Results 1,881-1,900 of 8,768 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 35: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on top up payments for those in receipt of inadequate settlements 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 provide for supplementary payments for relevant persons referred to in section 18(6)...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 36: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on creation of support fund for those with additional needs 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 make provision for a support fund for persons who developed additional needs as a...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 37: In page 14, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on extension of eligibility for general payment 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(1)for a general payment to all relevant persons...

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

Alice-Mary Higgins: By way of correction, amendments Nos. 37 and 38 do not require a full overhaul or examination of the whole scheme. They relate to specific provisions within the Bill and the specific provisions in the Schedule to the Bill in respect of the 180-day and 90-day requirements, respectively. I do not accept that the change proposed would be as substantial as the Minister suggests. I give notice...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Poverty: Discussion (23 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the witnesses for their interesting presentations. Looking at a few points highlighted by Friends of the Earth and other groups, in terms of the national retrofitting plans and the scheme, under which it is planned to upgrade 500,000 homes to a B2 energy rating, I understand that the plan is that only 36,500 of these homes, or less than 10% of them, would be local authority-owned...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Energy Poverty: Discussion (23 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: A sum of €40 million of public moneys from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility has gone into the de-risking of loans. That really points to the need to have that trickling through on loans. Perhaps our guests, when answering other questions, might reply to my question about the exit from gas boilers and the need to ensure we are not locked into the price volatility of gas.

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “Report on operation of Scheme 2.(1) The Minister shall produce a report which will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas 12 months after the Scheme has commenced. (2) A report under this section shall consider the following matters: (a) whether and to what extent persons engaged in the...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have some specific questions that need answering. I have been informed that amendments Nos. 8 to 10, inclusive, which were on the definition of "relevant person", have been ruled out of order. That makes these amendments, Nos. 1 and 15, which try to address who is included as a relevant person, all the more important in reviewing it. I have some questions for the Minister because these...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister. I wish to speak on a number of matters and indicate areas whereby if the Minister is sincere in what he is discussing, there is scope for him to bring changes. We had hoped that perhaps the concerns that had been raised right across the House - I acknowledge the members of Government parties who raised their concerns - would mean that something different would be done...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Is the Minister suggesting that the waiver will apply to issues that are not reflected in the redress scheme?

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes, but as I said the scheme does not recognise or engage in circumstances such as, for example, racial abuse or forced family separation. Is the Minister saying the waiver applies to those issues? In that context, this does not look like a non-adversarial approach. If this were a blanket piece of a redress scheme being put forward, which the Minister was trying to slim down, surely the...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: If that is the case, I hope that something can be clarified, changed and amended on Report Stage.

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I have the same question. We still have not received any justification. The justification has simply been that we can look back and see a worse proposal made by someone else and a worse decision before that as regards the failure of the commission to properly acknowledge the damage and abuse. We can look at worse decisions. We can go back to all the original decisions about the mother and...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I appeal to the Minister to go back and fight again. I hope and believe he probably has pushed on this, but I appeal to him to fight harder on the inclusion of all of those within that six-month period. If there is no rationale, it is good and useful to put that on the record today so that there is pressure collectively on all of the parties, including the parties of Government, to come...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We have asked direct questions about the rationale for the six months and still have not heard a reply on that point.

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will speak briefly to the section. It is regrettable that these amendments, which are around definitions, have not been allowed to be discussed. I will signal some of the key questions involved because this is a crucial part of the Bill. Section 2 is where the definitions are set out. It is where the definitions for the phrases used later in the Bill are set. The Opposition has made...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: To clarify, on Committee Stage it is not just about the amendments, it is about the sections. What happens on Committee Stage is that the Minister is bringing each section of the Bill to be discussed by the House. With absolute respect, it is not solely about the amendments, it is about each section. That is why we ask if each section is agreed. It would be appropriate that there are...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I want to indicate that while an amendment by Senator Boyhan was ruled out of order we may bring back more amendments on Report Stage in terms of allowing for subject matters contained within section 4.2 to be subject to further consideration beyond the cessation date of the Act. That relates to section 4. While we are not opposing section 4 at this point, I do want to indicate that Senator...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 15: In page 8, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: “Report on operation of Scheme 7. (1) The Minister shall, within six months of establishment day, cause a report on the operation of the Scheme to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. (2) A report under this section shall consider the following matters: (a) options to require persons...

Seanad: Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme Bill 2022: Committee Stage (16 May 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am particularly concerned about this because the chief deciding officer will have a hugely important role. I acknowledge the Minister has no say in deciding whether amendments are in order. It is very surprising and presumptive that amendment No. 16, put forward by the Sinn Féin Senators, has been ruled out of order. It proposed that the Minister, from among all his or her officers,...