Results 6,701-6,720 of 8,212 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The crucial issues are amendments Nos. 23 and 24. Amendment No. 23 suggests that membership of the board should be advertised through the Public Appointments Service, PAS. It is standard and good practice to know there is an independent body adjudicating as to who is qualified and appropriate to sit on this board. Members should be appointed by the Minister on the recommendation of PAS,...

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I take the Minister's point that it may not be possible to advertise all the ex officiomember positions through the Public Appointments Service but it would be important that there is clarity around what proportion of the appointments will be external and advertised through the Public Appointments Service. Also, if the Public Appointments Service is to provide board members it should not...

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for his willingness to engage on the Bill. I look forward to further engagement on it with him between now and Report Stage. On the issue of a maximum and minimum balance, I believe a balance of more external members and independent members will be crucial to this board having credibility. On the issue of job specifications, I do not think the criteria needs...

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 24b:In page 36, after line 37, to insert the following: "(5) Each committee, not later than 30 June in each year, shall prepare and submit to the Board, a report on its membership and the performance by it of its functions in the immediately preceding year, or in the case of the period from the date the Board is first appointed to the next following 30 June, that period....

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State very much. He makes a valid point as there are of course short-term ad hoccommittees. In that regard, I would be very happy if he wanted to simply set a maximum term and to allow for more flexibility. That maximum terms could be two or three years or whatever is deemed to be most useful or appropriate. That is absolutely fair enough. In that context, I will...

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: In that context I am happy to accept the Minister of State's expression of willingness to look at this issue again. Am I to understand that there is no objection to the principle of amendment No. 24d, but rather that the Minister of State intends to move a similar amendment on Report Stage?

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State very much.

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Many valid points have been made. Perhaps a declaration of interest might be a way of addressing any concerns.

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is useful that declarations of interest have been raised. Of course, such declarations are implied in the State guidelines but perhaps they might be more robustly reflected. As Senator Conway Walsh stated, county managers can also have concerns and conflicts of interest, particularly where a large number of private bodies will, in effect, be included as public bodies under the Bill and...

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 25:In page 39, line 29, to delete “notice.” and substitute the following:“notice, and(v) a deadline for submissions not sooner than two weeks from the date of publication of the notice.”. This section relates to the public consultation on a data-sharing agreement, the publication of a proposed agreement and an opportunity to engage in it. My...

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for accepting the amendment in principle. I accept that section 62 is an appropriate place for time period to be set out. In that context I will withdraw the amendment.

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I indicate that on Report Stage I may bring in an amendment to section 64 on the rules, procedures and standards the Minister may set out on the operation and use of base registries.

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Section 66 proposes model agreements and examples of good practice agreements. I reserve the right to bring in a suggestion in respect of a good practice agreement on Report Stage.

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Section 69 deals with the prohibition on requests for certain documents. We had an earlier Committee Stage discussion on information such as special categories of personal data and so forth. I am reserving the right to see if those special categories of personal data relate to some of these documents.

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This section deals with data sharing but also relates back to the question of the data portal. In a number of cases individuals are seeking data and the Minister is informed. I should have stated this when we discussed the data portals because I may return to it on Report Stage. There is a lack of clarity on the Minister being informed when an individual is seeking information through the...

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I again reserve the right that I may-----

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Believe it or not, I may wish to come back on the Schedule because it defines the bodies that cannot be defined as a public body. Earlier on Committee Stage we had some debate on the definition of "public body".

Seanad: Data Sharing and Governance Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Depending on how we move forward on the definition of "public body", we may need to look at the schedule. I am just signalling that.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is important to recognise that diversity is not an abstract concept or something invented by my colleague, Senator Ruane, which we must approach for the first time and imagine how we could possibly achieve or determine it. Diversity is an established concept and value which has been shown to have exceptional merit and be an important element, particularly in decision-making. The lack of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Jul 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes, it was today but it may have been mentioned yesterday too and, perhaps, will be again tomorrow. Given our concern around what the Council of Europe and GRECO have stated about the Bill, it is worth noting that the Council of Europe has pushed for and called for greater diversity in our Judiciary. There was a report last year which found that only 28% of the 43 countries in the Council...