Results 1-20 of 583 for speaker:Tom Barry

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Business of Joint Committee (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I remind members to ensure their mobile phones are switched off. This is important because they cause serious problems for broadcasting, editorial and sound staff.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Business of Joint Committee (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: The clerk will try to identify a date, more than likely in early January.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I welcome, from the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, Mr. Frank Daly, chairperson, Mr. Brendan McDonagh, chief executive officer, Mr. Donal Rooney, chief financial officer, Mr. Michael Moriarty, head of asset recovery, and Ms Mary Birmingham, head of asset management. In our first public session this afternoon I am pleased to have the opportunity before the recess to hear about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: Is it agreed that Senator Aideen Hayden would take the Chair? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I welcome the delegates and thank them for their engagement with the committee. I wish to raise an issue that has been of concern to me for some time. Defining €300,000 as the price tag for a starter home seems expensive. Although we have had a recovery in recent years, I do not particularly see a huge wage recovery at present. For a lot of people, €300,000 is a high...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: The €36,000 in VAT seems fine. My concern is with the figure of €85,000 for marketing and finance. Does Mr. McDonagh agree that is a large figure?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: Yes, but the builder is putting up the units and then selling them off.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: Of course, but €85,000 certainly does not suggest it is being given for free.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I appreciate Mr. McDonagh's answers but he knows my concern in this matter. I would like NAMA to consider giving contracts to regional builders with medium-sized businesses who did not get into trouble in the past. They are new operators who should be given an opportunity to offer quotes and play their part in stimulating activity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Credit Union Sector: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I welcome Ms McKiernan and thank her for her contribution. I have met with credit unions over the last while and it is very interesting to see the huge differential in scale between credit unions. It has become clear that the credit unions are unhappy with the €100,000 deposit protection. I understand Ms McKiernan's argument but they do not seem to accept it and the gap needs to be...

Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I wish to inquire about the stage of development of the human tissue Bill. We have an excellent anatomy teaching profession in this country and we have always been grateful for the donation of organs. We have a culture of generosity in that regard.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Report on EU Developments: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (8 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I have one comment on the GLAS scheme. Farmers are excluded on a practical level from entering GLAS in areas where there is no hen harrier but where there are forestry and wetlands, such as the Nagle Mountains where they are encroaching on productive wheat and grain lands. Will the witnesses look at this issue? The lands for which the designation has come into place has, for practical...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I have a few general questions. On average, what percentage of the people who have applied for redundancy are re-employed on a contract basis?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: Early retirement.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: Just out of curiosity, what percentage takes early retirement? The Minister said he is trying to predict who is going to retire or to apply to retire. Could there not be a yearly cap on that so that the predictions would be more accurate? Could a time limit be put on it whereby everybody has to submit his or her application by the end of October, for example, so there is no discrepancy in...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: I have one last question on that.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2015)

Tom Barry: It will take two seconds. With the retirement age rising to 68, is it envisaged that the age at which people may seek early retirement might be pushed up to 65 or 64?

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (24 Nov 2015)

Tom Barry: 575. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when he will direct Transport Infrastructure Ireland to progress work on the Mallow northern relief road. [41297/15]

Paris Terrorist Attack: Statements (17 Nov 2015)

Tom Barry: I am very grateful to have the opportunity to speak on this topic. I extend my sympathy to all those who were killed, injured and affected by what happened last Friday night. It is quite astounding. No words could describe it. However, it has opened a new vista to Europe and the world we live in. We have to stand by our French brothers and sisters and our fellow human beings and say...

Finance Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Nov 2015)

Tom Barry: I welcome the opportunity to speak about the Finance Bill. Looking back over recent years, one of the primary objectives of the jobs initiative was to introduce the 9% VAT rate, which has been a huge success. This success has been built on by the Action Plan for Jobs. Since the outset I was of the opinion that once we got the chance to reduce the universal social charge, we should do so,...