Results 23,061-23,080 of 23,109 for speaker:Paddy Burke

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: I welcome Deputy Bruton to the House. I also welcome a group from Castlebar. I raise the issue of providing an extra respite bed at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Castlebar. There is only one respite bed in the hospital and there is huge demand for respite. We all know the great work that carers carry out. When a respite appointment is cancelled it causes huge disappointment for the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Staff (28 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: I thank the Cathaoirleach and welcome Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte to the House. I raise this issue as it has been brought up with me on a number of occasions in the last couple of weeks. It relates to the permanency of primary school teachers the length and breadth of the country. I understand from a number of those teachers that the vast majority of them are employed on a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Staff (28 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: I acknowledge the response by the Minister of State. I agree that the pay increases in recent years have been quite significant. Despite that, there are enormous challenges facing those young people. As the Minister of State said, those in the last year of a contract in particular have no chance of getting a loan. We all know about the Central Bank rules on accessing finance and drawing...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: I also welcome our visitor from Maine and hope she has a successful trip in Ireland. It will not be long until the preparations for budget 2025 have been made. I raise the issue of holding the VAT rate at 9% and having a distinction between food and accommodation. Small restaurants, bars and pubs provide a great service not just to our economy but also to the tourism industry. They...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (28 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House. This is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation we will pass in this House for many years. We are dealing with ordinary people's money going forward and we are going to make provision for people who will be retiring in the next 30 to 40 years and way beyond. This is, therefore, hugely important. The preamble in the explanatory...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (28 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: On Tuesday, 11 June 2024.

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (28 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: Tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (29 May 2024)

Paddy Burke: I would like to raise an issue in relation to the rail services. I compliment Iarnród Éireann on a tremendous service throughout the length and breadth of the country which is improving daily. I call for an extra service for the western line, from Heuston Station to Westport and Ballina, in the morning. There is no service, between 7 a.m. and 12.45 p.m., from Dublin to Westport...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection: Impact of Single Means Test and Experience of Universal Credit System in the United Kingdom: Discussion (12 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: I welcome our witnesses and thank them for their contributions. My question may not have anything to do with means tests. Carer’s allowance is being paid to people availing of an old age pension who may be caring for a family member, a neighbour or someone else but they will only get half of the carer’s allowance because they are getting the State pension. As they are carrying...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: Senator McDowell qualified what he said. Nobody said it is wrong, but it has not been tested, which is the problem. We are looking into the future. I agree with the Minister in this case. We need to get this up and running. It has been going on for 30 years. I hope, as Senator McDowell said, that the Minister will get on with this Bill immediately. In some cases, many people may have...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: I am disappointed with the contribution from Senator Higgins because the State makes a contribution to people's pensions. At the same time, the Senator is saying that we should remove the tax relief from small business owners and small self-employed people. These individuals are probably the biggest employers in the country. They are small employers but taken together, they represent one...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: I am sure common sense will come into play when the legislation is up and running. I am certain the questions posed by Senator Higgins will be answered. Section 33 makes provision for appearances by members of the board of the authority before the Committee of Public Accounts. I am sure the CEO, chairperson and whoever else will be brought in at several stages, either at the request of the...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: Section 36 is a section that gives to the authority the power to borrow. Under what circumstances would this authority be borrowing money? I did not think it would have a requirement for borrowing given that the Bill provides for the Oireachtas to make provision for setting up the whole structure. Under what circumstances would the authority be borrowing and why do we have to give it, in...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: On section 43, is there an age where it may not be suitable for a person to join the auto-enrolment scheme? If a someone is due to retire at 66 or 70 years of age and he or she is 50 or 60 years of age is there an age where he or she should not join the auto-enrolment scheme or where it would not be advisable or worthwhile to invest in? If this is the start of the auto-enrolment scheme and...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: At what age does the scheme finish? Can a person go on until he or she is 70 years old? The Minister said people can join at the age of 66.

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: A person cannot join after the age of 66 but could join the scheme any year before that so would avail of the €1 for the pension pot from the Government and the employer. A person cannot join the scheme after the age of 66 but could join at the age of 65.

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: For my own information I want to inquire about casual workers in restaurant and bar businesses. With summer work for, say, students who are less than 23 years of age, where does automatic enrolment kick in? Can casual workers avail of AE? They might decide to join because they would get the top-up from the Government and the employer's contribution, and people can cash in after a year or...

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: So they do not get it back.

Seanad: Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: Section 70 prescribes the different risk levels. The Minister spoke about three risk levels. Unless I read it incorrectly, it states in one part that the Minister can set out the risk levels, or is it a board that sets out the risk levels as well? Who has the ultimate authority in deciding low-, medium- or high-risk levels? How low do you go or how high of a risk do you take? How will...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (25 Jun 2024)

Paddy Burke: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to the House. I raise this issue in regard to the provision of respite beds at the Sacred Heart Hospital, Castlebar. As the Minister of State will know, the Sacred Heart Hospital, Castlebar, was renovated in the past ten years. St. Joseph's ward, where the respite beds are, was renovated during the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a respite bed...