Results 8,681-8,700 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Lone Parents: Department of Social Protection (6 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The question of both-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Lone Parents: Department of Social Protection (6 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: However, there are those particular care concerns, which are recognised through JST. It is an issue we need to return to because it is about the valuing of care alongside the valuing of further engagement with the-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Lone Parents: Department of Social Protection (6 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Ms Ward for that presentation. Does she have information on where we are in terms of developing, say, quality part-time activation or training and education measures? I know that has been looked at because previously community employment, CE, schemes tended to be examined. I am aware issues arose around the education and training board, ETB, courses. These transitions are very...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Mr. Manus Cooney (5 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome Mr. Cooney to the House and thank him for all his advocacy work in the area of emigration. It comes at a time when voices who have the vision to recognise the positive perspective and contribution emigrants can make are more important than ever. I think of Walt Whitman's line, "I hear America singing, the varied carols I can hear", in a poem in which he sets out his vision of and...

Seanad: Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement: Motion (5 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move:That Seanad Éireann: being concerned:- that the European Commission proposal that EU member states should sign or support, in the coming weeks, an agreement allowing "provisional application" of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement, CETA, between Canada and the EU; notes: - that the CETA is one of a "new generation" of trade agreements which includes the Transatlantic...

Seanad: Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement: Motion (5 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We have a healthy trading agreement with Canada, but this is not about Canada. On the balance of trade, we sell €1 billion of services to Canada but get back almost ten times as much. There is a 2:1 ratio in exports. This is not a new market; it is one with which we have a healthy trading relationship and it will be damaged.

Seanad: Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement: Motion (5 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I will return to some of the points I have made in concluding the debate.

Seanad: Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement: Motion (5 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister. Hillary Clinton spoke two months ago in Michigan. She is a former champion of the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, which was in many ways the template for these trade agreements and was one of the first of the new generation of trade agreements to be passed with these types of mechanisms. She has now changed her position. She now opposes TTIP and the...

Seanad: European Commission Decision on State Aid to Apple: Statements (4 Oct 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: A number of concerns have been raised today and I will not reiterate all of them. I will build on the point of the last speaker. He is correct in saying the arrangement between Ireland and Apple is not simply a matter between Ireland and Apple. This is a key point. The arrangement we hear of is likely not only to have deprived citizens in Ireland of much-needed resources but also citizens...

Seanad: Address by An Taoiseach (Resumed) (29 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Taoiseach go Seanad Éireann. I am happy to have the Taoiseach here in Seanad Éireann. The Taoiseach spoke about a Government unlike any other. We are also looking at a Seanad Éireann unlike any other because this Seanad, the Twenty-fifth Seanad, is the first which was saved from abolition by a popular vote of the Irish people. I am sure the...

Seanad: Economic Growth: Motion (28 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am broadly supportive of this motion and the sentiments contained therein. I want to address a couple of the points that have been made during the debate. We need to understand clearly that a growing economy does not, in itself, create employment or quality employment. We have seen our counterparts in the United States acknowledging that there is no trickle-down effect. Making decent...

Seanad: Economic Growth: Motion (28 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I ask Senators to be constructive.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (27 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I join with others in welcoming Ms Fahey and Ms Feely. Their organisations have done important work. I particularly welcome the fact that both of them have not simply engaged with our committee but have also looked to the wider question of what we value in society and how we shape our priorities. There are specific areas on which I would like to hear more discussion. In Age Action's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will try to avoid wider policy issues but will focus on the budgetary issues. However, I want to comment on the costings for some of the proposals we have heard. I appreciate the quality of material we get from the Department but it would be useful to have a sense of how measures impact on consistent poverty. The Department has worked on minimum essential standards of living and it would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The increase in the number of people emigrating during the period of austerity is a strong indication that it is not the same. The level of emigration in previous periods when we had employment opportunities and were not in recession was not as high. I certainly do not think it is a moral failing among younger people who are choosing to emigrate or who are not finding employment. There was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We can talk about it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The core of that debate is what constitutes a contribution.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is about care and contribution. Hopefully, as we further improve paternity leave we will see men taking more of a caring role as well. We can discuss the issue in the future.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I hope to follow up on the averaging issue at some time in the future but would ask the Minister to address the question of incorporating the Government's commitment on equality budgeting into the conduct of social impact assessments. Will the Department have a budget line around the delivery of the public duty on equality and human rights? How will that be carried forward in terms of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Priorities for Department of Social Protection: Minister for Social Protection (7 Sep 2016)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I acknowledge the leadership role the Department has played on this issue along with other Departments and would urge the Minister to ensure that it stays in that place.