Results 2,041-2,060 of 4,178 for speaker:Paul Gavan

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: The difficulty is this. What Members across the Chamber and what the Minister of State's Department have acknowledged is that this is a regressive tax. What we are asking for is a report to exactly show how regressive it is and who it is failing most in terms of unfairness. If the Minister of State is serious about ring-fencing funds and making sure they go to the people who most need...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: Yes.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: The Minister of State might shine a light on this section. Am I misreading it, as it looks like we are subsidising NATO now? Is that correct?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: This is quite extraordinary. This seems to have escaped the notice of most people. It is bad enough that US troops are using our civilian airport at Shannon on their way to wreak havoc across the world. We need only look at the war in Yemen, supported by the US and the horrendous death and destruction there, but now it turns out we are going to subsidise the US troops as they go through...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: It is still wrong. It is morally wrong but we never hear anything of that from the Minister of State's colleagues in the House.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I move recommendation No. 12: In page 76, after line 32, to insert the following: “Report on the operation of the Retail Export Scheme 47. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the operation of the Retail Export Scheme.”. At last this is something we can all agree on. I know from...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I move recommendation No. 20: In page 80, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: "Report on the taxation of pandemic unemployment payments made under section 202 of Social Welfare Consolidation Act of 2005 57. The Minister shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the taxation of payments commonly...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I move recommendation No. 21: In page 80, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: "Report on the cost of expenditures to companies in receipt of section 110 tax relief 57.The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the annual cost of tax expenditures provided to companies in receipt of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I take the Minister of State's point. We will certainly take it up in other areas. However, the Minister of State highlighted a fundamental issue in terms of Revenue and when it comes to wealth, namely, there is not enough information when there needs to be. It is striking to Sinn Féin that, every year, when we propose a wealth tax, the Department of Finance comes back and states it...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Employment Rights (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I wish to raise a serious issue today, namely, the work of social media content moderators. These people carry out a new form of work which is horrific in nature but regrettably is essential. On a daily basis, these workers will view and filter out the worst acts of humanity posted online in order that they do not appear on our screens. This is done through social media platforms such as...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Employment Rights (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I am genuinely very disappointed by that response. I am a former trade union official and the Minister of State has spent the last four minutes reciting the current employment law protections. Respectfully, I am aware of them. The problem is that the protections in place are not working in respect of these content moderators. There is no right to collective bargaining in this country,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: A few years ago, on 23 January 2015, something very strange happened. This country flew its flags at half mast for the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who was without doubt one of the world's greatest butchers and tyrants. We now know, thanks to the pioneering work of Irish journalist, Sally Hayden, that things are getting worse rather than better in Saudi Arabia. Members can see...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I second the recommendation.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I second the recommendation.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I listened very carefully to the lengthy debate last week on this recommendation and Senator Mullen has a point. It was a real pity that the Minister of State rejected every request last week for a report on how we might better align our financial plans for the future. Just like the request we made last week, this request has merit. I think, or at least I hope, no Member would be...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: Hear, hear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Introduction of Statutory Sick Pay: Discussion (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I thank both witnesses for the information. I want to quote a couple of workers to put this whole issue into context. Denise, who works in a midland's nursing home said: ... not having sick pay is brutal and unfair when you are out sick and unable to attend work. Having had cancer myself, I understand the need for workplace sick pay. You just cannot afford to be out sick and there is no...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Introduction of Statutory Sick Pay: Discussion (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: That paints a very stark picture with two out of three workers having no coverage. I thank Mr. McDonnell for his presentation and I want to take up on the last point that Deputy O'Reilly raised with Ms King. Would he accept that the idea of making people wait before they get an illness benefit has to end?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Introduction of Statutory Sick Pay: Discussion (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: I want to move on because I was struck by the line in Mr. McDonnell's statement that we need to have an adult conversation about how we fund them. I was slightly puzzled by the line that if we want higher personal benefits, we must be willing to pay for them via employee PRSI. Was that a typo? Did Mr. McDonnell mean to say employer?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Introduction of Statutory Sick Pay: Discussion (16 Dec 2020)

Paul Gavan: It is serious, and I will tell Mr McDonnell why. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, produced an excellent report last month on tax rates, and one thing that is very clear is that PRSI tax rates for employers in Europe average at 18% as opposed to 11% here. That is not just a gap; that is a huge gaping chasm. Is Mr. McDonnell seriously saying that employers cannot afford to...