Results 6,181-6,200 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins
- Seanad: Transport Matters: Statements (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I will not.
- Seanad: Transport Matters: Statements (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be very brief. There are many points and issues I am sure I will have an opportunity to follow up on, including the issues of freight and our ports. Perhaps a separate debate will be needed on those matters. Public transport has been at the core of much of today's discussion. The benefits of public transport do not come in the balance sheets of Iarnród Éireann or Bus...
- Seanad: Transport Matters: Statements (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: The climate committee has called for 10% spending on cycling infrastructure. A motion has been passed in the Dáil calling for that too. I welcome the fact that the Minister has engaged with me and others on the issue. However, we are still looking at funding which is woefully under that level, while the Project Ireland 2040 estimates include provision for only 5%. How can we increase...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I read the report, but I might take a moment if it is appropriate. If the Minister wishes to respond to questions, I might-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I apologise for arriving late to the meeting but I had to attend a debate in the Seanad. There is much that is very positive in the Indecon report and there is a detailed breakdown of what we already know from the different testimonies to the committee. I wish to focus on the benefits of the LES. I might mention JobPath but I will focus on the schemes we are reviewing. The Minister will be...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I will return to the procurement question. There is a case to be made for alternatives but I accept this is the route the Minister is looking at. The social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, was restricted to not-for-profit and other similar services. Is that a capacity within the tendering process? I am serious when I say that there are spaces for human services where...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Quality and responsiveness are important. The scaling moved up quickly with JobPath. There would be space and freedom from the European procurement directives if tendering was not pursued and Intreo's internal capacity was looked at instead. Is there potential for, or are there plans for, increasing Intreo's staffing levels and perhaps, in some of the ongoing work, increasing the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: What about the quality weighting I referred to and will education be a recognised outcome?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I concur with the Chairman's request that the committee have an input in the process because it is very important that we do so. We have already made a case in respect of services of general interest. One of the issues was outcomes, specifically educational outcomes. The Minister outlined how it may take people five or six years to move through a service. Let us say there is a two-year or...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: We must recognise any movement out of the remit of the Department and into long-term education, a primary degree or whatever. This should be recognised and it would be very useful for the committee to have an input. Just transition and multi-annual contracts are very important but they must be flexible and able to respond, for example, to the collapse of an industry caused by Brexit,...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: We may have to discuss the issue of just transition separately. It will become an issue in the next decade.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: We can plan for that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Sure.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Indecon Reports on Job Clubs and Local Employment Services: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (4 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: It will not be a payment-by-results dynamic.
- Seanad: Public Authorities and Utility Undertakings (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2019: Second Stage (3 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I thank all those who contributed to the drafting of this Bill, especially David Dodd, Kate Butler and Kieran Mooney, and others associated with the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Advisers, who contributed to its drafting and ensured its legality in every line and letter. I thank the academics who have worked with me, particularly...
- Seanad: Public Authorities and Utility Undertakings (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2019: Second Stage (3 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State and all other contributors for their engagement. I am grateful for the support many have given to the Bill. I wish to address a few of the points that arose. I appreciate that if the Bill passes today we will have further opportunities to engage on it. It is important to be clear that quality is not balanced against value for money. Rather, it is a part of...
- Seanad: Public Authorities and Utility Undertakings (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2019: Second Stage (3 Apr 2019)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Next Tuesday.