Results 1,601-1,620 of 3,425 for speaker:Emer Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank the witnesses for being here. It was great to read their opening statements and the surveys, although I read it all in the newspapers this morning. I suppose that underscores the importance of the discussion we are having. The media are interested in it, we are all interested in it and our constituents are interested in it. That is because it is such an important area. We know...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: Was it tested with users?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: Yes. We heard in previous sessions that the system cost approximately €7 million to develop. It is really disappointing that the RTB did not come out with a product that worked for people who use it. I am glad to hear those changes are being made in a consultative fashion. May I have a response regarding the 100 landlords?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: Those 100 people are individuals who the RTB would have assumed were still landlords except for that contact with them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: On those 100 landlords, if a landlord went to the RTB during the year to say that the tenancies had ended and to take them off the books, they were not contacted for feedback?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: Therefore, we are not capturing a huge amount of people who have left to check in to see why they left then. The vast majority would not have been checked in with, is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: Did that focus group include people who had finished their tenancies during the year or was it people the RTB contacted routinely and found that they should have delisted with RTB?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: It is just important to try to get a handle on the validity of that particular step since we are all so concerned about why landlords are leaving the market. It would be great to have that.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh – Priority Questions: Online Safety (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: 72. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way that online safety and awareness is currently incorporated into the school curriculum at primary and post-primary school level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57484/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh – Priority Questions: Online Safety (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: I ask the Minister the way in which online safety and awareness is currently incorporated into the primary and post primary curriculum, please.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh – Priority Questions: Online Safety (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Minister for that update. We all acknowledge that we are living in a very different world now from the one we were in ten or even 15 years ago. Children nowadays have so many more pressures on them and much of that is as a result of the online developments. Online gaming and social media are now an everyday part of many teenagers, if not most teenagers, lives. While that has...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh – Priority Questions: Online Safety (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: It is fantastic to see that the responsible and ethical use of technology is very much at the core of this because that is what we want young people to do, which is to behave responsibly online towards their peers and, above all else, to stay safe. I am aware that the Minister mentioned Webwise in her initial contribution and I have had many dealings with them. They are one of many...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: 55. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will provide an update on the current level of interest in starting a career in the Defence Forces in comparison to previous years, particularly among women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57486/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: 114. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to increase the availability of ASD specific school places at primary school level in the Dublin mid-west area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57485/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: 222. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that some principals who act as secretary to the Board of Management in their school receive the allowance for principals who act as secretary to the Board of Management, while other principals in this position receive the larger secretary Board of Management allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58638/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: 223. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the Covid-19 capitation grant to provide for enhanced cleaning services and the purchase of necessary cleaning supplies in schools will be continued going forward to allow schools to maintain the current level of cleanliness achieved with assistance from this grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58639/22]

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Programmes (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: 347. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will re-examine the electoral divisions in the Clondalkin electoral area which are included in the Leader programme, in preparation for the new programme commencing in January 2023, in order to ensure that the full catchment of the rural areas of Baldonnel and Newcastle are included in the programme, with particular...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank everyone for being here today. I apologise for being late but I am attending the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage next door, so I am trying to double job. It is great to see two Ministers of State from two Departments represented here today. That is pretty unusual in my experience of committees. It is a great example of why cross-departmental collaboration...

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: The Minister of State is correct that we cannot interfere in the prices being set, but how do we ensure that reductions are being passed on to consumers? How do we ensure that premiums are reducing as a result of the action plan?

Committee on Public Petitions: Consideration of Public Petition on Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Nov 2022)

Emer Higgins: While we are on the subject of undervaluation, one matter that has come across my desk in my constituency is the undervaluation of second-hand cars. We are now in a market where second-hand cars are worth more than they were last year instead of depreciating, which we are very much used to. When such a car is stolen, following a claim the owner does not end up with enough money to be able...