In my Seanad and Committee work, I have advocated for decent work and investment in care.
Drawing on my experience with the National Women’s Council, I challenged pay and pension inequality and helped introduce new laws on coercive control. I also supported progressive legislation on disability, migrant, Traveller and LGBTQI+ rights. I campaigned for Repeal since 1992 and in the Referendum. I introduced a motion calling for action to tackle precarious work conditions in the third level sector. In 2022, I was a member of the Oireachtas cross-party Committee on Gender Equality which held a range of hearings to consider the comprehensive recommendations produced by the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality. The Committee's final report "Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality" sets out comprehensive recommendations on a range of gender equality measures; on childcare, care and social protection; on measures to address Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (DSGBV); on the role that education can play in challenging gendered norms and stereotypes; on the impact of pay and workplace conditions on gender equality; on how to achieve gender equality in leadership, politics and public life; and on how the gender equality principle can be protected through law and policy.
Tá mo Litir Um Thogcháin as Gaeilge le leámh anseo: Seanad 2025 Litir um Thoghchan - Senator Alice Mary Higgins
Paula Meehan, Caoimhe Butterly, Mary McAuliffe, Caitriona Crowe and other brilliant women sharing Nollaig na mBan thoughts about whey they support Alice-Mary's work in the Seanad on gender equality and many other issues that matter to women across Ireland.
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.
Independent Senator Alice-Mary Higgins is running for re-election to Seanad Éireann (NUI Panel) as a strong progressive voice for equality, environment, public services and human rights.
Dear Friends,
This newsletter comes at a time when people in Ireland and across the world are navigating many interconnected challenges.In Ireland, the increases in cost of living have deepened existing inequalities in our society and highlighted underinvestment in public housing and public services.
Globally, conflict has layered further difficulties on top of an accelerating climate crisis. Following four years of drought, the Horn of Africa is facing a devastating famine. This is not just a tragedy, it is an injustice. Africa as a continent produces less than 4% of global carbon emissions, yet billions there are now at risk from the rise in global temperatures.
Yesterday in the Seanad, a motion on poverty and social exclusion introduced by my Civil Engagement Group colleague Senator Lynn Ruane passed unanimously. I was delighted to co-sponsor this motion, as it not only highlights the real and unnecessary poverty and exclusion felt by many across society but lays out concrete measures the State could take to begin to address poverty seriously.
The motion acknowledged that in 2021, 11.6% of the population of Ireland, or 581,334 people, were living in poverty, of which 163,936 were children and also highlighted that the State has failed to achieve its target of reducing consistent poverty to 2% or less by 2020, and that previous targets in this regard have not been met on a consistent basis. It also acknowledges the closing down of the Combat Poverty Agency in 2009 as a regressive step.
In the course of the debate, my colleagues Senator Ruane and Senator Eileen Flynn made powerful speeches informed by lived experience and drove home the fact that to be in poverty is, in and of itself, very costly -- poverty imposes significant psychological, emotional and social costs on individuals, families and communities.
The motion lays out a number of progressive steps which Government should take to effectively fight the root causes of poverty in our society. These measures include: re-establishing an independent Combat Poverty Agency, or a similar independent statutory body, which is empowered and resourced to develop long-term anti-poverty strategies, carry out important research, and lead the Government’s anti-poverty response; supporting and resourcing ongoing independent research based on the Minimum Essential Standards of Living (MESL) and applying the learnings from this research in an ongoing analysis of policies relating to welfare payments and the development of a living wage; and carrying out research on the potential introduction of a Universal Basic Income for certain groups, in particular care leavers.
If you would like to read the debate, you can view it here: Poverty and Social Exclusion: Motion – Seanad Éireann (26th Seanad) – Wednesday, 19 Oct 2022 – Houses of the Oireachtas. Our Group will be following up with the Government on these measures and advocating for their implementation.
Independent Senator Alice-Mary Higgins today introduced a motion in the Seanad calling on the Government to support a TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver on Covid-19 vaccine technology and on the Government to publicly call on the European Commission to do the same.
Dear Friends,
The last eighteen months have been very difficult for many. Yet even as we continue to navigate the daily challenges presented by Covid 19, another important conversation is also happening. A conversation about what kind of future we want to build together in our communities and on our planet.
It is important that we learn from recent experience and do not slide back to an unsustainable and unequal business as usual. This is a chance to do things differently and better.
Read more...
Senator Alice-Mary Higgins is one of four Oireachtas delegates to the Conference on the Future of Europe, an eight month process that hopes to shape the next chapter for the EU. Speaking at a plenary of the Conference last Saturday, Senator Higgins highlighted:
“On so many issues like equality and environment, people have been speaking up for some time and institutions have been slow to hear. Too often civil society voices have felt drowned out by corporate lobbies.”