Results 7,541-7,560 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will not speak at great length. I thank the Minister, as I believe she is open to working with us, particularly on the substitute amendment I have tabled. This recognises that the missing piece of adoption in Ireland is open and semi-open adoption, and that this is something due for consideration. I have spoken to the Irish Care Leavers' Network. Many of its members have been in some of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Under head 3, I echo the concern raised by Deputy Brady about maintenance payments. This is an issue the committee has been looking into. In some cases the inability to secure maintenance payments has proved detrimental to the payments that people receive, including jobseeker's payment as well as the one parent family payment. That needs to be considered if we are to be sure we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: What is the situation with jobseeker's payments?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I also mean public services. I believe that a public service card will now be required to apply for a driver's licence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Can we expect new public bodies which will be permitted under legislation to use the public services card may to make it mandatory?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I appreciate that it is a process that is increasingly being used as more bodies become involved and that the public services card is effectively an identity card. However, that is the subject of a wider discussion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: On the endangerment of the publication of addresses and the issue of public messages - a very negative action - Mr. McKeon has suggested the campaign might encourage people to come forward and rectify the position, but I do not believe the message is targeted at persons who may be concerned about overpayments.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: There is a direct correlation with the headlines used about migration, for example, and the concrete, measurable increase in the level of racist crime. What measures are being taken to address potential endangerment arising from the publication of addresses?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome there has been an attempt to address the issue. Last year, I proposed a Report Stage amendment to the Social Welfare Bill in respect to a similar scheme. This particular approach has been taken because I identified the concerns about solvent firms. One of the criteria I suggested is such a firm would not be able to close a defined benefit scheme until it had reached 90% of its...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: No, but it may come up in an amendment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am simply flagging areas of future concern.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: One of the concerns raised around pension equality was-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We will get a written reply on that. That is fine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is the same point covered, essentially.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have a brief technical question on the public services card. Under the legislation there needs to be a justification for each use or sharing of data. I ask the officials to confirm that there has been a justification process which is accessible in respect of the extension of information to each new body.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: General Scheme of Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2017: Discussion (1 Jun 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is the rationale for necessity available?

Seanad: Domestic Violence Bill 2017: Committee Stage (31 May 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I join with other speakers in welcoming the Minister to the House and in congratulating her and all of the civil society organisations, including Safe Ireland, the National Women's Council of Ireland, Women's Aid, Barnardos and others, for their work in driving this Bill forward. I believe these amendments will strengthen the Bill and thus deliver the outcome all of those who have put work...

Seanad: Domestic Violence Bill 2017: Committee Stage (31 May 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I recognise that the Minister is willing to work on amendment No. 1 that seeks to insert a definition for domestic violence in the Bill and that it is applied to the whole Bill. We are happy to work with the Minister on this matter for Report Stage. I am concerned somewhat by the message given by the Minister about viewing coercive crime as a crime. We have talked about the type of...

Seanad: Domestic Violence Bill 2017: Committee Stage (31 May 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Do we have to adjourn it?

Seanad: Domestic Violence Bill 2017: Committee Stage (31 May 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Apologies. We will come back to this, I am sure. Yes, I can move the adjournment of the debate and look forward to its resumption and to constructive engagement in between.