Results 101-120 of 8,701 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Is that compensated or uncompensated?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Chair, may I very quickly give the questions I am happy to have a written reply to?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy: Engagement with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: One is the question of prioritisation. We are obviously behind the curve on it in the context of energy. In respect of water, is that something that is being prepared for with regard to the question of prioritisation of large energy users versus households? Regarding standing charges, has there been any consideration of the issue with smart meters and how one of the disincentives is...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I believe there was in-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: There is a huge amount to unpack. My questions fall into two areas, namely, where the money is coming from and where the money is going to, staying within our remit as a finance committee and looking at those components. Of the two COMs or proposals, one is about the redirection of previously planned funds and then there is the massive new loan guarantee system. I might go a little bit...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank Ms Ní Bhriain. I would like to go to the second half of my questions. Given that those documents came in after our call for submissions I would be very happy to receive comments related to those new documents. That would be useful. The last thing I will say about social cohesion, before I go to the expenditure piece, is that it strikes me when we think about security and...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I will just give a few points on where the money goes. There does not seem to be any condition around decarbonisation of the military. Will the witnesses comment on that? Decarbonisation or transparency in terms of military emissions is not being made a condition and there seem to be no attachments in terms of the climate concerns attached to it. Will that be confirmed? There does not...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: That was my final question. I know-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I did refrain from that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I do know the names of the companies.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I am sorry; yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: To clarify, there are benefits in terms of who gets the loans but also benefits in terms of who benefits from the money and who is going to have weapons bought from them.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I am asking about the countries, not the companies. I have heard it argued that this is effectively another bailout for German industry, for example.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: No, the countries.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I was not just asking about who gets the loans. The €46 billion Poland gets will be spent on weapons.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Ultimately, regardless of who gets the loans, the actual beneficiary of this publicly guaranteed money is also the country with large manufacturing capacities for weapons which the loans are used to buy weapons from. Is it accurate to say that Germany and France-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes. I am asking about where the money lands in the end, in terms of the European economy.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: I was not aware of this. I am a bit alarmed now. To be clear, 35% of that money could be spent on third countries, so those battle-tested weapons I mentioned that were manufactured in Israel and used in Gaza could be bought with public money.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: There is no restriction on cluster munitions named as yet. Is that correct?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach: EU Legislative Proposals: Discussion (24 Sep 2025)
Alice-Mary Higgins: Preventative spending was the aim.