Results 3,361-3,380 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With respect to the Minister of State, the fact is a scheme will come after the legislation, whereas we should be looking at that before we pass the legislation. We talk about enabling legislation, but to enable us to trust the legislation, we need to know exactly what we are signing off on. While I do not doubt the Minister of State’s personal interest in native forestry, the fact...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would point out that the issue is precisely the fact that things might get taken out. I do not think we want to see anything taken out through a scheme, we want to see the measures that are necessary and that are basic in the law. It is precisely because of that idea of the Minister of State going back and forth taking things out. One can add extra provisions or protections through...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Just before I do that I will point out to the Minister of State that I could have added in a number of factors to amendments Nos. 1 and 2. I did not put in everything. There are many things I could have put in. I really have put into this amendment the minimum that should be required and I will reserve the right, on Report Stage, to put in the other factors that I think we should be...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(3) Section 9 shall not be commenced until the Minister has laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas: (a) a report on areas where there are sensitivities where unlicensed planting would not be permitted, including on— (i) area sensitive for biodiversity, (ii) areas sensitive for...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be brief because I want to speak to some of the same issues, but I will speak them under section 7 because that is where a lot of the detail about the transition is. We have to do more to make it just. I refer to this section because it is around the animal welfare component. I would note that this the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. A Bill...

Seanad: Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I had held back, but I want to offer something in the crucial debate we are having. We will end up debating these points again when we discuss section 7. The question about just transition is important. Senator Lombard put it well when he talked about the idea of the template. I believe there are two layers to just transition. One is that it is a transition towards justice, towards...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Ombudsman. It is great to see the work already kicking in. I am also a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters and the Joint Committee on Climate Action, where this is also an area of concern. A few of my questions are around the intersection of those areas. Mr. Deering pointed to the distance that needs to be travelled in terms of public transport reform....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is because it is not based on individual need. I apologise that I was not clear. What was I asking was should GP certification be used as an interim measure, given this situation with the primary medical certification? My first question was on this exact point, concerning the replacement of this method with an individual assessment mechanism. Would such an approach be more in line...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On the age issue, I agree with Mr. Deering regarding the employment aspect. My other query concerned people being disqualified at a certain age from the scheme. As I understand it, that was one of the key findings regarding where the motorised transport scheme was in conflict with the Equal Status Acts. Again, the concern here is that this might be a wider issue in respect of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Mr. Deering. Social protection might be an interesting area to explore in that regard, as I believe some of the same assumptions are still present there, unfortunately.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I was very struck by many aspects of the testimony we heard but particularly the client who was unable to travel. There is the wider issue where no appeals are possible currently because of the inappropriateness of the assessment system. I was also struck that a client in a local Citizens Information Services office lost an appeal because the person was unable to travel the five hours to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Just to follow up, Mr. O'Brien mentioned the emergency needs payment. I was just so struck by that woman who clearly needs support with transport as she could not even fund transport to her appeal. The emergency needs payment is one mechanism. Dr. Lajoie also mentioned the idea of interest-free loans. Will she expand a little on that as an idea? There is that concern Deputy Doherty...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On that, it strikes me that refundable tax credits is another measure that has been talked about before. So many of the schemes we have are delivered through tax reliefs. If people are under a certain threshold, they are not really benefiting from them. My last question concerns an issue I raised with the Ombudsman, namely, the intersection on age and disability. A concern raised in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme: Discussion (16 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It strikes me that like the UK, we should look at the Vimes Boots Index. I do not know if the witnesses have been following it. As Mr. O'Brien said, the idea is that there is an extra cost. For example, the good boots might cost €50 and last a lifetime, but everybody is buying €10 boots because they cannot afford that €50. It is the idea of not having capital carrying...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I commend the Cathaoirleach and all of the staff and others who were involved in today's launch of Seanad 100. It is an exciting year ahead and it is interesting to be looking back at the past 100 years. There have been some very strong contributions and inspiration from speeches from former Senator Mary Robinson and the current longest serving Senator, Senator David Norris. I rise to ask...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That it not be taken today or that it not be taken without debate.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Apologies. I ask that it would be postponed to another day, and not taken today.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am open to other suggestions from the Leader.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Formally second my amendment.