Results 8,621-8,640 of 9,832 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I certainly feel sorry for him.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: He has acknowledged on my local radio station that he owned a holiday home in Donegal.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: There are people who claim to be on the average industrial wage, who own two or three properties. They certainly should be given some consideration.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is in his constituency.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Tá an prionsabal anseo an-difriúil ar fad. An prionsabal atá i gceannas anseo ná an prionsabal an táille a leagan ar ghach teaghlach sa tír, gnáth daoine na tíre. Séard a a bhí sa chostas a chuir Fianna Fáil i bhfeidhm i sa bhliain 2009, ná costas ar daoine a bhí infheistíocht acu i dtithe saoire nó i dteach eile seachas teach an teallaigh. Níl sé cothrom ná ceart go...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is not exactly the same with social welfare. The Minister for Social Protection cannot increase or decrease social welfare payments without reference to the Oireachtas. There is nothing to prevent this charge being changed by means of a Financial Resolution on budget day. I do not see why it cannot be subject to the democratic will of the people. I ask the Minister of State to...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I have a fundamental difficulty with trading companies - even if the properties they own are empty - not being required to pay this charge. Either it is a property tax or it is not. If such companies own properties, why are they not required to pay the charge? I accept that there are exemptions in respect of certain unfinished estates. It would certainly be galling to live in such an...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: An alternative to applying the full charge to the houses to which I refer would be to apply a charge to the property. In such circumstances, the €100 would build up each year until a house was sold and then the solicitor involved would be obliged to hand over the total amount at the end of the sale process. There is no good reason trading companies are being excluded. We are introducing...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Will Senator Norris be looking for one? I hope not on George's Street.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is the message.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: No doubt the IMF calls for a charge., and we support it in principle as well, but the IMF does not force the individual details. The Minister of State stated that we made reasonable points. Perhaps some Members on his side will agree with some of the points we made. I urge the Minister of State and the Government to consider those points between now and whenever the Bill goes to the Dáil,...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is relative to the salary of the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes?

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: He had his own P. Flynn moment.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Roimh an olltoghcháin bhí Fine Gael agus Páirtí an Lucht Oibre díreach in aghaidh an mhuirir seo. Dúirt Fine Gael go raibh siad chun an cháin ar áit chónaithe phríobháideach neamhphríomha a árdú go €300 in aghaidh na bliana agus dúirt Páirtí an Lucht Oibre go raibh siad chun an cháin sin a árdú go €500, in ionad an costas seo a leagadh. Bhí siad in aghaidh an...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Cén fáth ar chuir na páirtithe na geallúintí sin ina bhforógraí? An raibh siad ag insint bréaga le muintir na hÉireann? Sin a cheapann na daoine. Why did the Government parties go before the Irish people prior to the election and say-----

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am speaking to the amendment and the section, which is about the charge of €100 that Fine Gael and Labour said they would not introduce. They not only said they would not do it, they said there was another way of doing it.

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: They do not. They said before the election they would not do it, and they showed a way to raise a similar amount of money, but they will not do that because they are bringing it in on everybody else. It is not true to say they have to do it. Ministers, including the Minister, Deputy Howlin, in this Chamber and the Minister, Deputy Noonan, in the Dáil, have said repeatedly that the IMF...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am going to be lashed as well-----

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Senator Noone can correct me if I am wrong. It is a long time since I studied constitutional law, so I will not claim to have any particular knowledge or expertise in the area, as I do not. However, I did not understand that a Minister could raise the amount of tax through delegated legislation or through statutory powers. If a Minister were able to do that or if that were the practice,...

Seanad: Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: This is a positive amendment that recognises that those who paid stamp duty between 2004 and especially during 2007-08, are the people who paid for the Celtic tiger. It was from them that taxes came. Now we are to land those people with an annual charge of €100. This point is very important. The previous Government set the precedent for giving them some kind of rebate or increase for...