Results 5,801-5,820 of 8,445 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank and commend ICTU on its presentation and for its work on just transition. What is really notable is the thinking is in that big picture. It is about recognising that this is not a piecemeal set of consequences that happen sector by sector. If we are recognising the massive transition involved in climate action, we need to be planning and reworking our employment, educational and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Just to be clear, it is key that it is in terms of collective solutions rather than simply the individualised solutions typically through the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. I am looking to how we bring back the remaking of our employment support systems in transition for a huge number of sectors. Could the witnesses just comment on the level to which we need to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for swapping with me as our Private Members' business slot is just beginning in the Seanad. Specifically around a just transition forum, the actual proposal for such a forum that we heard from ICTU was that the Workplace Relations Commission would act as chair to a stakeholder forum that would allow for addressing these issues. Potentially this could act as a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have limited time, so perhaps Mr. Donnellan could answer it tightly, because I do have a lot of follow-up questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: A case was made quite strongly for this. We have just transition funds. This is in a just transition frame, regardless of whether Bord na Móna and ESB like to be at the forefront. They are at the forefront of how we model this as a State. From my perspective it is something we need to look at beyond the existing industrial relations framework. I ask the Department, if it comes in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As to those new jobs that people are going into at the moment, some of which are internal, are those jobs with commensurate rights and experience? We have concerns that people will be transitioning to short-term contracts from what were previously long-term contracts or long-term employment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: No, I am not talking about redeployment, but those who have gone into, as Mr Donnellan has described them, new jobs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Of the 210 redeployment opportunities in rewetting and rehabilitation of Bord na Móna lands at the moment, we have heard that there are negotiations ongoing with the European Commission. That is around an enhancement beyond what the company needs to do as per the Environment Protection Agency, EPA, baseline. Is it the intention that regardless of how protracted the European Commission...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There is a concern in relation to that. The other thing mentioned by Mr. Donnellan was a limited number of new applications for the voluntary redundancy scheme. We have heard a concern that all older workers have had difficulty in being allowed to take voluntary redundancy. If we are looking at this collectively, which is our job as a committee, we have to look at the overall workplace....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Mr. Donnellan mentioned 35%.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I had addressed a question to the Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It was a question to the Department on the need for a stakeholder forum chaired by the Workplace Relations Commission that would allow us to address the issues.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The commissioner does not have a specific role in terms of workers' rights or negotiating around particular cohorts of workers, as I understand it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There is a disjointedness there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Just to be clear, while the WRC has an industrial relations role, the proposal relates not to the dispute mechanism but to the WRC acting as a chair to seek an agreement and stakeholder building space. It was an advisory discussion, not a dispute mechanism. While Mr. Donnellan spoke of dispute mechanisms and negotiations, what was being described was a forum. The latter is slightly different.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would like to indicate-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: In fairness, it was indicated earlier when many members were here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Supporting a Just Transition: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: When I stepped out, I indicated my support. Others could have done that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank our guests for their presentations. Deputy O'Keeffe is correct that there is an urgency in terms of taking speed off our roads and making a transition. The Joint Committee on Climate Action, of which I am a member, has discussed this issue. The 10% target rightly outlined by our guests as required was reiterated. It is very notable. Perhaps the witnesses will comment on it. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Policy: Discussion (20 Nov 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Before we move on, can I ask about parking? One of the key things around segregating lanes is not about sharing the road but is about parking within cycle lanes and health issues such as, for example, respiratory concerns.