Results 3,621-3,640 of 8,211 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(f) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5B): “(5C) Notwithstanding subsection (5), in setting, at any particular time, the rent under a tenancy of a new dwelling in a rent pressure zone, where no tenancy in respect of that dwelling has previously...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are amendments Nos. 3 and 4 grouped?

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Perfect. On amendment No. 3, again, with respect, while the protections are there, they are not working. I will not go back into the previous area but I really urge that it be examined. While a tenant may make long-term energy savings, most tenants do not have the upfront money to risk a rent increase. They may have the future energy savings over a ten-year period but if it means they...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There are two fundamental issues there. First, with absolute respect and this is one of the flaws in much of the enforcement issues, the onus has been put on the tenant. Either somebody seeks to rent, because the nature of this is that these are new potential properties and new properties that are coming on stream, so one does not have a tenant who complains that the rent is too high...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 4: "In page 6, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “5.The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 24C: “Annual report on enforcement of rent pressure zones 24D.On an annual basis following the commencement of this section, the Minister shall cause a report to be laid before the House on the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This amendment relates to the issues of the powers and protections and their enforcement. I am hopeful that the Minister of State might be able to accept this amendment. I hope it is possible. The amendment goes to the fact that while the Residential Tenancies Board has different powers, the investigation and sanctions unit of the Residential Tenancies Board only sanctioned 29 landlords in...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is great to hear that more than 240 cases are to be confirmed but only 29 have been confirmed thus far. The monetary amounts may be large, but that only raises the alarm in terms of the money that has been potentially wrongfully taken from tenants. If that monetary amount is attached to only 29 cases, there is a really serious concern. It is good to hear that there are 250 cases in the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “Long Tenure notice period 7. Section 33 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following after “section 34”: “, and subject to a variable notice period determined by the duration of the tenancy. For a tenancy of more than two years duration, each additional...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: In these amendments, I am trying to address an issue of lengthy tenancies. Some people rent for their whole life. For persons who may have been renting for 15 or 20 years and older people there is a particular vulnerability for older people who may be trying to seek housing in a new market and may either have a very limited fixed income in terms of pension or, sometimes, a very insecure...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I might just flip that around and say that 18% of landlords own a vast amount of rental property. The Minister of State referred to the majority of landlords only owning one or two properties, but a small number of landlords own huge amounts of property. This proposal is appropriate. Such landlords will not be stuck in these circumstances. Sometimes the small landlord gets pushed out, yet...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Disability Services with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: A number of my questions and issues that I am concerned about have been raised but I will drill a little bit further into a few of them. I wish to follow up on the question of the optional protocol and the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act. We need to be really clear that it is not an either-or situation. I mean that we should hear that there is a value in the operational protocol...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Disability Services with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With absolute respect for the Minister of State's commitment, I waited through the four-year term of the last Oireachtas for the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, which we were promised at the very beginning of that term. It only just happened at the end and that was also with a Minister who was committed to the area. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Disability Services with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will not talk more on that issue except to add that, when cases are taken under the protocol, that does not represent a failure of the State. It shows progress in moving forward.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Disability Services with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: However, there are certainly areas in which action can be anticipated. One of the key ones has been touched on. I refer to the scale of the move from congregated settings and the fact that there has had to be prioritisation in respect of the new residential places rather than all who need them being accommodated. The transition of those who are in situations we know to be inappropriate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Disability Services with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will make two brief follow-up points, the first of which has to do with something I did not get a chance to mention. I am concerned at the idea of it taking a year to arrive at a definition of "personal assistance". According to everyone we have heard from, it is one of the most crucial elements. We should aim for a definition by June. Will the witnesses clarify whether disabled persons...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Aligning Disability Services with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Mr. O'Regan.

Seanad: Companies (Emission Reporting) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I know the Minister of State has been engaging very constructively with my colleague, Senator Ruane, and I commend her and both Tadhg Browne, her current assistant, and, of course, Sebastian McAteer, who has done really important work in developing this legislation. I am very proud to have this Bill brought forward in the name of the Civil Engagement Group. In the short time I have, I will...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I had hoped that the sensible amendment tabled by the Labour Party Senators might have been accepted as it is better than the current section 7 in that it addressed the issues of the duration of tenancy and sequential tenancies. It is important that we recognise Part 4 and recognise that there is a duration issue beyond the question of simply qualifying as a Part 4 tenancy. For example, we...

Seanad: Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2019: Céim an Choiste - Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (24 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Tairgim leasú Uimh. 20: I leathanach 17, idir línte 15 agus 16, an méid seo a leanas a chur isteach: “Caighdeáin teanga sa tsainfháil phoiblí 9F.I gcás go ngabhfaidh comhlacht poiblí do phróiseas sainfhála poiblí lena bhféachfaidh an comhlacht poiblí le conradh a dhámhachtain as seirbhís phoiblí a...

Seanad: Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2019: Céim an Choiste - Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (24 Nov 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will not dwell on this amendment. I mentioned the local employment service as an example. To be absolutely factual, it is 100% the case that it does not have to go out to tender. There is very clear guidance within EU law, procurement law and the 2014 directive on that, but I will leave it aside. I want to make it clear that there is nothing in my amendment that is tied to that example....