Results 22,321-22,340 of 26,795 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: International Protection Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (18 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: On amendment No. 104, our concerns are not about preventing exploitation or abuse of the system. We all want to ensure there are proper protections in place. We have to protect our borders, sovereignty and have an immigration system in place. The point is that it has to be fair, robust, along with safeguards built into it for those seeking asylum. Most importantly, we have to live up to...

Seanad: Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: Second Stage (17 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister to the House and will be supporting the Bill. We are all aware of the devastating impact of alcohol abuse and misuse on families, individuals, employers and the State. It is estimated that it costs the State about €1.2 billion a year in health care costs. Any measures that can be put in place to reduce alcohol consumption will reduce that burden, as well as...

Seanad: Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015: Second Stage (17 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I support the Bill but it has been a very long time coming and I do not direct my comment solely at this Government but at many Governments. The issue has lain on the sideline for a long number of years and been thrown from one committee to the next. All of the committees have pretty much made the same recommendations. The general public's...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I call for a debate on health care. The Leader arranged for a debate a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, that was only 45 minutes long and it was not sufficient to critique the Government's failed health service plan and policies. Even top officials in the HSE over the weekend were talking about a lack of vision, a lack of resources and a lack of capacity. We saw from the now-averted nurses'...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: If the Leader supports the debate, we can debate all these issues. Shouting back across the Chamber will not achieve anything.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: We should have a constructive debate-----

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: -----and we should allow people then to have their say. Obviously during the election campaign, that will happen, but there is a crisis now that needs to be dealt with.The 45-minute debate we had a couple of weeks ago was insufficient to deal with the real crisis we have at the moment.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: That is not our policy. The Senator must not have read our policy.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: The Senator is wrong.

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: We have done that.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I move recommendation No. 8:In page 96, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “69. The Minister shall, within nine months from the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the possibility of establishing a sovereign wealth fund financed by non-cyclical Corporation Tax payments and taxes returned following rulings by the ECJ.”....

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I do not doubt the importance of foreign direct investment or that much of the investment in recent years has been bedded down with research and development, which is very important and will make it more sustainable. I do not doubt anything the Minister has said about the figures he has presented, even in respect of growth, although many experts would say that our growth levels in respect of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I move recommendation No. 9:In page 96, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:“69.The Minister shall, within nine months from the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on options available for the introduction of a comprehensive asset tax otherwise known as a wealth tax, the report shall include options for the collation of data necessary...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: We have had it in every year. Sometimes the civil servants might not give the Minister full information. We have proposed a wealth tax every year for the past five years.However, because the Government and the Department are unable to calculate how much would be raised from a wealth tax, we took the prudent step of saying we could not speculate about how much money would be raised. We...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: No, that is not what we are arguing for.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I also recognise manure when I see it.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I know where they are.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I suppose what the House has just got from the Minister is a classic straw man argument and I am surprised at it, or maybe I should not be surprised. Yes we did, and do, support the scrapping of the local property tax which we see as a family home tax. For the Minister to suggest that a property tax is a full wealth tax is to stretch-----

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: I will get to that. For the Minister to suggest that a property tax, or a tax on a person's home, is the only way to tax wealth really shows the ideological divide

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2015)

David Cullinane: The Minister inferred it when he criticised the proposal.