Results 421-440 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (19 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This is in the climate action plan. I can quote the sections to the Chair, but it would bore him. There is a section on our international responsibility within the climate action plan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Review of the Climate Action Plan: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (19 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: If no one else wants to come in, I have a minor question in relation to taxation on SUVs and luxury vehicles. Reference was made to the taxation by weight that applies in France. This is a way of addressing the SUV issue. The majority of new vehicles owned in Ireland are SUVs. In France, the taxation on such vehicles increases by weight. Is that being looked at in the context of the budget?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: If we are getting follow-up information, it would be useful to know for how long there has been planning permission in respect of the 3,500 units. It is not just a case of how many are social and affordable but also how long the planning permission has been in existence. This is a concern when things are dealt with as assets rather than priorities for building. We know that lots of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Sure. We can get the detail in writing. I will work backwards, almost, through some of the points my colleagues have made. As regards the purposes of NAMA, Deputy Doherty was quite right in how he phrased his contribution, and they are in the legislation. Right below the line about "dealing expeditiously", which has been quoted extensively, is paragraph (c), which states that one of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: "In the interests of the State" as well, which is key-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Carville sees those as competing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Would the goal not be to try to ensure they are reconciled, that you-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is very interesting because I will come to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have quite a few questions to get through and I am conscious of the time, but Mr. Carville is now arguing that paragraphs (1)(b) and (1)(c) of section 10 are somehow in conflict with each other or that there is a balancing act between moving fast and delivering good outcomes. That is a very strange understanding of-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With respect to Mr. Carville, there is a kind of casualness in the tone. This is not a spin of the roulette wheel. These are people being paid extraordinary fees to take decisions. It is not a matter of "let us see what happens". The question, which is around the quality of the work that was done and the extent to which it reflected that obligation with regard to financial value for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: First, I do not think we can pass legislation which not only sets out the winding up but the terms for the winding up without knowing what issues might arise. I am going to come to some of the proposed terms for the winding up in a moment, but I note what others have said regarding documentation. It is very clear under section 60(7)(b) of the Data Protection Act that one of the reasons...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Well the liquidator was-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Nonetheless, we have heard about the liquidator in terms of the IBRC discussion around the potential destruction and we were not able to get a clear answer-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is a matter of great public interest. Public interest is the ground in question and therefore it would be useful to have that legal advice shared with us, as Oireachtas Members, in the context of our responsibilities to ensure, represent and protect the public interest. With respect, we do not know exactly what is happening-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We are simply being told they have legal advice-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: -----as to what they destroy or keep. From our perspective, that is an inadequate answer in respect of a matter which is awaiting the publication of a commission of investigation report and where there are very significant issues. An absolutely core matter of concern is the proposed indemnification. We need only look to Project Eagle and the sale of the Northern Ireland portfolio. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: In the context of head 24(3), the concern is that the determination of who is acting in good faith and who is not will lie with the resolution board, the membership of which will comprise people who worked for NAMA. It is the same staff. There are two issues here. First is indemnity and the idea of indemnity being granted on a blanket basis and that it may be removed in some cases. Second...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Head 24(3) gives the resolution board of the NTMA the power to revoke indemnity. The head also gives the resolution board the legal power to indemnify members.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Conclusion of IBRC Special Liquidation and Dissolution of NAMA Bill: Department of Finance (18 Sep 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That may have been the case with the original legislation. However, the context here is the serious concerns we began with around the poor decision-making that seemed out of line with the obligations of NAMA under section 10 of that legislation. I refer also to the specific investigations which have found wrongdoing or which are looking at the possibility of wrongdoing in relation to the...