Senator Higgins proposed a number of amendments to the legislation ratifying the Pan-European Guarantee Fund aimed at increasing the monies available to our public sector companies and national and social infrastructure. Senator Higgins also spoke of the need to ensure transparency of EU institutions and to be cognisant of our responsibility to acheive the Sustainable Development Goals, when planning recovery funds such as these.
Irish Naval Service rescued 18,000 people from drowning in the Mediterranean since 2015. In 2017, the mandate changed from a "primarily humanitarian search and rescue operations to primarily security and interception operations". Senator Higgins condemned this decision with the Minister at the time and said that this would result in more people dying while making the journey across the Mediterranean.
Senator Alice-Mary Higgins speaking at the opening of the 26th Seanad Éireann, about the global challenges the world is facing and the role of democratic institutions such as the Seanad in addressing those challenges.