Results 6,821-6,840 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Joint Meeting of the Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Joint Committee on Education and Skills and Joint Committee on Health
Supports for People with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (29 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The presentations have been really wonderful and lots of issues have been raised. I will try to avoid some of the ones which have already been touched on, including the important point around the role of the embargo on public service recruitment. I was struck by the issue of invisibility which Mr. Kearney spoke about. He referred to invisible disability. I was also struck by that issue in...

Seanad: Marine Protection: Motion (23 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: So much has been said quite beautifully by others. Coming from the west, the sea is vital for me, just as it is for everyone else. No one in Ireland is not within reach of and relationship with the sea. That is clear in how Senators have spoken. I add to the commendations of Senator Grace O'Sullivan. She literally took our Civil Engagement group and plunged us into the ocean, forcing...

Seanad: Marine Protection: Motion (23 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Some 7,000 people know about this issue and have signed the petition. Tourists and locals visit our shores. I am from the west and know about the thriving and important business that has developed around foraging, seaweeds and the extraordinary festivals such as Food on the Edge, which is a whole new way of appreciating marine life, leading to a really important and sustainable level of...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I recognise the strong engagement the Minister had with this House throughout this process and the fact that he has taken on board many proposals in the Dáil on Committee and Report Stages. I believe there was a change, which was made on Committee Stage but was undone on report Stage, relating to the appointment of data protection commissioners and I wonder if the Minister could...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept-----

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is the Minister speaking on them?

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I acknowledge the very important step that was taken by the Minister, which he took in the previous debate, to agree to the imposition of administrative fines of up to €1 million on public authorities. That is appropriate. I see the concern the Minister is addressing in the amendments. I accept them and I think they are practicable. It is still important that there would be a...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I very strongly welcome this set of amendments. One of the concerns that had been identified which was only partially addressed in the Seanad was around the lack of transparency and accountability in the circumstances under which exemptions were made in areas such as public interest. I strongly commend all those in the Dáil who put forward what I believe are extremely nuanced and...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister's assurance. There is, of course, a section 10 investigation under way at present on the way the public services card has been rolled out and the single customer view system. It is interesting because we are talking about forensics and crime. It is funny that while we hear the phrases "cybersecurity" and "cyberterrorism" floated around, there have been very serious...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Others have spoken to the question of the age of consent. I note that there will be a review of it. The Minister mentioned that this would be within three years. Perhaps the Minister can outline in his response what the process is likely to be around that review. Different ages have been set across different EU states. I believe we will be in a position to look at best practice and what...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have very serious concerns about this area. I raised them when the Bill was passed by the Seanad and they have deepened somewhat. While I recognise that there are some constructive elements to the amendments which have been made and it is important that people are able to do their representative work as described by Senator Conway, I am concerned that the serious dangers I flagged very...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes. It is framed as section 38 in the Bill. I am speaking to amendments Nos. 33 and 34.

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am referring to sections 38 and 39 of the Bill and amendments Nos. 33 and 34. There is real concern that a very sweeping interpretation of public interest has been proposed, which effectively states that any electoral activity on the part of any party, candidate or Member of the House is in the public interest and therefore bypasses any need for consent. There is some clarification in...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: They are positive amendments and will strengthen the role of the data protection officer in ensuring that they do not come under undue pressure with regard to the performance of their function. That is especially important given that we have significant fines which can apply to a public authority. The Minister of State might clarify a point. If a data protection officer is reporting to the...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome these amendments which are very important because a lacuna in the original Bill made it very difficult for individuals to seek a redress where the data protection commission may or may not have taken individual complaints on board. In many cases, those who do wish to raise concerns do so not simply because they seek redress for themselves but because they want to highlight concerns...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I recognise there is a suite of amendments here and while I do not propose to challenge them I note two strands within them. The first is insurance and banking legislation and I have some concerns about the Bill in these areas. We know, for example, that private insurance companies have been implicated in inappropriate data breaches in accessing social protection information and so on. I...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I acknowledge the engagement from the Department, particularly from Séamus Carroll and others who have spent time teasing this out. I believe we will return to this area. There is a huge amount of work to be monitored. Like Senator Conway, I recognise that as people get used to the new regime, there will be a period of time when they struggle to figure out how to comply with it....

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am delighted to hear the tributes to Tom Murphy. He was an extraordinary, wonderful writer who reached deeply into Ireland and parts of Ireland's experience and imagination that sometimes were never given proper focus. I wrote about him in my thesis many years ago. "Bailegangaire" was one of the most influential plays in my life. He captured not only the realities and sometimes the...

Seanad: Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (16 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Given the delays we have had so often in people accessing appropriate mental health supports and in the roll-out of resources and key areas, there is an opportunity to address this issue now, in this excellent Bill that has been put forward. We have a court judgment. There is no ambiguity in the court judgment and it does not suggest that we need longer periods. It offers no endorsement...

Seanad: Europe Day 2018: Statements (10 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am very glad to be able to join with others in marking and celebrating Europe Day. Europe, as a concept, came out of moments of tragedy and of vision. It is an extraordinary idea that we can try to work together in these ways. It is one I wholeheartedly support and I am very passionate about being a citizen of Europe. There have been...