Results 2,641-2,660 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Strong cases have been made by Senators McDowell and Ward. This area is not my focus, which tends to be on human rights representation and the very important layperson's perspective. I have always been an advocate in general, in all areas of public service, for 360° references, whereby not just those who have worked above a person but also those who have worked below and alongside him...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: A truism that is constantly put forward in the context of all boards is that we need boards to be much smaller. It is a message that comes out again and again but without evidence.In general, with regard to "nothing about us without us" and all these other principles for which we argue in different ways, there should be an openness to moving to 13 if that is the case. It is not so much to...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 4: In page 10, line 30, to delete “2” and substitute “3”. I will speak to the grouping because amendment No. 4 is consequential on the other amendments in this grouping. The core of this grouping is amendment No. 6, which would delete the provision in the Bill as stands that the Attorney General would sit on the judicial appointments...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Returning to my amendments, which relate to the Attorney General, if amendment No. 6 is not successful, I will not move amendment No. 11 so you will have it all to yourselves. I will certainly be opposing it if amendment No. 6 is not successful. The statements here have made the case for my amendments. I have not opposed the political stage of the process. My amendments do not seek to...

Seanad: Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be brief because I have several amendments that will give me an opportunity to discuss the specific issues. As said by others, it is right to recognise that many households are facing an emergency regarding energy costs but I believe more could and should be done to ensure that while we address the energy crisis, we also address the associated crisis, namely the climate crisis, and...

Seanad: Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: These are good amendments. It is interesting that in the amendments there is a recognition of some of the nuance on this issue. As I mentioned previously, a decision was made in May this year, which was when the energy crisis was well flagged and very much under way. There was a clear understanding that by May energy companies were making large profits and were not struggling in any sense...

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...