Results 8,441-8,460 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I obviously have great respect for our new and wonderfully esteemed Clerk so I will bow on it, but I believe this is inconsistent with some other practices.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It refers to line numbers.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am unconvinced, but obviously I will bow to the expertise of the House for now. I am keen to have clarification on the point afterwards. I am surprised at that.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: That is fine.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 11: In page 15, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:“Review and scrutiny 19. (1) The Minister shall, as part of the annual Budget process, produce a report on the operation of the KDB including a consideration of the intersection of the KDB with other tax expenditure measures and its impact on the delivery of an effective tax rate for corporations. (2)...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I refer to jobs that would be created so that we can have evidence-based policies, which I believe is a priority. I am literally looking for evidence. I ask the Minister of State to address how the evidence might be tracked.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To clarify, these amendments were not suggested as criteria for consideration under the KDB scheme; rather, it is simply a question of knowing whether KDB certification has been previously received, etc. It is not for the controller but for the Minister to have that information so that they can-----

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will respond very briefly. I heard the Minister of State say something which is of concern. Am I right in saying the Minister said that a cost-benefit analysis of the knowledge development box scheme would be considered within five years? I wish to clarify if that is correct.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I believe five years is far too extensive a period and is also somewhat contradictory to the Government's own commitments regarding equality budgeting, for example, because-----

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Perhaps the Minister could follow it up and indicate the current policy of the Government in terms of when it envisages carrying out that evaluation. If it is in five years, that would be of concern. I again point out there is a real concern about the commitment we have to equality budgeting and ensuring we know the cost-benefit balance to which we have committed. Even the Government has...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to clarify I have not suggested this would be part of the Comptroller and Auditor General's evaluation.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 12:In page 15, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Review and scrutiny 19.The Minister shall, as part of the annual Budget process, produce a report on the operation of the KDB including a consideration of the intersection of the KDB with other tax expenditure measures and its impact on the delivery of an effective tax rate for corporations."

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 13:In page 15, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Review and scrutiny 19. The Minister shall ensure appropriate annual information exchange between the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners in order to facilitate the publication of information on the cost of this initiative, including the cost to...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 14:In page 15, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Committee Scrutiny 19.An annual report on the operation of the KDB including a consideration of the intersection of the KDB with other tax expenditure measures and its impact on the delivery of an effective tax rate for corporations should be presented and discussed by the Joint Oireachtas Committee...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Report Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 15:In page 15, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “Intersection with wider enterprise and innovation strategy 20.(1) Companies applying for the KDB certificate should be asked to indicate at the time of application whether they are presently or have been previously in receipt of grants, subsidies, tax incentives or other enterprise or research and...

Seanad: Convictions for Certain Sexual Offences (Apology and Exoneration) Bill 2016: Second Stage (1 Feb 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State and commend Senator Gerald Nash and the Labour Party for bringing forward this important Bill which sets an important marker in addressing the wrongs of the past and asserting the importance of the full right to relationships and bodily autonomy, which is crucial. What happened in the past was unjust in the very particular way laws reached into the right to...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I join my colleagues in offering the warmest of congratulations to Martin Groves. He has been exemplary in the support he has given to us all, especially the Senators who are new to the Chamber. I wish him every happiness in and enjoyment of his new role and I know that he will perform it wonderfully. I am not going to reiterate all the points that have been made regarding concerns about...

Seanad: Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I recognise that amendment No. 3 has been ruled out of order. At this point, I would like to reserve the right to reintroduce further amendments in respect of this area on Report Stage. This area touches on and is complementary to some of the other amendments which were raised by Senator Warfield, and I recognise he has withdrawn his amendments. Having campaigned very passionately on the...

Seanad: Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister for her response. I acknowledge that one of the strong features of the Bill is that it recognises the family unit as including step-parents, which I very much welcome, and all forms of partnership. Of course, we are moving past recognising civil partnerships now to recognising marriage between same-sex couples and the full diversity of the family unit. My point relates...

Seanad: Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2017)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 5:In page 10, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:“(8) In circumstances where practicable and possible and where the parties agree, provision for an open adoption should be considered.”. This amendment deals with an open adoption model. In many parts of the world we are seeing a shift towards open adoption and it is something that has been...