Results 2,601-2,620 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: While the directive proposes that people should be encouraged to go directly to public bodies, my concern is that the way this provision is phrased is less about encouraging people to do that and more about discouraging reports to Ministers. It is by having positive measures within public bodies that we will encourage employees to act. When cases begin to pile up, people who make a...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will maybe make two-----

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have one further point and one follow-up question for the Minister. It is right and proper for us, as parliamentarians and Oireachtas Members, that there should be a political accountability element to it as well. Ultimately, those of us who are elected, and those of us who are fortunate enough to be elevated to the position of being responsible for an area of public life in Ireland as a...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will probably withdraw a number of the subsequent amendments because I think we have potential for engagement on them. I will press amendment No. 28, however, which is the fundamental principle of it.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 31: In page 23, line 33, to delete “and” where it secondly occurs and substitute “or”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 33: In page 24, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(ia) the worker reasonably believes that their own manager or the head of the public body is complicit in the wrongdoing concerned;”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 34: In page 24, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(ia) the worker did not feel confident to make a report under section 6, 7 or 8 due to a reasonable fear of penalisation;”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 35: In page 24, line 6, to delete “an imminent or manifest danger” and substitute “a danger”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 36: In page 24, lines 7 and 8, to delete “, such as where there is an emergency situation or a risk of irreversible damage”. I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 39: In page 24, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(4A) Where a Minister of the Government or a head of a public body receives a protected disclosure which is outside the remit of their Department of State or public body, they shall seek the views of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner and with the consent of the reporting person transmit to...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: Unfortunately, I regard the section as a step backwards and formally oppose the section.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This session has focused on care and social protection. The points Ms Daly made are very relevant to the recommendations of the citizens' assembly on violence against women. We will incorporate those important points. I was struck by the request for ongoing training of persons working in the Department of Social Protection. It sounds like the same training is also needed in the health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Perhaps Ms Phelan could answer some of my questions on social protection when she is answering Deputy Clarke

Seanad: Annual Transition Statement: Statements (22 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have to join with the points made by Senator Ó Donnghaile about regretting that we have not been having these transition statements in the way we should have done over the last few years. I was in the last Oireachtas and we had them at that point. There are two aspects of regret. It has been an opportunity missed by the Government in forwarding the climate debate to have these...

Seanad: Annual Transition Statement: Statements (22 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.

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: I have a few initial questions, with the first one on procurement, which I have been considering. I might come back in later as I am going through the hard copy of the full report. I have produced legislation and engaged with officials in the Department on quality public procurement. The use of price quality approaches means that rather than going with the lowest price that meets the...

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: Is demolition included?

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: Before Ms O'Loughlin responds on the equality issue, I have a quick follow-up question on the cost-benefit aspect. In the climate committee's report on transport, one of the issues we identified was the concern that the cost-benefit approach used on major transport and other projects did not really give a weighting to the idea of induced impact. It was very much based on a demand-centred...

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: I have a quick follow-up to that. I should mention that I am also a member of the Joint Committee on Gender Equality. I know that we will be talking about gender mainstreaming and equality. We might look at the very good individual projects that are listed on pages 115 to 117, many of which specifically relate to supporting equality in the context of certain targeted groups Ms O'Loughlin...