Results 21-40 of 431 for speaker:Lorraine Higgins

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Easter Rising Commemorations (11 Nov 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I want to raise what I view as the necessity for the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to state if she will agree to hold the wreath-laying ceremony for the Athenry 1916 Rising commemoration at the commemorative garden at the Back Lawn, Swan Gate in Athenry. This is where Liam Mellows and his comrades originally congregated on Friday, March 24 1916. On that day, Mellows was...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Easter Rising Commemorations (11 Nov 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for this detailed response. I am a little disappointed that the main ceremony will not be held at the Back Lawn site. While I acknowledge public safety concerns have to be of paramount importance, the town park is a good distance from the site. If it is the most suitable for it, there is little I can do about it, however. I am glad the Minister is looking at...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Easter Rising Commemorations (11 Nov 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Tourism Policy (4 Nov 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement Matter and welcome him to the House. The issue I am raising is very important for rural revival and the survival of rural towns and villages, particularly in my constituency of Galway East. I request that the Minister of State consider pursuing a tourism strategy that would allow for the development of additional tourist trails off...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Tourism Policy (4 Nov 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for his response. He has undoubtedly done a great deal of work with tourism initiatives in his county of Mayo, on which I commend him. The Wild Atlantic Way has been a major success. Anyone caught in a traffic jam between Kilcolgan and Kinvara understands that. I welcome the consideration of adding loops to the route. They would be beneficial for areas...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Health Services Staff Recruitment (7 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. I call on the Minister for Health to provide a derogation for 20 health care assistant-multi-task attendant and nursing posts to be advertised and filled locally for St. Brendan's community nursing unit, Ballinasloe, County Galway, in light of the failure of the HSE to hire these staff. This had been agreed last February when...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Health Services Staff Recruitment (7 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I know that this is not the Minister of State’s specific area of responsibility and that she is standing in for the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, but that answer is not satisfactory. I am not disputing the Government’s level of care, but I am disputing the fact that decisions were made last February to hire 20 staff for the unit in question. In his response the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Farm Inspections (6 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I welcome the Minister and thank him for taking this matter on the Commencement. I have raised this issue a number of times in recent years. As the Minister is probably very well aware, the inspection regime causes considerable distress to farmers whose properties are being inspected. It is imperative that I highlight the practices that have been carried out by some officials during the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Farm Inspections (6 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: It was the charter of rights-----

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Farm Inspections (6 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: -----that I referred to as fluffy. There is no legal basis for it.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Farm Inspections (6 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I thank the Minister for his response. I fully understand why farm inspections happen and I am also well aware that some occur without a physical visit to the land. I am not interested in those, but I am interested in situations where there is a physical inspection. I acknowledge that the Minister has made efforts with the charter of rights for farmers, but there is nothing wrong with...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Farm Inspections (6 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: May I come back in?

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Oct 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I call on the Minister for Justice and Equality to come to the House to have a debate on rural crime. I wish in particular to discuss why many of the recent criminals robbing and plundering rural Ireland have not been disqualified from driving. Section 27(1)(a) of the 1961 Road Traffic Act provides that where a criminal has used a mechanically propelled vehicle in the commission of a crime...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: In any situation where a vacancy arises those responsible for finding a suitable candidate are charged, rightly, with finding the best person for the job. In the Oireachtas we are charged with the important work of representing the best interests of the Irish people, and appointing the best possible candidates is therefore vital. I wholeheartedly welcome these proposals as they tackle a...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: Imposing time limits might preclude the people best suited to these roles from applying. I urge that this would be considered before the next Stages of the Bill. In general, I am broadly in favour of these new proposals, particularly those relating to the appointment of a new Clerk of the Dáil. Overall, I am in favour of increased competition. Our greatest resource is our people, and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: School Staffing (8 Jul 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I raise the issue of the pressing need to secure a permanent resource teacher for Esker national school in Esker, County Galway. At present the Department of Education allocates resource teachers on the basis of need calculated by time. A resource teacher may work across two schools to make up the total time allocation. These allocations are temporary unless the hours can be provided by...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: School Staffing (8 Jul 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I thank the Minister of State for her response. I accept that 15% of the Department's budget is being used in meeting special educational needs. It was heartening to hear the Minister's announcement earlier this week on the allocation of an additional 610 SNAs. While I am delighted that Galway, in particular, will receive an extra allocation of 42 SNAs, I ask the Minister to look at the...

Seanad: Choice of Court (Hague Convention) Bill 2015: Order for Second Stage (8 Jul 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I move: "That Second Stage be taken today."

Seanad: Choice of Court (Hague Convention) Bill 2015: Second Stage (8 Jul 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: As has been outlined already, the purpose of the Bill is to make provision for the measures that are required to ensure that the Hague Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements can function effectively within the Irish legal system. The convention comes into force on 1 October this year and Irish legislation will have to be updated to reflect this. It is important to be...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Jul 2015)

Lorraine Higgins: I am calling for a debate on the planning process in Ireland, particularly the way competitors use it as a tool to stymie others from getting a foothold in a market. While I fully accept the majority of objections are made by private individuals and community groups with real concerns about planning applications, there are a number of body corporates that use the process as a strategic tool...