Results 6,441-6,460 of 27,073 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Written Answers — Department of Defence: United Nations (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 329. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the recent decision to extend the Army Ranger's deployment to Mali as part of the MINUSMA mission required the triple-lock and specifically Dáil Éireann approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55488/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 662. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 1255 of 2 November 2021, if his attention has been drawn to clear fell sites which have not fulfilled their replanting obligation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55471/21]

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I would like to speak to our amendment. Let me say that, in spite of whatever allegations the Minister may throw at others, we are consistent in putting forward alternative proposals to raise revenue to provide for our objective to significantly increase expenditure in housing, health, education, and in other key infrastructures and services. We do so consistently every year. We have been...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Rural Independent Group's proposed amendment No. 2 is exactly the same amendment that we put forward for the past few years, so fair play to the Rural Independent Group in that regard. I would like to put this on record, and I said it during the budget. The total income that comes to PAYE workers, or to the 2.8 million workers who pay tax and USC, is €130 billion. Their total...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The universal social charge was imposed in the context of austerity and it was a very severe additional tax burden imposed on working people. It remains, despite the fact the financial emergency has now passed. We have moved from a situation of virtual economic collapse to one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe and one in which, I repeat, profits have gone through the roof even in...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is not just property prices, actually.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I read the Central Bank quarterly report. It tells you these things. The Central Bank quarterly report actually said there was a very significant rise in financial assets as well. This is because the rich can make money from money. They do this and did so during the pandemic. That is what happens when you have a certain amount of wealth. You make money just by virtue of having money....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: -----but for the record in our wealth tax we strip out the principal private residence for everybody-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: -----and there are still absolutely vast amounts of money left beyond that. That is what we propose to increase. We are not talking about hitting the family home. We are talking about hitting the additional wealth people have beyond that. I am not quite sure what Deputy Nash is saying, but I am a bit surprised by it. Let us put it this way; the contribution of workers through tax and USC...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I move amendment No. 4: In page 10, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “CHAPTER 3 Wealth TaxesReports 3. Within three months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall lay a report before Dáil Éireann, on the amount of revenue that would be raised if he or she were to tax the top 5 per cent of households 2 per cent of their accumulated wealth less 1...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This amendment is a proposal specifically for a wealth tax on the top 5% of households at a rate of 2% on their accumulated wealth while stripping out €1 million to account for the family home. We do not believe in taxing the family home because it is not the same as wealth that is additional to that, for example, multiple properties, large landholdings, large holdings of shares,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2021)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We have had the discussion and we differ, but it is simply not accurate to say that what we are proposing is regressive. It is just not accurate. We are very clear in what our proposal is, namely, this wealth tax will target the wealthiest 5%. By the way, we do not do year-on-year studies of this distribution but they were done by groups like TASC and, at one point, the CSO, which does not...