Results 20,901-20,920 of 21,514 for speaker:Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I support amendment No. 11 in Deputy McGrath's name. The largest weakness in the budget was the failure to address the issue of child care and children's needs. This went across the board in the Government's failure to reach its own targets in child benefit. Several agencies at the coalface have demonstrated these targets are essential in meeting the costs of providing for children. I expect...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I support the amendment and will also speak to amendment No. 15. Deputy Burton has made the points about isolation very well. I recognise the picture she has painted. However, but for the new private nursing home facilities completed in recent years in my constituency, we would have a serious crisis in the provision of nursing home places in Cavan and Monaghan. That is a fact of life. This...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Can the Minister indicate when he expects the review process to be concluded?

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Will it be completed by the end of the year?

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Government's tax cuts between 1997 and 2002 saw only 5% of budget tax cut benefits going to the bottom 20% of earners. That is a fact. We are living with the legacy of the failure on the part of the Minister's predecessor to address properly the needs of the low paid and the least well-off in our society. All that the Minister can hope to do with what he has presented in his first budget...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I am not arguing against it, I was asking only that the Minister factor it in because it is all having an effect.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: It is an effective point. Things have changed.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Of course.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: They are doing an excellent job, as the Minister is well aware.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I support amendment No. 3, in the name of Deputy Burton, and amendment No. 10, in the name of Deputy Paul McGrath.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: There is a credible argument for the premise that the adjustment of band limits and credits should be index-linked. The inflationary effect on the take-home pay of ordinary families and workers was not adequately taken into account in the past when budgetary changes were made in times of high inflation. I appreciate that inflation rates are low at present, but there is a need to protect the...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: On Committee Stage, the Minister rejected my suggestion that the practice of the Revenue Commissioners, which involves vigorously pursuing taxpayers who are suspected of making under-payments while quietly ignoring those who have apparent and suspected over-payments, is a one-way street. He defended the steps taken by the Revenue Commissioners to inform the public of its taxation...

Order of Business. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: While I welcome that the Travers report will be addressed in the House tomorrow, as anticipated, nevertheless what the Taoiseach is proposing does not go far enough. Statements are an inadequate way to address the import of the report and all that swirls about it. It is imperative that the House has a proper engagement with the Minister for Health and Children on it. Statements alone, which...

Order of Business. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I ask him to change the proposal and indicate that we will have a full engagement with an opportunity for questions and answers with the relevant Minister.

Order of Business. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Will we have a debate?

Order of Business. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Taoiseach stated he was seeking to do this in "an ordered way", but his only interest is control.

Order of Business. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Regarding the most recent IRA statement on the murder of Robert McCartney, I want to register my disappointment on two counts. I am disappointed that a physical attack on those responsible was even contemplated. I am further disappointed that the IRA statement, which is a very detailed account of what occurred and a positive contribution to achieving the truth, has been, in the main, wilfully...

Leaders' Questions. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ——especially children with autism, are deeply disturbed and distressed by the plight of a family, which has made national headlines recently? It seems that last weekend the Health Service Executive took the children from the family in question because the family had clearly indicated to the media that it was finding it difficult to cope in the absence of State support and resourcing. Does...

Leaders' Questions. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I welcome the Taoiseach's reference to the Middletown Centre for Autism on the Armagh-Monaghan border. Nothing better underlines the absence of priority and commitment on the part of this Government in respect of autism than the reality that, even now, despite the fact the British and Irish Governments have acquired the property at Middletown from the St. Louis order, the centre is not...

Leaders' Questions. (9 Mar 2005)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Taoiseach should make no mistake about the fact that he could make a critical difference by recasting the Disability Bill. This would ensure that rights-based legislation — it must be such — will properly guarantee——