Results 141-160 of 1,687 for speaker:Billy Timmins in 'Dáil debates'

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Billy Timmins: That was my understanding. Maybe I am talking too much and will get myself into a bit of trouble. Maybe it is time to stop. I listened to Deputies Naughten and Terence Flanagan speak. I apologise for missing Deputy Mathews’s contribution. I also listened to Deputy Creighton. They all made very genuine points. No matter how one considers it, in the realm of fairness and equity,...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Billy Timmins: I know the party has that appendix, like some of the other parties. It is amazing that, unlike the human appendix, most of the good in this Parliament seems to lie in the appendix to each traditional party. The logic of this legislation is that if 29 of those Labour Parliamentary Party members decided to lose the Whip, their funding, which is approximately €1.4 million, would be...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Billy Timmins: That may well be. I know I am taking this to an illogical extreme but it shows the weakness in the legislation. I heard quotes from “senior Fine Gael sources” but most people in Fine Gael are fairly honourable, decent people, as they are in every party. I do not know if such a "senior source" exists. Most people are involved in the administration of fairness. Will the...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Billy Timmins: I will not take the full 20 minutes or anything near it. I forewarn the Minister that he will be summing up shortly. I am delighted to speak on this legislation. I wish to elaborate on the point Deputy Terence Flanagan made about funding being used to prevent an individual getting elected. What he is talking about is that the money would be currently used to promote or support a...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Billy Timmins: It is important to remember that notwithstanding that we cannot borrow, we must be responsible in what we do. Throughout my time in this House I have grown tired of the Opposition consistently looking for expenditure and being very reluctant to outline how to gather in taxes other than the simplistic approach of taxing the wealthy by imposing a levy on everybody with incomes in excess of...

Local Government Reform Bill 2013: From the Seanad (Resumed) (22 Jan 2014)

Billy Timmins: I, too, welcome the amendment. I notice the Minister’s two party colleagues from Waterford are in the Chamber. The statement springs to mind about the 20% reduction in rates in Waterford thanks to the Minister’s grant. I am not sure if my memory serves me correctly, but if it does, I would not mind some of the grant going to my local authority.

Local Government Reform Bill 2013: From the Seanad (Resumed) (22 Jan 2014)

Billy Timmins: I agree with previous speakers, particularly Deputy Denis Naughten’s point on the valuation Bill which is being dealt with by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin. It is important that the Minister’s Department feed into it. He referred to the concept of flexibility. I have spoken to county managers, many of whom do not want flexibility in the...

Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: We all acknowledge the under-investment in water and sewerage over a long number of years. In my earlier contribution, I did not mention the Minister, but the Dunlavin scheme costing €5 million and the Ballyconnell scheme costing €200,000 would not have taken place only for his direct intervention. I would like to acknowledge that, but it still does not exonerate people from...

Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: I appreciate the frustration. I have suffered a lot of it over the last few months when I was not able to elicit information or get explanations as to why certain things happened. I pointed that out earlier, but I did not get elected to carry out stunts. If people want to carry out stunts, they can go to the Gaiety Theatre, the Abbey Theatre, or the window at the bottom of Grafton Street...

Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: Well, wherever. They should be down with the successor of my own townsman, the late Dice Man. We are leaving here today and we do not know either the charge or the allowance. Deputy Naughten has sought certain assurances. When calculating that allowance, certain consideration should be given to families that have members with disabilities. It should not be a simple head count, but...

Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: I support Deputy Naughten's amendment. I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. He is a hard working, honest individual and as Deputy Naughten pointed out, when he was in opposition he elicited an enormous amount of information from statutory bodies, not because of them but in spite of them. That must be...

Order of Business (18 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: On a point of order, is there an assurance that those who want to speak on the Order of Business tomorrow will have the opportunity?

Order of Business (18 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: Will it be the exact same?

Order of Business (18 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: Should there be a policy that there be no votes on the Order of Business?

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: I support the amendment put forward by Deputy Creighton. While the Minister gave a very plausible explanation as to why he would not accept it, I disagree with him. We continually extol the virtues of SMEs in this country yet there is a perception, much of it based on experience, that much effort is put into facilitating foreign direct investment and other industries but SMEs are not...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (4 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: I regret that the Minister of State did not take on board the points I raised. The argument I put forward still stands. My understanding of the scheme is that once the person is living in the house at the time the conversion is done - where the person lived prior to or after that is irrelevant - that is the only qualification required. Perhaps the Minister of State could clarify the...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (4 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: I move amendment No. 25:In page 54, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:"(4) The Living City initiative should include the following cities and town— Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford and Bray.".

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (4 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: I will withdraw it.

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (4 Dec 2013)

Billy Timmins: Amendment No. 25 states:In page 54, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:"(4) The Living City initiative should include the following cities and town— Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford and Bray.".Deputy Pearse Doherty referred to amendment No. 24. I believe this is a positive initiative and I would be supportive of the concept. The principle is to...

Government Decision on Exiting Programme of Financial Support: Motion (Resumed) (20 Nov 2013)

Billy Timmins: I compliment the Government on carrying out the programme over recent years. I do not believe there is anyone in this House who, deep down, was not supportive of it. I congratulate the Government on completing the programme in so far as it has done so. I have a concern, however. It is epitomised by the fact that there is nobody present in this House who actually formed part of the...