Results 5,001-5,020 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Governor of the Central Bank (21 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With your permission, Chairman, I might group my questions into two sets so please let me know when I am half way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Governor of the Central Bank (21 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will focus first on the macroeconomic context. One of the roles of the Central Bank is engaging on the macroprudential policy tools and frameworks that are in place and examining the risks and how those tools and policy frameworks respond to risks. Covid is the current great risk we are dealing with but it is inside a wider context of the risks and changes represented by the climate and by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Governor of the Central Bank (21 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Will the Governor comment, in his written response, on the two-year suspension of fiscal rules, specifically relating to structural transformation and the potential that offers for public investment that may not have been possible in the context of the balanced books we had been seeking? I turn the domestic issues-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Governor of the Central Bank (21 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I had asked to have a comment on-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Governor of the Central Bank (21 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is okay. I might write to our guests about the tools.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Governor of the Central Bank (21 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Mr. Makhlouf. My questions relate to the tools he mentioned.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is not agreed.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: No. We need to clarify something before we continue with the debate. This is not to be obstructive, but a large number of amendments are related to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. I am happy for those to be taken together for the purposes of ease of debate. However, amendments Nos. 8 and 9 relate to a different issue, which is the question of whether copies should be made of records....

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is fine. It relates to the amendment rather than the section. Is that correct?

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is fine. I am happy to accept that. I propose that the grouping stand, as such, with the exception that amendments Nos. 8 and 9 are taken separately and that amendment No. 20 would be taken separately.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We can. People often do it.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:“ “Authority” means the Adoption Authority of Ireland;”. I am speaking to amendments Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, and several others. My contribution will be lengthier than I would like because this is such a large grouping. Amendment No. 1 is simply around ensuring the Bill would...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On a point of clarification, I suggest that we change the groupings. Amendments Nos. 19 and 20 are effectively alternatives to each other. To save me reiterating all the same points about amendments Nos. 19 and 20, I suggest that Nos. 19 and 20 be taken together. That might ease the Minister's response if that is agreeable to the House.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to address a couple of the issues to which the Minister has spoken. I also wish to add my concern about the manner in which this has been done. I suggest, frankly, that notwithstanding the urgency the Minister sees, there is still no excuse for Committee and Report Stages to be taken together. It does not allow for any real concerns. There are significant legal and legislative...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Senator McDowell for clarifying that the database is not affected by this, as it is important that there is unity across the House. There are a number of other areas of agreement across the House, but I must oppose amendments Nos. 7 and 21. I will explain why. It is about the core issue of people's rights to have their stories told, if they wish to tell them, and to own their words...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The amendment-----

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I need to respond.

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On amendment No. 7, I appreciate the points that were made by Senator McDowell and I had hoped that I could support this. It addresses those supplying a document or a record of information. However, my concern is on those who may have given testimony and statements and I was worried about a blurring of the line around such a document as might be a record of a testimony and so forth. I...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: In page 4, line 5, to delete "Agency" and substitute "Authority".