Results 1,701-1,720 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Under the GDPR, there is a need for a legislative basis or a consent basis for the gathering of data. The concern here is we have legislation being proposed that will give a very much wider permission for the gathering of data and that creates that dynamic. There are questions about the compatibility of the legislation with the GDPR in that context but we can come to that.

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Committee Stage (1 Feb 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To identify each device was one solution. Two solutions were put to the Minister. There is no amendment which states that each device should be identified. We have clarified that the problem is the Minister's proposal that all devices of any kind that gather data should be allowed and included under the definition of "camera". We have suggested two solutions. One is that we specify only...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, line 12, after “child,” to insert “foster parent,”. Amendments No. 1 and 12 deal with the same issue, which is the concern that some of those who are providing parental care may accidentally or inadvertently fall outside the remit of the Bill. Amendment No. 1 seeks to include foster parents within the definition of...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I would appreciate that clarification between Committee and Report Stages. I am not going to press my amendment at this point but, because there is concern, it would be useful for us to be made absolutely certain that there is no inadvertent effect.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I support the amendment. I have similar amendments, relating to another Part of the Bill, on the six-month criterion. The six-month requirement makes it less likely that people will be able to enter employment in the first place because requiring full-time availability for six months with no flexibility is exactly the obstacle for those who are parenting alone or returning to the workforce....

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Senator Seery Kearney might be correct. My amendment on the six-month period is coming later, so I am glad there is support for that principle.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We will have a chance to discuss it later.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 3: In page 9, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: "(2A) Subsection (1) shall also apply to the following persons where a person is in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason and no persons prescribed under subsection (2) have applied for medical leave for that case— (a) a niece or nephew of the employee, (b) an aunt or...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The term "cohabitant" is not always interpreted that widely, although it does cover certain households. To be clear, the provisions of the EU directive are a signal of direction, an encouragement and a move in the right direction, but they do not set a limit on what we can do. Just as many countries had much better parental leave policies than Europe required them to have, there is nothing...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The section says "a parent or grandparent of the employee".

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The Bill provides for an employee to take medical care leave to care for a parent or a grandparent. It does not work both ways. It covers grandparents but not grandchildren. It covers half that relationship. I put it to the Minister that, between now and Report Stage, he should consider this and see if there is any practical reason not to do this other than that Europe is not making us....

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will withdraw the amendment and reintroduce it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: It is reasonable to have concern in respect of this. Requiring a medical certificate in respect of a third party creates its own difficulty but I am particularly concerned that some of the language, especially that on page 10, is a little excessive in the way it is framed. It refers to such information as the employer may reasonably require in relation to the employee's relationship, the...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: With respect to the Minister, I do not believe he has achieved that balance. The phrase he used, “the minimum information necessary”, is not in the Bill, rather it states, "such information as the employer may reasonably require in relation to ... the employee’s relationship with the person", and relationship can be construed many ways, and refers to “the nature...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept most of the amendments are technical, but I want to comment briefly on amendment No. 7. Am I correct that that is in the grouping? Is amendment No. 7 separate?

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Perfect. That is fine. I will not speak to the others.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I welcome amendment No. 7. It is a useful Government amendment in terms of extending the purposes of domestic leave to include other relevant services. The list in the original Bill was well intentioned but inevitably there are certain other services, including, for example, financial services and the separation of finances, which is one of the most difficult things for people who are...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 8: In page 11, to delete lines 38 and 39. Regarding amendment No. 8, there is a line in this Bill that inserts a crazily high bar on the delivery of this urgent need, which is leave for domestic violence purposes. I refer to the phrase "the state of the economy generally, the business environment and national competitiveness". The idea that the state of the economy...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The problem, as others have pointed out, is that the tool the Minister has described has been borrowed from another toolbox. It is not a tool designed for this situation. The Minister referred to balancing different interests. Are we tackling domestic violence and trying to introduce domestic violence leave? A rights-based approach recognises domestic violence as an egregious breach of...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 9: In page 11, to delete lines 42 and 43, and in page 12, to delete lines 1 to 3.