefits men. There is talk of increasing the number of years of contributions required. When the requirement for contributions was increased in the past, it pushed a huge number...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am conscious that the witnesses were invited to speak on other recommendations and perhaps we could get a follow-up to this question in writing. The cohort Dr. Bambrick mentioned is very specific. Massive changes are proposed, as has been mentioned. Unless people have a large number of paid contributions, they will not be able to actualise their care contributions. The threshold has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With regard to the number of years, the key question will be how many credited contributions. I am sure this can be included in the detailed answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am excited about the focus on flexibility and the four-day week has been mentioned. We know that the right to request remote work Bill has gone through pre-legislative scrutiny. I agree with the principle that we do not want to have a two-tier approach on flexibility. The citizens' assembly recommended flexible working in the wider sense and not solely remote working. Should we try to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Will anyone comment on the progression piece? We focus a lot on entry and women in leadership roles. However, we know from when Athena SWAN tried to transform the university sector, much attention was paid to the mid-level roles. As part of the terms and conditions that unions can help, enhance and improve, it is about ensuring there is gender equality around the rungs on the ladder.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I like how Mr. Joyce referred to their "own style of leadership". It is not just about women going into leadership but leadership itself being redefined.

Seanad: Higher Education Authority Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yesterday, the Minister spoke about wanting future legislation that deals with students' unions. If the desire to move forward is to be credible and if we are to strengthen how we think about students' unions and their role, it is important that we not move backwards. The Bill refers to a student member on the boards of governance. There is a danger that this will be a backwards step. The...