Results 2,181-2,200 of 2,967 for speaker:Séamus Healy

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Jan 2012)

Séamus Healy: I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. Agency work is a form of casualisation of employment and it has been used traditionally as a method to undermine wages and conditions of employment for full-time and permanent employees. My preference would be for agency work to be outlawed and normal employment practices and procedures to be used. However, we have what we have...

Private Members' Business. School Guidance Counsellors: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2012)

Séamus Healy: Will Deputy Barry vote against the Government?

Private Members' Business. School Guidance Counsellors: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2012)

Séamus Healy: He sounds as if he was speaking against the motion.

Private Members' Business. School Guidance Counsellors: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2012)

Séamus Healy: Will he vote against the Government?

Private Members' Business. School Guidance Counsellors: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2012)

Séamus Healy: It is all talk, is it not?

Private Members' Business. School Guidance Counsellors: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2012)

Séamus Healy: In the few minutes available to me I wish to record my appreciation and thanks to the guidance counsellors and teachers, throughout the country and particularly in my own constituency, for the work they do for young people. My own children benefitted from the services of guidance teachers and many of my own family are involved in the education system. While I welcome the Minister of State,...

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: From listening to some of the contributions from the Government side and this, one would believe the IMF was some kind of charitable Good Samaritan organisation helping out countries in economic trouble for the good of its health. It is very far from that. The IMF has created havoc across the world and has never acted with fairness. It is not even a democratic organisation. The claim this...

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: The fiction that this amending legislation will make the IMF more democratic has no foundation. It is suggested this organisation is neutral which, again, could not be further from the truth. It is certainly not neutral in the policies which it pursues which discriminate against middle and lower income people and poor countries while supporting wealthy nations and sectors of society such as...

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: I do not agree that it is technical.

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: I do not agree and previous speakers have ranged widely in their contributions.

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: It is more than a technical matter; it is a matter of the policy being pursued by the IMF and the Government. Speakers on both sides ranged far and wide in their contributions to the debate yesterday. Austerity is destroying jobs and the policies being pursued into the first quarter of next year are horrendous. Increasing VAT by 2% will take more money out of the economy and will result in...

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: A total of 25,000 have been lost.

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: I referred to independent statistics from the CSO.

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: The Deputy should stick to the technical aspects of the Bill.

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: To whom are they sold on and where do they end up?

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (14 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: Deputy Mathews should vote against this now and start the ball rolling.

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (14 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: That is the fact. Talk is all very fine.

Rural Areas: Motion (Resumed) (14 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: I also refer specifically to the community employment schemes. Obviously, these schemes affect not only rural areas. Every town, city and village in the country will be severely hit by the changes to the schemes, both in grants and in personal payments. There is also the cost of sceptic tank upgrades. I refer to those two items in particular. I want to focus on the part of the Government...

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: I also want to oppose this section, which contains the various paraphernalia of the Bill, as has already been said. This flat-rate regressive tax targets people on lower incomes. It is completely and absolutely unfair that those earning the minimum wage or receiving social welfare will pay this tax at the same rate as those who are millionaires. There seems to be a policy of depressing...

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Séamus Healy: There is a narrow range of exemptions from this charge. The number of recipients of mortgage interest supplement will be significantly reduced next year because all community welfare officers are informing people they cannot get the assistance until they are 12 months in arrears and have spoken to their lenders. Private tenants are also meant to be exempt from the charge. Anyone suggesting...