Results 23,661-23,680 of 27,080 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We should not have to rely on HAP. It is €1 billion a year into the pockets of landlords but until we have the level of public and affordable housing necessary, sadly, we are going to end up relying on it. It is not the case that reliance on it, in my area, is going to decline when we consider the housing targets. The delivery plan for my area is 2,318 houses by 2026. There are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I want rent controls. The Government is not going to do that. I think the Minister of State should but he has set his face against it. We need public and affordable housing to replace HAP but, in the meantime, there is a problem. In Dún Laoghaire today, three one-bedroom units are available for €1,895, €1,507, and €1,900 per month, respectively. The rents for...

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I honestly believe that this security and neutrality forum the Tánaiste is setting up is part of a sustained campaign by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to dismantle Irish neutrality and that this agenda of undermining, eroding and dismantling Ireland's neutrality is a long-standing objective of the two major parties in government.

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: They are cynically using the utterly horrendous situation in Ukraine and the barbaric invasion by Russia of Ukraine to advance a project within NATO and the European Union of ratcheting up the militarisation of the European Union, developing a European army and moving closer to United States foreign policy in a way that is probably the greatest threat to Ireland's security. Of course, the...

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I did not interrupt the Tánaiste.

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We are clearly co-operating, as we are through PESCO, the battle groups, interoperability with NATO, structured co-operation and, of course, in the context of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, it was confirmed by the then Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, that we have attended three meetings at NATO military bases to discuss the situation in Ukraine. It was very interesting to see the...

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: You want us to join a military alliance headed up by the United States. We co-operate with them daily. That is what PESCO is about-----

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: -----but you do not draw the distinction. What is Irish neutrality? It is not clearly defined but it is apparent from our history what it was and from the people who set up the Irish Neutrality League, namely, Connolly and Pearse. The First World War was key in motivating the leaders of the 1916 rebellion to instigate that rebellion. They wanted Irish independence and freedom long...

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is the truth about neutrality. The Tánaiste talks of security threats but my strongly held view is the best protection Irish troops and this country have is our reputation for being a former colonial country that has opposed war and imperialism and is not part of any of the big imperialist blocs. If we become associated with US, UK or European foreign policy, it will seriously...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 8. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [22820/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: In relation to children, I refer to a couple who have three children aged 16, 14 and ten years old. They have been homeless for two years. They do not want to bring their young children into homeless accommodation because they are terrified for them, particularly for their daughter, who they think would be very vulnerable. The children, as a result, are now staying their 72-year-old...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Economic Policy (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 20. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [22821/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Economic Policy (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: How much money has the Government spent on the lawyers who are representing the Government in supporting Apple to stop the people of this country getting €13 billion in additional tax revenue? It beggars belief that the Government is backing the richest company in the world, a company that was paying less than 1% tax, in a case where it claims it was paying its fair share of tax, as...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Economic Policy (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Let us have two minutes.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 32. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on a humanitarian response to Ukraine will next meet. [22822/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It was an absolute disgrace to leave hundreds of asylum seekers vulnerable under tents on the streets. I welcome the proposal to look at the issue of empty buildings, something for which we have called for a long time, including office buildings that are not being used. I draw the Taoiseach's attention to the fact there is an empty office block on Setanta Place, just off Kildare Street,...

Accommodation Needs for New Arrivals: Statements (23 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The hate, fear and division the far right is peddling and trying to direct against vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees is utterly despicable, all the more so when one thinks that, for generations, hundreds of thousands of Irish people who emigrated, often illegally in the case of the United States, suffered the same kind of racist and horrendous victimisation. No dogs, no blacks, no...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (24 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Owen is a pensioner with severe diabetes who has had half his leg amputated and he has associated heart and kidney issues. His wife, Myrna, works full time as a home carer, but because her income takes them over the social housing income threshold, they are living effectively in a cupboard. She sleeps in the bed and Owen has to sleep on a couch with his condition, but cannot sleep until the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (24 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It should be a sliding scale. It should not be a cliff.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Defence Forces (24 May 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Last week, I was contacted by a very nice man I met many years ago. He informed me that he was previously in the Army and that he had been a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of an officer over many years. Approximately 20 years ago, he took a High Court case where, although the sexual abuse was acknowledged, finding the Army culpable was not accepted at that time by the court. Since...