Results 7,641-7,660 of 9,832 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Adjournment Debate: Road Network (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I would be delighted to receive it. It would be difficult to pass copies of the version of the speech that was given to me to those who are interested in this matter.

Seanad: Adjournment Debate: Road Network (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: It is not as if the proper version was not available. It looks like the officials in the Department did this deliberately.

Seanad: Adjournment Debate: Road Network (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Two pages would have been fine. If it was twice the size, it would have fitted on two pages. I would like to make a couple of points on this issue. It is unfair to blame the county council in the manner the Minister of State has tried to do. It is trying to do the best it can from within its own resources. Its income has decreased. It is not allowed to keep the property tax. Certainly,...

Seanad: Adjournment Debate: Road Network (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. The people of County Meath deeply appreciate the fact that I can raise these issues in the Seanad. I am concerned about the state of the roads in the county. The Minister of State will probably argue that the state of the roads is the responsibility of the county council and that the Minister only has a limited...

Seanad: Mortgage Arrears: Motion (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I agree with much of what Senator Hayden has said, particularly in regard to the case-by-case issue. That is a phrase that should be struck from political and economic language in this country. I heard Sinn Féin also brought this up in the past couple of months as it favoured a case-by-case approach. What it means in practice is a person going in before the bank official and talking...

Seanad: Mortgage Arrears: Motion (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I certainly do. I know more than the Senator. The amendment the Government has put forward really shows how out of touch it is, particularly its first and last paragraphs, which keep going back to the last Government instead of addressing the crisis that is before us. The Government states it has inherited a huge problem from the last Government----- I am sorry, the Ministers of State are...

Seanad: Mortgage Arrears: Motion (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Mortgage arrears have doubled under this Government. It is about time the Government took this issue seriously because it has not dealt with it at all. While Senator Hayden’s comments were very well thought out and based on her experience, I was disappointed to hear her look forward to the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013. In my view, that Bill is an abomination and it is...

Seanad: Mortgage Arrears: Motion (17 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Hear, hear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Annual Growth Survey 2013: Discussion with European Commission Representation in Ireland (10 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The point was about how the Commission is proposing to relieve foreclosure and protect vulnerable households, yet individual member states are regulating only certain banks. If Ireland is not able to regulate all of the banks that operate or have lent money in the economy, it requires a European response. The nub of the question is: what is happening from a Brussels point of view?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Annual Growth Survey 2013: Discussion with European Commission Representation in Ireland (10 Apr 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I thank Deputy Mathews for his excellent contribution, which certainly got to the nub of many of the issues. I have a few specific points on which I seek answers. In its annual growth survey, the Commission proposed ensuring a balanced approach to foreclosures in the case of mortgage lending while protecting vulnerable households and preventing banks' balance sheets from becoming...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I did not speak off the record on those issues. The property tax is deeply unfair and unjust, particularly in County Meath. In towns like Dunboyne and Ratoath, which are in the top 13% of house prices nationwide according to the register of property prices for last year, no account is taken of mortgages, commuting to work or the extra costs of these families. It is deeply unfair. Another...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I thank Senator Gilroy for his good wishes. They are much appreciated but unfortunately this Bill is not appreciated in large parts of the Meath East constitutency.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Unlike the Fine Gael Party and Labour Party, I have not changed my view on the property tax and mine was an outspoken voice during the term of last Government that we should not have a property tax because of its unfairness. I am glad that was reported in the media and I can remind people with my comments on the record.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I thank the Senator.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (28 Feb 2013)

Thomas Byrne: Banker bonuses in this country were effectively outlawed with the IMF agreement, with a 90% tax introduced with one of the last legislative acts of a former Minister, the late Mr. Brian Lenihan. I call for a debate on the state of rural roads in Ireland. I was at a meeting last night in Kells, County Meath, where hundreds of people attended to express considerable anger about how the roads...

Seanad: Business of Seanad (28 Feb 2013)

Thomas Byrne: They were already illegal in Ireland. We banned them.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (28 Feb 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister is following the last Government's lead.

Seanad: Confidence in Minister for Justice and Equality and Defence: Motion (27 Feb 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I have set out the facts from the Central Statistics Office in respect of my own county. I have them to hand and they have been put on the record a number of times. Moreover, they derive from responses from the Minister himself in Dáil Éireann.

Seanad: Confidence in Minister for Justice and Equality and Defence: Motion (27 Feb 2013)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister has shown disrespect and discourtesy to the gardaí and to their representative bodies. He has shown disrespect and discourtesy to the Army and its representative bodies, as well as to the prison officers. These are the people who often put their lives and physical safety on the line in the service and defence of the State. My first interaction with the Minister, Deputy...

Seanad: Confidence in Minister for Justice and Equality and Defence: Motion (27 Feb 2013)

Thomas Byrne: I am disappointed by the disrespect the Minister, Deputy Shatter, has shown to the House by not attending the debate on a motion concerning him. Let us not be confused. This motion is not about the Minister's attendance before this House and how great he is to the Seanad. That has nothing to do with it at all. This motion is about the issues such as burglary that affect people on the...