Results 6,621-6,640 of 8,212 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Electoral Commission: Statements (27 Sep 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State. We spoke on these issues previously. I think it was in December 2017. I thank the Minister of State for his statement. The proposal for an electoral commission has been on the table for a very long time. We have had not one but perhaps two new generations of voters who have grown up while this issue continued to be considered. As such, I really welcome...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Discussion: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (25 Sep 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister for joining us and her contribution. I will focus on some of the issues that have arisen. As a number of the questions I would have asked have been addressed, I will try to build further on them. As the Minister knows, I long advocated in my previous life for an increase in the home caring credit in the context of pensions, with reference to the 20-year provision....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Discussion: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (25 Sep 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Minister could follow up on the matter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Discussion: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (25 Sep 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: While we might not be wedded to it, we previously committed to having a 30-year threshold as part of the national pension framework. I am sure we will have an opportunity to debate both this issue and the public services card more substantially.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Discussion: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (25 Sep 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: May I correct the record on one small fact?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Discussion: Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (25 Sep 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I think the private pension tax relief was €2.6 billion, from the figure the Minister gave me previously.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: Second Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am supportive of the Bill. I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for bringing it to the Seanad. The Bill is important for several people. I know that some individuals have spoken about the sense that they have been pulled away from work that is important to them through the mandatory retirement age and cut off, in some cases, in terms of their contributions. While I welcome the...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018: Second Stage (12 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I appreciate that. I also appreciate that there is a concern regarding pension payments and superannuation and valid points were made in that regard. My concern basically was that we should not prohibit job-sharing on any basis. For many people it is going to be about finance. Others are really dedicated to their work. They may wish to continue with that work and will want to contribute....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Barnardos and Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Pre-Budget Discussion (12 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and for the work both organisations do on an ongoing basis. It is very important, as is their policy engagement. I particularly commend the Vincentian Partnership's minimum essential standards of living work, which has been a service to all of us as policymakers but also right across the sector by itemising the costs of living. What it shows...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Barnardos and Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Pre-Budget Discussion (12 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: A separate commitment is required in that area.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Barnardos and Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Pre-Budget Discussion (12 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Does the unavailability of the ECCE scheme during the summer have an impact on families?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Barnardos and Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Pre-Budget Discussion (12 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the delegates for their excellent and clear answers to questions. They spoke more eloquently than I about extending the jobseeker's transition payment and addressing anomalies in order that people would be given real options in making good choices. Something that crops up repeatedly is a request that people can access good quality employment and avail of back-to-education schemes....

Seanad: Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am very happy to be a member of the Oireachtas Traveller group alongside Senator Kelleher. I commend her for initiating that group and also for this Bill, which is very important. As others have described, the policy of the State for far too long, and made very explicit in the 1963 policies, was a policy of absorption and assimilation - of effectively disappearing Travellers and their...

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I strongly support the Bill, of which I am very proud to be a co-signer. I will address a couple of issues that have arisen. Members referred to the analogy of apartheid in South Africa. In that instance the boycott was led by the demand made by the people. The State then took an important action. I looked back at some of the debates that took place at the time and the arguments made...

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I come with the concerns that have been raised by others. I also have spoken to some of the residents in Grand Canal Dock on whom this is having an impact. This is a one-off situation. It is one where even a simple adjournment of the Bill would suffice. I was hoping that the Government might be amenable even to adjourning these Report and Final Stages to allow for those residents who...

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The text allows for that, unfortunately.

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The text allows for it. I am not saying that-----

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I regret the Minister's response. The proposal is not preposterous. Giving such leeway within the Bill is preposterous.

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am responding to a point the Minister made about the charging and fixing of fees in respect of the use by persons of the canals. That is how wide the provision has been made.

Seanad: Heritage Bill 2016: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The way in which it will be applied is to be determined by Waterways Ireland because we have given it that power. I will speak to the second group of amendments because two aspects arise. Amendments Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive, relate to the change in the ministerial title.