Results 6,461-6,480 of 8,482 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Apr 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 11:In page 5, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:“(vi) the Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht,”.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Apr 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 16:In page 5, line 13, to delete “Agency.” and substitute the following:“Agency, and (d) publish it online.”. I look forward to engaging with the Minister in respect of the issues raised in the previous group of amendments.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Apr 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 17:In page 5, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:(8) Where an area ceases to be designated as a natural heritage area under subsection (3)(b)(ii), without prejudice to turbary rights for household use, commercial harvesting shall not be permitted.”. These amendments relate to the core of the debate that we had previously.

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Apr 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: They are slightly different. In amendment No. 17 we are suggesting, where land is de-designated and is no longer an NHA, that without prejudice to turbary rights for household use, commercial harvesting should not be permitted. I have been very clear that I support turbary rights but there are intergenerational justice issues involved here, not simply in terms of climate change and the...

Seanad: Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Apr 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: When we discussed this previously, the Minister acknowledged that many areas tended to be large contiguous territory, which is one of the advantages of the newly designated areas, but many of the areas to be de-designated are, in fact, small. I know many people with less than 10 ha, although that does not mean there is no commercial usage. Another approach might be to outlaw certain kinds...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 Apr 2019)

Alice-Mary Higgins: All sides of this House have pride in the role the Irish Naval Service has played in the past in search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean. Since 2015, the Naval Service has been involved in rescuing over 18,000 people from the Mediterranean. Some 16,800 of them were rescued when Ireland had a bilateral arrangement directly focused on search and rescue. In 2017, the Minister of...

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.