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Senator Higgins raises concerns about rollback on safety in new Merchant Shipping Bill

Senator Alice-Mary Higgins has raised concerns in relation to new Government legislation which will regulate offshore service vessels including those that will construct, maintain and operate any future potential offshore LNG terminals. Senator Higgins has described the Bill as a “worrying rollback in previous safety regulations” as it contains no obligations on the Minister to deliver operational safety rules. Responding to Senator Higgins in the Seanad, Minister Sean Canney stated that “it may not be practical” to apply rules under internationally agreed safety conventions to smaller vessels that may be involved in industrial activity concerning offshore fossil fuel infrastructure. 

Alice-Mary Higgins Litir Um Thogchán - read my Seanad election leaflet here

Read a PDF of my election leaflet.

Reminder to all NUI graduates who have a vote in the NUI Seanad Election to post their ballot today. Completed ballots must reach the NUI in Dublin by 11am Wed 29th January. 

Tá mo bhileog toghcháin ar fáil thíos do thoghchán Seanad OÉ. Le guth láidir sa Seanad ar son comhionannais, comhshaoil agus cearta daonna, vótáil Alice-Mary Higgins #1 - Senator Alice Mary Higgins

Newsletter October 2024: Gaza, Seanad Reform, Planning and Development, Climate Action, Education and Research, Ethical Economics, Empowering Citizens Online

Dear Friends,

In the months since my last newsletter, I have, like many of you, been heartbroken and outraged by the devastating loss of life in Gaza. I have been taking every action I can, nationally and internationally to press for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, respect for human rights, international law, and an end to the global escalation of conflict.

Public Consultation on the General Scheme for the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024

We welcome the opportunity to engage in this consultation and urge that the Department would provide further opportunities for engagement at later stages. At the outset we must signify our total opposition to this draft Bill as it falls far short of the blueprint for real Seanad reform that has been agreed on a cross-party agreement.

The first portion of our submission deals with the broader questions and the second part deals with the very significant problems with the Bill as drafted.

We are of the view that:

  • The Government’s Bill should be discarded in favour of the Seanad Bill 2020; and
  • The Government’s Bill contains numerous problematic provisions which will limit democratic participation in Seanad elections.

The Seanad Franchise:

The question of the implementation of the seventh amendment of the Constitution cannot sit in isolation from the wider question of Seanad reform. The Supreme Court ruling confirms that action must be taken. However, a minimalist approach to legislating on this issue would not be true to the spirit of either the 1979 or 2013 referenda – in which the public clearly called for reform.

The public voted in the 2013 referendum for a reformed Seanad and the 2015 Report of the Working Group on Seanad Reform (the Manning Report) clearly recommended that “a majority of the Panel seats be elected by popular vote on the principle of one person one vote.”