Results 1-20 of 61 for carers speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Family Carers: Motion [Private Members] (31 Jan 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...forward this motion and setting out a level of ambition. Two important principles are acknowledged at the beginning of the motion and I will respond to them. First, the care provided by family carers is important, but the care provided by family carers is unsustainable without the provision of supports and services in the community and via home care supports. That is a very important...

Seanad: An Bille um an Daicheadú Leasú ar an mBunreacht (Cúram), 2023: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (23 Jan 2024)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...responsibilities in the home. I know of men who had to battle to keep their children because their role in caring was not recognised and they were not recognised as having that particular life in the home and that particular relationship of care. We have heard from extraordinary male carers as well. This is an improvement because it moves towards recognising that other half of the...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...care for a child. I believe it is important that foster parents would be included in that. My understanding of it at the moment is that the phrase "in loco parentis"does not actually cover or account for foster carers as relevant parents in the same way that in many circumstances social workers are the designated people acting in loco parentis, and foster parents may need to seek...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...who has a 19-year-old grandchild whom nobody else is coming to help. That grandchild may not live with that grandparent. Unfortunately, we have had situations where grandparents have been the carers for grandchildren. The parents may not be in a position to be the main carer. If you are a grandparent who works and your 19-year-old grandchild is in need of medical care, in circumstances...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “Report on returned carers’ PRSI credit 5. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on options to ensure that those who have returned from overseas who care for a family member are not excluded from qualification for...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...that those who might not qualify initially are given an appointment or encouragement to come back to be reassessed for the period of care they have done, even though it would not be recognised by carer's allowance or carer's benefit, and recognised as part of their substantial connection to the State.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...not only in terms of pensions, but also when assessing other social protection entitlements or voluntary access to INTREO, Back to Education and other relevant schemes.”. My amendment relates to carers in the wider sense and their access to social protection entitlements, not carers in terms of those who might qualify for the carer's benefit or allowance. My amendment relates to...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: My amendment does not relate to the carer's allowance or carer's benefit but to care credits. For example, that is caring for children or family so care as recognised within the pensions system. I understand what the Minister said but many people do not receive the carer's allowance or benefit but deliver care to children in their family. My amendment concerns the disconnect that happens...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...a home but it makes a huge difference for them to have financial independence.The individualisation aspect is important. I will not dwell on it further because I will come back to it in respect of carer's and disability allowances, which are other areas in which it is important that individuals are able to have access to incomes in their own right and in their own names. It is an issue...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 10: In page 8, after line 32, to insert the following: “Report on individual means assessment for Carer’s Allowance 16. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on options for assessing applicants to Carer’s Allowance on individual means, rather than the means of their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...; assembly looked for a universal pension and it has also looked for individualisation in regard to pensions. This is because, of course, for women predominantly, although not solely, who have been the carers in a household, they will not necessarily qualify for the non-contributory pension if their partner fails the means test. Therefore, in terms of having an individual independent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I wish to pick up again on a couple of points. As Senator Doherty said, it would be very useful and important for our committee’s work if we had some sense of what the gender analysis process has been on pensions within the Department – not within the commission – in terms of its proposals. Specifically, what modelling has there been around the potential impacts of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I apologise; I have one last thing on care credits that relates to Senator Doherty’s comments There was a problem where people were not getting credits because they previously did not have a social protection record such as, for example, those who had come home from abroad to care. Has that been addressed? Are those people getting captured in terms of PRSI stamps at the moment? ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Oct 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The point Mr. Lawler highlights is a serious issue, whereby if a person does not have a previous record, he or she might not get the carer's allowance credit payment. Some people who moved abroad move home to care. They may end up staying home for ten or 20 years caring but remain out of the system in that context. That is a gap that needs to be addressed. In regard to the other issue,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: .... They strengthen and give depth to the Citizens' Assembly recommendations and are true to their spirit. Lastly, the witnesses should comment on issues relating to people with a disability who are carers, parents and carers more generally and on what specific supports are available to them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jun 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...also later in life by the substantially reduced pensions and so forth. There are both time costs and money costs. We discussed time poverty and money poverty, their intersection and the impact on carers in a previous session. That level of care costing is required. There is also a need for care to be valued properly and figured out. We must acknowledge the cost of care and the value...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Implementation of the New National Retrofit Plan: Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (5 Apr 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Can I ask one last question? It is about disability allowance as a category. The carer's allowance is one of the categories to qualify for the warmer homes scheme. I ask Dr. Byrne to address the backlog in the warmer homes scheme. Should disability allowance be one of the categories as well? Is there space for a joint product, that is, retrofitting combined with adaptive needs for...

Seanad: International Women's Day 2022: Statements (9 Mar 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...in the context of working conditions for childcare providers. We probably need a public childcare system. That is what the Citizens' Assembly looked for. Other care work is systematically undervalued and carers are not cared for. In this respect, there is a significant issue with student nurses. According to today's edition of The Irish Times, applications to the Central Applications...