Results 7,121-7,140 of 8,482 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

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...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: Could the Minister of State talk about gender inequality-proofing in the European budget discussion and, perhaps, trade?

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The cervical cancer screening issue has created a number of knock-on issues in terms of legislation. We must, in legislation, address open disclosure and the issue of corporate manslaughter. Major questions also arise regarding procurement and ensuring the best and most appropriate outcomes in this area. I will bring proposals to the House on this issue before the summer. I hope all sides...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I acknowledge the transparent referendum initiative.

Seanad: Order of Business (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is all I want to say. I simply acknowledge the transparent referendum initiative.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: One of my questions follows up on that question of the contract agreement and the referrals and the 60,000 every year as an average of the 240,000. I noticed in the presentation from Seetec that it is mentioned that 40% of its customers or clients have been unemployed for between two and five years, 24% between six and ten years. Are we then to understand that 36% of Seetec's clients are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will. I have a last question on the contract which may add clarification. As I understand it, there is scope within the European procurement rules relating to the exclusion of health and social services. I also know specifically with regard to procurement, because it was recognised as an area of specific sensitivity in Europe, that contracts up to €250,000 - I know this is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I do not think that is what has been suggested. We are talking about the fact that there are different metrics.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is very important with regard to procurement. We are not suggesting that there should not be a process. We are pointing out that the European procurement rules set out a specific space around social services because they recognise their particular role. Mr. McKeon might address the scale of the project. Was it most economically advantageous to tender-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: -----and to what percentage was quality to cost considered in the decision?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be brief. I will follow up on personal progression plans, which have been raised, perhaps with the two companies that are here. It is important that we are clear that personal progression plans are not the same if it is in Intreo or if it is a public service that has been signed and it is a private company. We know that people have objected to signing. It was perhaps misleading to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Are there statements as a standard part of the text that require the people to share information with Turas Nua around health issues or family members?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is this prior to signing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Can the person take a proposed PPP unsigned and suggest amendments to that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: EU Employment Legislation and JobPath: Discussion (Resumed) (8 May 2018)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Does Turas Nua require people to share information about employment they have found independently of Turas Nua?