Results 5,281-5,300 of 20,893 for speaker:Mattie McGrath

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: On a point of clarification, we are not going to get to the later amendments. This amendment is on a related matter and we are entitled to speak on the carbon tax provision. The Ceann Comhairle knows we are not going to get to all the amendments.

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I too will be as brief as I can. The cohort Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to, musicians, are such a vital part of our being and our entertainment and they have been excluded. I refer to the funding administered by the Departments of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Some groups got funding under two or three schemes, but 87% of single acts, double acts and small groups got...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: It is the same point. I support that point of order. It is extremely unfair on the colleagues who attending committees in Leinster House. It is the same every day - over and back to committees. It is very difficult. I would like to call a vote - I discussed this with Deputy Boyd Barrett - because it is such an issue and there is such a large cohort of people who are not getting a penny....

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I support amendment No. 59 from Deputy Boyd Barrett and his group. It is very important and relates to having a report to evaluate how the CRSS is working. We all know that these schemes were introduced in a hurry. There was not much time to devise them and the schemes are broadly based. However, there are certain cohorts that have not been embraced at all from the point of view of the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I have approached the Tánaiste many times about Tipperary town. The Government set up a task force under Ms Alison Harvey. I am asking that it be expanded to include hard-working groups in the town's hinterland. The Great National Hotels group is selling off the golf course in Ballykisteen at Limerick Junction. The Tánaiste has often been in its hotel there. If the course goes,...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I too am disappointed with the tone of what the Minister has said. To listen to Deputy O'Dowd, one would think we were all criticising. We have welcomed this approach. We have worked to help our constituents and businesses. We have helped and encouraged them to draw down from the scheme. We appreciate what is being given but there are businesses marginally outside the limit. I am...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I too make what is a badly needed appeal. I do not know how the Minister does not get this. As Deputy Boyd Barrett has said, surely he knows about this from the taxi drivers, musicians and artists. He might not know from the countryside the plight of self-employed Readymix truck owners, the self-employed drivers of flatbed and tipper trucks. He might not know about the minibus driven by...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I too am disappointed with the Minister's response. This is a no-brainer. Things are different at the moment because of Covid, but before the pandemic one could not travel or get accommodation in the cities. We see the homelessness crisis and the other pressures. This is the case in many of our big cities but the capital is completely bogged down. We need supports to allow people to live...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: -----and Tipperary. I did not mean to say that. We want to stay in Tipperary.

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: Maybe you will and maybe you will not. We will give as good as we get. Tá súil agam go mbeidh an bua againn. We want to be able to live and the countryside is a better place for that. We are losing businesses, families and people. What do we have? Afforestation. Now we will not even be allowed to cut down forests. It is a case of hell or to Connacht and Famine times again.

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I support Deputy Naughten's amendment and must declare that I am a self-employed person myself. Remote working has come into its own since lockdown but there are difficulties with it for many reasons, including the lack of broadband and other facilities. Workers should be encouraged to work remotely and employers should get some concessions or supports to put in infrastructure for their...

Finance Bill 2020: Report Stage (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I support the previous speakers. I think the scheme should be reviewed. An independent assessment should be carried out. I too have been here for a number of finance Bills. We keep pleading for this year in and year out. There was a group outside the Dáil today with 56 black balloons representing the number of homeless people who have lost their lives in this city this year. It is...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: It is unconstitutional.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The Taoiseach should prove it.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The Taoiseach is pitting one against another.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: That is balderdash.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The Constitution is meant to be a sacred document and we are meant to be the custodians of it. The Government, by its actions on the advice of NPHET, is destroying the pub, dance and arts industries and is treading on the Constitution. I saw a report last night on the horribly-named wet pubs - I do not know who gave them that name. During the last lockdown, many such pubs made great...

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht: Impact of Covid-19 on the Tourism Sector: Discussion (2 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I welcome our guests, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Gibbons and Ms De Saulles. This is a huge issue and the figures given by the witnesses are stark and scary in terms of the number of insolvencies we will face. I want to be positive regarding the products we have in Tipperary. I congratulate Pat Slattery, Triona O'Mahoney and Marie Phelan regarding the Munster Vales and the new product they launched...

State Pension Age: Motion [Private Members] (1 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I am sharing time with my colleagues. I too am delighted that the Minister has stayed in the Chamber to listen to Deputies. My delight was premature. Tá sí ag dul amach anois. Cén fáth? I will tell all of my in-laws in Monaghan and Cavan that she ran away when I stood up to speak. I am glad she stayed for most of the debate anyway. It is a pity when Ministers do not...

Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2020: Motion (1 Dec 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I support this motion and compliment the Minister for putting forward this fund. We are global leaders in horse racing. We are very proud of that in Tipperary, and where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows. Deputy Cairns has just left the Chamber. I have no truck with what somebody in the greyhound board remarked about the Deputy. It was horrible. Such comments are not needed in this...