Results 6,361-6,380 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am talking about the education sector, as some of those who will be affected are in interim arrangements. The Minister of State spoke about the urgency of passing the Bill. That is accepted by all Members. However, we must use that time after this Bill is passed to work in finding solutions to this issue.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I support this amendment and commend the Minister of State on waiving the commencement provision to ensure this Bill is enacted early. I am concerned at the reference to the question of whether we should or should not have had an interim arrangement. The key point for me is the point at which we realised and accepted the policy intent that we want to ensure persons can work until the age...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are these the amendments in respect of the three-month report?

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I just wanted to check. I will wait.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I agree with the sentiments of Senator Conway-Walsh on the changes to compulsory retirement age but the pension age in Ireland is moving towards being one of the highest. Some people may have started very early in their life, such as at 20, or aged 15. It is important to note that they are different.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I know that. It is important that the decision is an issue of choice, and not a question of whether the contributory State pension is available, in which cases an escalation is not necessarily positive.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There is a concern here, which the Minister of State has heard in both Houses because it affects people in these buildings, though it also affects many people outside. The overall policy intent of the Bill is effectively a recognition of the fact that persons are able to work, contribute and add value up to the age of 70. I feel passionately about this. About eight years ago, in 2010, I...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill 2018: First Stage (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the proposal.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On behalf of the Civil Engagement Group, I join in thanking all of the staff in the Seanad who have accommodated us in having many late night sittings. We have had moments of contestation and co-operation in the Houses this year. I thank all those who supported my motion on Yemen last night. All sides in the Seanad making the conflict in Yemen an issue was important. For me, one of the...

Seanad: Conflict in Yemen: Motion (19 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move:That Seanad Éireann:notes that:- over three years of conflict in Yemen has had a devastating impact on the population of Yemen; resulting in 3.1 million people forced to flee their homes since March 2015 and as many as 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance; - 14.1 million people in Yemen have insufficient access to food and are at risk of famine; - the de facto...

Seanad: Conflict in Yemen: Motion (19 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I very much thank the representatives present and the Members of all parties and none in the House who signed the motion to ensure it is a message that comes from the Upper House as a whole. I thank the Minister of State for being present and the Government for giving time for this important debate and for giving us the opportunity to send an important signal and message on the importance of...

Seanad: Finance (African Development (Bank and Fund) and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2018: Second Stage (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. In principle, I support this Bill. As others have said, we have previously discussed the relationship between Ireland and many African countries. Africa is a young continent. As many of the new approaches to development that are going to come out of countries of Africa will shape much of the next millennium, it is appropriate that the State...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 2:In page 11, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:“(2) The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas, a report to include—(a) an estimation of the potential cost of calculating this scheme on the basis of 1,560 contributions rather than 2,080, and (b) a comparison of the...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is only ten. It can be accessed at ten years of credits but I had raised this issue previously with one of the Minister's officials and was told that technically it is 20, but it can be accessed at ten years of credits. In any case, the current situation means that we knew in 2010 and from the 2010 pension proposals that there was a plan to move towards a total contribution approach of...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To clarify, the amendment specifically relates to the scheme up to 2020. It is significant, and the two issues are related, but I am not asking for something that does not exist yet. I am simply pointing out that a new precedent has been set. This scheme represents the first time that a threshold of 40 years has been set, which is significant. While I respect the fact that no decision has...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: And moved the requirement overall to 40 years. The Minister told us about some of the issues on the table that have not been decided yet in respect of the total contribution, but two of those ideas are being trialled in this case, which is why it might have been relevant to look at it as a cohort that might provide an example. With due respect, 2020 is only two years away, so it is...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is a concern, and this was an opportunity to address it. Next year is 2019, and the decision will clearly be made then. It was a suggestion that modelling be done. The Minister has said that 70% qualified when the requirement was for 2080 contributions. My question is, of that cohort, how many might have been expected to qualify using the same projection? The provision has not come in...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is important that we are clear for the record of the House, the previous proposals referred to a total contribution. The Minister is correct that the change has been very well flagged. I have read the original proposal which always envisaged 30 years.

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With ten years' care credits. The question is whether we are recognising the contribution of carers because if the idea is to add ten years of additional care credit, if we push the goalposts out for everybody to 20 years we are not recognising more care, we are simply pushing the calculation out.

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Thirty years has been well signalled. As the Minister said, the debate was happening in the 1990s and in 2010. People can see the signal there for a long time, but we are now at a point where we are one year away from the adoption of a total contribution approach. The idea of introducing a ten-year further contribution at this point clearly has been thought about. That is a concern and...