Results 681-700 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Let me pick up on that. One of the discussions has been on community engagement. With respect to the community-led approach and the kinds of initiatives we have been hearing about, such as social enterprise and community-led initiatives, I agree there is almost a co-benefit, as has just been described. It is seen as a positive and as something connected to a community. That is slightly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There are VAT measures that could be looked at in terms of incentives in relation to that. I did want to pick up on the paint piece as well and on procurement, but I might come back to that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On the procurement piece, there are a couple things. We mentioned the paint project as a very good example of Fingal explicitly putting out a tender for recycled paint. However, in procurement we could have a price-to-quality ratio approach rather than a lowest-price model one. Reuse could be identified and named as a quality factor that gives advantage when tendering for any project. If a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy as it relates to Consumer Durables: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Could I just put one question? I do not need to get an answer, but it is just if the witnesses are sending us supplementary information. It is the question around the co-benefits of community, social or locally-led enterprises. That could be pooled risks and pooled supports with things like insurance while having that community or social enterprise. If there are co-benefits to scaling up...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Former President Mary Robinson (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: When I met Mary Robinson first it was in relation to climate justice, which is the next step from all the issues of social justice that Senator Flynn just spoke about. If we are talking about action on climate change, we need to talk about climate justice and the commitments that are in the Paris Agreement, namely, the common but differentiated responsibilities. Those are around the...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 8, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(3) In developing the investment strategy for the FI Fund, the Agency shall act in a manner consistent with obligations under— (a) the Cluster Munitions and Anti-Personnel Mines Act 2008, and (b) the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018.”

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendment No. 1 seeks to amend section 7 of the Bill by inserting a new subsection which would require that, in developing the investment strategy for the future Ireland fund, the agency would act in a way consistent with obligations under the Cluster Munitions and Anti-Personnel Mines Act 2008 and the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018. Amendment No. 7 would insert a new section in the Bill...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I regret that the Minister is not able to accept any of the amendments. Under the existing mechanisms, greater scrutiny and application is required. Especially on amendment No. 7, it was not that there should not be investment but the question is how this is being done. How is compliance being secured? The Minister did not address the issue I highlighted in some detail of the ammunitions...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 2: In page 12, line 30, to delete “commercial” and substitute “commercially, socially and environmentally sustainable”.

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendment No. 2 concerns an issue that has arisen in another context. My suggestion is to delete “commercial” and substitute “commercially, socially and environmentally sustainable”. I will give the context. Currently, the agency invests the assets on a commercial basis and seeks the optimal financial return. However, there can be a narrowness sometimes with...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Sadly, as I said, the current structures have not been adequate to ensure responsible investment. We have seen State investment in undertakings operating in illegally occupied territories. The choice then had to be made to divest from those investments. The initial choice to invest was made under the ESG structure we currently have. It was clearly inadequate. If we are investing in a...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 4: In page 15, line 40, after “State” to insert “as part of the global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”.

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister for his engagement on the issue. This amendment furthers the questions on the climate area. It is quite small but it tries to ensure we do not have an inadvertent narrowing of scope due to the way the Bill happens to be worded. It seeks to provide that designated environmental projects will be for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the State as part of the...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On the point on the tools, the amendments do not add more but outline what all the areas that the Minister referred to, including river health, should be checked against. The Paris Agreement is not another agreement that the fund might have to comply with; rather, delivering on it is an important check concerning how we invest the fund. Similarly, the sustainable development goals are not...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister for his engagement.

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 5: In page 16, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(g) the achievement and implementation of policies which— (i) facilitate a just transition, (ii) further the principles of climate justice, (iii) further the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, (iv) further the achievement of the targets set out in the...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 7: In page 21, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “Report on external investment managers 29. (1) The Minister shall, within 12 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining how the use of external investment managers for the FI Fund, the ICN Fund and any other funds controlled by the Agency...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 8: In page 22, line 17, to delete “15 per cent” and substitute “1 per cent”.

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Amendment No. 8 seeks to amend section 31(2) by removing the provision that the agency can invest moneys from the fund where "such indirect investment is unlikely to have in excess of 15 per cent of its assets, or such lower percentage as the Minister may prescribe by order" as part of a fossil fuel undertaking and replacing it with a provision whereby 1% is the maximum amount allowable. ...

Seanad: Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To be clear on amendment No. 8, the amendment moves the percentage, that upper ceiling, as the Minister described it, of the assets of something we invest in that can be in fossil fuels. That upper ceiling is now 15%. I suggest that it be lowered to 1%. I believe that still allows space for inadvertent error or something further down in a company's portfolio that people were not aware of....