Results 41-60 of 346 for speaker:Jim Higgins

Seanad: Order of Business. (22 Mar 2005)

Jim Higgins: That was an earlier era.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Jim Higgins: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Jim Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. When I first read the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003, I was reminded of the adage "If it ain't broke, then why fix it?" The current system of appointment, introduced in the Civil Service Commissioners Act 1956, has stood the State in good stead. As the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, said, nobody can point a...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Jim Higgins: Indeed. The people in question were recruited under the old system, which has stood the test of time. The Government plans to change the entire system, however. The Bill's explanatory memorandum mentions decentralisation, but the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, did not refer to it in his speech. His failure to refer to the decentralisation programme represents an acknowledgement that it is...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Jim Higgins: What if the husband has a senior position within the public service and his wife is working in a bank, and both salaries are needed to pay a mortgage? How can the Minister reach some compromise that will make the move acceptable to both of them? The same applies in regard to a civil servant married to a teacher. How can she be guaranteed a job in the local secondary, community or vocational...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Jun 2004)

Jim Higgins: Farmers and farming organisations were pleased and relieved yesterday with the announcement that Teagasc had come up with sound scientific evidence showing that the nitrates directive, which would impose a limit of 170 kg. per hectare, is unduly restrictive. It also claimed that this country would be more appropriately served and could environmentally sustain a 250 kg. limit. This is vitally...

Seanad: Irish Emigrants Abroad. (8 Apr 2004)

Jim Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon. I do not know whether he saw the recent "Prime Time" special investigation into the plight of Irish emigrants in Britain but it was a most graphic exposé of the squalor in which thousands of Irish people live in London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. Seeing is believing. I believe "Prime Time" did a considerable public service by...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: Like other speakers, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McDaid, to the House. I support this good Bill, which was in gestation for a considerable time. I vividly recall being opposite the leader of the House in the Dáil when she was Minister for Public Enterprise. The Aer Lingus Bill had gone through the Seanad and had to be abandoned because of 11 September 2001. At the time, the...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: She certainly could not have been more rigid than she was at that time. The 14.9% employee share option is excellent. We do not know whether it will be used as a carrot to induce the staff of Aer Lingus to accept privatisation, but it is a good principle. The new pension arrangements are very welcome. Section 3 of the Bill relates to the power of the Minister to sell or dispose of the...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: The sale of Aer Lingus will undoubtedly cause concern. Ryanair, Mr. O'Leary's operation, does not have transatlantic flights. Ryanair cherry-picks the profitable lines and makes a good job of it, with profit as its motive. We do not begrudge the company its success. Regarding the transatlantic routes, it is crucial, as Senator Wilson said, that we have an airline which can guarantee direct...

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: Regarding the open skies policy, the Department is talking to the US authorities on the basis of one gateway. We both know that gateway will be eight or ten miles from here, at Dublin Airport, while Shannon will be left out of the equation. Once transatlantic flights are withdrawn from Shannon, Shannon is dead and buried forever.

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: This is why I ask the Government to treat Shannon seriously as an area which is in crisis in terms of jobs and the airport and with regard to morale there.

Seanad: Aer Lingus Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (3 Mar 2004)

Jim Higgins: There is an atmosphere of gloom, doom and despair among the staff at Shannon. Rightly or wrongly on their part, there is a belief that there is an agenda not to treat Shannon seriously from the point of view of enhancing its development. I know the Department is constrained in terms of the amount of money it can invest, but it is possible to devise a coherent, integrated plan to develop and...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I appreciate that but one would imagine that if an amendment is published in a person's name, he or she would have the courage of his or her convictions to come into the House and defend it, particularly if it has been tabled by the party to which he or she belongs and is part and parcel of its policy. I listened to the defence of the proposal mounted by Senator Dooley who was sent in first...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: On the Government side.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I listened to speaker after speaker on the Government side attempt in vain to defend what is an indefensible plundering of funds which do not belong to the Government or taxpayers, but to private individuals who, for some reason, have not activated bank accounts or building society accounts or have not accessed insurance policies they should have drawn down. I note, in particular, that the...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: One wonders whether again her views on this matter, the disbursement of funds, diverge from those of her colleagues. She probably regards it in her conscience as totally unjustified.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I move: That Seanad Éireann condemns the decision of the Government to undermine the independence of the Dormant Funds Account Board by transferring all decisions on dormant fund disbursements to the Government and noting that the initial proposal for such a fund came from the Public Accounts Committee where it was recommended that moneys be ring-fenced for the most disadvantaged communities...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: Last week, in speaking to a Private Members' amendment to a Government motion on decentralisation, I accused the Government of unprecedented arrogance. However, the sheer arrogance and indifference to public opinion regarding this motion, the U-turn and somersault shows that matters are getting worse week by week. The Irish Times editorial on Friday last could not have been more blunt or...

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: The great watchdogs have become lap dogs. What about Punchestown and all the other decisions? Of all the decisions taken by this Government that the Progressive Democrats are prepared to stand over, this is the shabbiest of the lot. If they are not prepared to stand up on this issue as they were in the matter of the disbursement of lotto funds, then they should throw in the towel and call it...