Results 1,861-1,880 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The amendments the Minister has just put in may go some way towards amendment No. 40, in that there may be powers. They do not provide an assurance that the powers will not be used in that light at all. It was not addressed whatsoever because while regulations may be made under amendment No. 40, the regulations do not specify it. I draw the Minister to a core principle of Europe, and of...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 38: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on extension of eligibility for work-related payments under Scheme 19. (1) The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the potential to extend eligibility under section 18(3)for a work-related payment to all...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 39: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on extension of eligibility for provision without charge of health services under Scheme 19.(1) The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the potential to extend eligibility under section 18(4)for provision without...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I appreciate that the Minister is giving rationales in respect of the enhanced medical card. I do not believe they stand up. If we are talking about what occurs on the basis of need, experience and the commission's report, we must note there are major problems with that report. One of these is that the direct testimony of those who experienced harm in the institutions was not properly...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I just-----

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We might come back to section 50 on Report Stage. My concern in respect of when this aspect will be utilised is founded in the context where I believe other institutions and other care arrangements need to be covered. In that event, it must be ensured that if other institutions are recognised, it is not simply an historical recognition solely but also provides that those who were in those...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 40: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on extension of eligibility for payments and provision without charge of health services under Scheme to mixed-race children placed in other institutions 19.The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the potential...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 41: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on provision of additional payments to those who experienced racial abuse or discrimination 19.The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the potential to make provision for supplementary payments, in addition to...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Let us not refer to what is being offered as a "common experience payment". That is what was given in Australia and it had a different set of parameters. The offer under this scheme is not a payment based on experience; it is a general payment based on days of residency. That is what is in the Bill and what is being given. I spoke yesterday about references to an all-encompassing general...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 42: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on provision of additional payments to those who experienced medical experimentation 19. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the potential to make provision for supplementary payments, in addition to any...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I note that the pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline, which still operates in Ireland, has declined to apologise for its vaccine trials in mother and baby homes between the 1930s and 1970s, despite the company's own documents showing it conducted seven trials at homes during these four decades. It is unacceptable that the scheme does not provide redress for the medical abuse of persons...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Again, we need to do better than regretting that a very large company with a legacy of systemic abuse of the vulnerable does not want to do more. We need to know what we can make them do. I will press my amendment because it refers to one approach. Again, the amendment my colleagues and I tabled yesterday sought the State to examine its legal options. I think that the State does need to...

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move: “That Seanad Éireann: recognises: - the important contribution of lecturers, postdoctoral researchers and PhD researchers to teaching and research in our universities and higher education institutions; - that without such a contribution our universities and higher education institutions would not function; - education is a public good and should be treated as such;...

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am sharing time with Senator McDowell. These important initiatives and debates allow us to look a little deeper and go a bit wider on important topics. In this case, the motion relates to an issue that affects all our higher education institutions and universities, which Senators McDowell and Mullen and I represent. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, to the House. I...

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister of State. I am glad the Government is not opposing this motion and I hope many of the points will be taken up in the coming period. He has indicated that some will be taken up and others may be followed up further. I know those in the Gallery will also be watching that with interest. I will address a few of the points. On the question of there being many different...

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: For example, persons have been told in Galway recently, I think, that they will be described as tutors and even when they are delivering lectures that they will be paid at a tutor rate. It is really important that we knock that on the head and that the Government leads in this. The Universities Act is very clear about the role of the HEA and the Government in terms of guiding and setting...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 33: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on adequacy of payment for health services to relevant persons not ordinarily resident in the State 19. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the adequacy of the payment to relevant persons referred to in...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: While I believe six months is a reasonable period, it may be, of course, for this reason the amendments do not get accepted. I am sure others in the House may wish to seek to bring forth reports after 12 months, or another period, and this may prove more acceptable. I am sure this is something we may see proposed on Report Stage. I refer to amendments looking to different periods of time,...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be very brief. This is a general payment in respect of days. It is not a payment designed in terms of experience. That is a choice that has been made. The issue of the waiver is concerning. The Minister indicated that he would come back to me in writing but what was then looked for, and not solely by me but indeed by Government Members and Senators, was for the whole House to hear...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 34: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on provision of additional payments to those who experienced forced family separation 19.The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the potential to make provision for supplementary payments, in addition to any...