Results 1,021-1,040 of 3,478 for speaker:Emer Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Ethics of End-of-Life Care: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: I am aware that we have done a lot on the international context already. I apologise if I did miss that but we have definitely had people from other areas and perhaps it is something that we as a committee could look at as well and how we could deeper explore the system. I will leave it there because I am aware that we are tight on time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Analysis of Private Rental Sector Discrepancies: Discussion (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: My first question is for each organisation. Do they believe there are 50,000 missing landlords?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Analysis of Private Rental Sector Discrepancies: Discussion (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: Does anyone else have anything to offer?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Analysis of Private Rental Sector Discrepancies: Discussion (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: Dr. Michael Byrne made the point in his contribution that the likes of Revenue’s data on the rent-a-room scheme might need to be included in this overall conversation too. I believe there was, anecdotally, quite an increase in the uptake in rent-a-room last year, but the year prior to that, there were almost 11,000 units – as in individual houses – where there could have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Analysis of Private Rental Sector Discrepancies: Discussion (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: "We do not know" is the answer, effectively.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Analysis of Private Rental Sector Discrepancies: Discussion (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: Does anyone else have anything to add?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Analysis of Private Rental Sector Discrepancies: Discussion (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: That makes sense. I compliment the research that was done. It was funded by the RTB and the ESRI. Some 100,000 tenancies were looked at and a report on the private rental market was published last month. Dr. Byrne had it in a nutshell when he talked about the property price register. There has to be some way for us to capture this information. As legislators, we need this kind of...

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Practitioner Services (10 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: 564. To ask the Minister for Health the reason the HSE no longer helps people find a GP who accepts medical card patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44040/23]

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (5 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Earlier this week, I highlighted a discrepancy in the HSE guidance for GP care. Its website states that if three GPs decline somebody care, they can contact the HSE and it will assign them a GP, but it appears that last month it stopped doing this. That means people who cannot access healthcare can no longer get an intervention from the HSE to provide them with...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Network (5 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: 54. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update on plans to increase capacity on train lines serving Clondalkin, Hazelhatch and Adamstown; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43039/23]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Transport (5 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: 61. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update on the implementation of a full W6 route; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43038/23]

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (4 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: The 2022 sexual violence survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office paints a really grim picture here in Ireland. One in five women in Ireland has been raped with more than half experiencing some form of sexual violence. Most adults who suffered from this violence knew their perpetrator, which emphasises that these are not isolated incidents but are deep rooted societal issues. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Enhanced Transport and Mobility Support Options for People with Disabilities: Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (4 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for being here with us in what I can imagine is an especially busy week for her in the run-up to the budget. All on this committee hope that she will get a very good budget allocation because the people we speak about so regularly on this committee deserve that. The NTA appeared before the committee last week and it gave a very positive update on much of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (4 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: 121. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of the exceptionally poor conditions of the prefabs being used to teach children at a school (details supplied); if she will urgently intervene to provide adequate accommodation for this school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43037/23]

School Transport 2023-2024: Statements (3 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: As leaves turn yellow and Hallowe'en decorations begin to pop up, a chill fills the air. However, it is not just the cold many families grapple with. It is the cold reality of facing another morning struggling to get their children to school. The school transport scheme in our communities, including in Dublin Mid-West, has become a challenge for many families. We are still awaiting the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Ethics of End-of-Life Care: Discussion (3 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Chair. I also thank our esteemed witnesses for being with us today. As a committee, we have a very difficult job to do in a very short timeframe, so it is great to have their expertise to lean on. I will start by saying that Professor Yuill and Dr. Finegan, to summarise their statements, have effectively taken issue with the idea of death as a medical treatment. Dr. Finegan...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Ethics of End-of-Life Care: Discussion (3 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: I know Dr. McKeown O' Donovan has done a lot of research in this area. I was quite struck by her summary of the research and how she says that it provides a practical, achievable philosophical, defensible and hopefully socially acceptable position in this debate. I thank Dr. McKeown O' Donovan for putting this perspective on the record with us. There has been a lot of discussion over the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Ethics of End-of-Life Care: Discussion (3 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: I will ask Dr. Finegan to comment on that point, when we are speaking about just that particular period of time when death is imminent and the person has decided for themselves that they are in intolerable pain or suffering. We have heard about Canada and the Netherlands where they are looking at very different stages in people's lives under very different circumstances. Does Dr. Finegan...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Ethics of End-of-Life Care: Discussion (3 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: If this was introduced with very specific safeguards that people would then perhaps take a challenge because they did not feel that their situation was within the parameters of those safeguards and that things would naturally as a result expand? Is that the doctor's concern?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying: Assisted Dying in the United States: Discussion (3 Oct 2023)

Emer Higgins: I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee to share this international perspective on a difficult topic. At the moment in Ireland it is particularly complex and it is great that the witnesses can share their expertise with us. I compliment Dr. Jeanne on his fact-driven statement, which I found particularly useful. The facts and statistics presented dispel some of the myths, and...