Results 8,841-8,860 of 12,387 for speaker:Paul Murphy

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fur Farming (6 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: 4. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if fur farming will be prohibited in view of the concerns of an organisation (details supplied) about the farming of captive wild animals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5952/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fur Farming (6 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: Has the Minister seen and read Veterinary Ireland's Policy Document on Fur Farming 2018? It is extremely significant because it recommends clearly that there be an immediate ban on the farming of mink and similar wild animals for the production of fur. Veterinary Ireland joins a chorus of opposition. I am sure the Minister hears this every Tuesday when there is a protest outside the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fur Farming (6 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: I could have told the Minister that he would say that because, unfortunately, that is what he has said repeatedly, word for word, in response to every question on this issue for a long period. Will he take into account the policy of the expert, Veterinary Ireland? It states it is not possible to farm mink in a way that is not incredibly cruel. It has a very useful table outlining the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Fur Farming (6 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: Studies such as the ISPCA's Fur Free Ireland indicate that there is no substantial permanent employment associated with fur farming. If there was to be an impact of a ban on fur farming, I would be in favour of measures to ensure it was counterbalanced and offering opportunities to those affected. While it is not in the programme for Government and the Minister might not want to ban fur...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: I would like to start with one question on the national children's hospital. If the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, was the Minister for Health and he was in discussions with the Minister for Finance as part of a pre-budget process, and he was aware of the overruns happening in the children's hospital, would he inform the Minister for Finance in those discussions?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: It is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, does not think that the Minister for Health should have informed him in the context of the pre-budgetary process.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: Very well. I will move on to Brexit and quote something Mr. Michel Barnier said a couple of weeks ago in an interview with the Luxembourg Times when talking about the possibility of a no-deal Brexit: There will be checks in case of a no-deal-Brexit. We will do everything possible to enforce them unobtrusively. However, that will not be possible with everything. How should we control...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: I agree with not participating in any hardening of borders because it would be disastrous economically and would potentially provoke a rise in sectarianism. In response to Deputy Pearse Doherty, the Minister indicated there would have to be engagement with the European Commission. Customs is obviously a European competence. If, in those engagements, the European Commission took the view...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: Sure, this discussion is like the recent radio interview with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed. What if there is no deal?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: I presume the Minister is saying that does not contradict the Government's commitment that it will not impose any hardening of the North-South Border?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: Will the Government refuse to be party to any hardening of the Border, as opposed to having a commitment or intention or whatever? In the event that there is no deal and no deal is reached subsequently, with the result that pressure comes from the European Commission to protect the Single Market, is it accurate to say the Government will still not agree to impose any hardening of the Border?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: It is not hypothetical because that is the current situation. Brexit is less than a couple of months away.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: I do not know if the Minister is a regular reader of Waterford Whispers News website, which a couple of days ago featured the headline, Government Confirm Intention To Use Brexit As Excuse For Everything. Can the Minister understand why nurses would feel that is a pretty accurate description of the Government's use of the Brexit card?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: Would the Government not be better off to engage in meaningful negotiations with the nurses, including about pay, give a commitment to pay parity and fundamentally to pay the nurses now rather than to have another day of strike action on Thursday, a major protest in support of the nurses on Saturday, three days of strike action next week and two days of strike action the following week? Is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: The Government will not be able to sustain that position. As public support goes from passive to being active on Saturday, the Government will feel the weight of pressure to concede in favour of the workers. Other workers see that these issues are related; I do not see them as unrelated. Other workers also feel they need a pay rise and that their pay is not keeping up with cost-of-living...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: We are currently spending hundreds of millions of euro a year on agency nursing staff. Just before Christmas the Government agreed to pay off junior Anglo Irish Bank bondholders, who were supposedly burned, to the same amount it would cost to pay the total nurses' claim. The Government obviously has no interest in getting the Apple tax money. The Government is making choices and those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: I think it will be. The Government is taking a court case to try to ensure it is not our money, in fairness.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: Those bondholders did not get burnt at all. They got full recovery.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach (5 Feb 2019)

Paul Murphy: That brings me to my final question because the Minister knows I am not just in favour of these once-off amounts being used in this way. I am in favour of, for example, increasing the amount of revenue we bring in through corporation tax, increasing income tax on high earners etc. That is ongoing revenue. I note that the Minister and the Government are now very concerned about issues of...