Results 1,741-1,760 of 3,425 for speaker:Emer Higgins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I suppose that will skew the council's targets next year. It will only perhaps meet them, rather than exceed them, by whatever figure they gave me earlier.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Chairman. I would appreciate that.

Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: If I might, I will start by saying that I am a Fine Gael Deputy and I know that my party and all the Government parties are safe and welcoming spaces for us all to vocalise our own views. We all have the opportunity to do so in this Chamber as well. I believe all our colleagues do this. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate today. This Bill contains many...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I raise with the Tánaiste the unreliability of Go-Ahead bus services. Since BusConnects in Lucan, we have new local routes, but they are not reliable. In Lucan, we have the L51 and L52 routes, as well as the 175 route from Citywest to UCD. These are Go-Ahead routes, and all problem routes. When these buses do not arrive, that has consequences. People are left stranded and stuck. I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Childcare Services (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: This question asks for an update on the engagement the Minister has had with childcare providers in Dublin regarding core funding and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed) (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I welcome our distinguished guests. I thank the Minister for his response. The core funding scheme, Together for Better, which, as the Minister stated, started last month, is a significant move in the right direction. I believe it is the first important step in revolutionising the childcare sector and how we treat and value childcare providers. I am really pleased to hear that...

Ceisteanna Eile (Atógáil) - Other Questions (Resumed) (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I welcome that we are able to increase capacity. The baby rooms and the toddler rooms, as the Minister says, are where the new need is arising and coming on stream. We have an under supply of childcare in many areas within my constituency. Newcastle is a prime example of that where many parents are not able to get their children into childcare providers and, therefore, cannot go back to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I welcome this legislation and the work that the Minister, his Department and the committee have done to shape the scheme. In recent weeks, it has been great to see many people coming forward to register their interest in receiving information on their time in mother and baby institutions and their adoptions. It is fantastic that those records have been made available. I have been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cost of Living Issues (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Minister for that comprehensive response. It has been an absolutely historic budget. As the Minister said, it has been the largest ever package to get money back into people’s pockets. That has been welcomed by an awful lot of people. The Minister has done a great job of supporting people on low incomes who need help, support and intervention the most. She has also...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cost of Living Issues (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Minister for her explanation on reviews. As I said, a constituent of mine has been in touch on this. She is working two seasonal part-time jobs and she is a lone parent. In situations such as hers and in all situations, we absolutely have to have control measures and means-testing. However, I hope that our means test will not be mean enough to discourage people from going out,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Minister for her response. This really was a cost-of-living budget. It was about targeting help towards people who most need it and also providing universal assistance. Every family throughout the country is struggling with the increase in the cost of living. It was good to hear the Minister talk about those low-income families who received the targeted support of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cost of Living Issues (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: 11. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will provide a timeframe for the introduction of the cost-of-living payments announced in budget 2023 that are due to be issued before Christmas 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50308/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cost of Living Issues (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: This question relates to providing a timeframe for the introduction of the cost-of-living payments announced in the budget. It has possibly been publicised since this question was tabled but will the Minister talk us through that please?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Minister for outlining all the supports and measures that she introduced in this budget. People are grateful for them and they have gone down positively in my community. I thank her for that level of investment. It was interesting to hear the Minister talk about 16 years of age being the cut-off point for child benefit, with an extension once people are still in full-time...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: 8. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the feasibility of extending child benefit to children who are 18 years or over, but are still in full-time post-primary education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50309/22]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: My question is on the feasibility of extending child benefit to children who are aged over 18 years but are still in full-time post-primary education. Is this something the Minister has considered?

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Employment Rights (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: 112. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way in which his Department is supporting the expanded facilitation of breastfeeding in the workplace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50310/22]

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: 167. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the newly announced pay rates for the childcare sector will include recognition of long service or an incremental pay scale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50311/22]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greenways Provision (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: 191. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a progress update on the delivery of the Hazelhatch greenway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50797/22]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Greenways Provision (13 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: 192. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the feasibility of delivering the impending Hazelhatch greenway in tandem with the works needed to widen the road at the canal bridge in order to deliver the full W6 bus route service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50798/22]