Results 8,101-8,120 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will not give an extensive answer. The Minister knows, as we do from sitting in this House, that the needs are not the same and that children who go through the adoption system have a very specific set of needs and experiences. It is not simply a question of requiring services such as those outlined by the Minister, including Barnardos, to provide information. As the Minister rightly...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I support the amendment which is very reasonable. It relates to recognising the relationships families will have. It is compassionate.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 18:In page 16, line 14, after “child,” to insert “including the existence of, or proposals for, any voluntary contact plan,”.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be very brief-----

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be very brief. I speak in support of my colleague. It is regrettable that we are looking at the direct removal of an amendment passed and agreed by this House. It would have been different if the Minister had come with an alternative amendment. I believe that an alternative amendment was drafted at one point and it is regrettable that that was not put forward. That would have been...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am not arguing that it is radical change. I argued that the legislation is radical.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I second the amendment.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 24:In page 24, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:“Amendment of section 96 of Principal Act37.Section 96 of the Principal Act is amended, in subsection (1), by the insertion of the following paragraph: “(i) (i) the publication of guidelines in relation to best practices around post-adoption voluntary contact plans for those considering...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is there an amendment to an amendment?

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: They are being debated together.

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 26:26. In page 26, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following:"42.Not later than 10 months after the passing of this Act, the Minister shall initiate a review and consultation in respect of the potential introduction of open or semi-open adoption in Ireland. Such a review shall include public consultation and legal and policy analysis. A report on the findings of this...

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?