Results 2,381-2,400 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: A 2% increase in VAT is a mistake at this time. I accept it is included in the EU-IMF deal for 2013 and 2014 but the Government has chosen to front-load it at a time when the domestic economy is at its weakest. At a time when exports are facing a challenging environment, there was a need for positive emphasis on the domestic economy but the Government decided to do the opposite. The...
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: Yes. The Minister also confirmed in that reply that such a projection takes no account whatsoever of any reduction in demand brought about by an increase in VAT. The Minister has many economists at his disposal in the Department of Finance. Surely one of them told him that if he increased prices, demand would reduce. A basic economic principle is price elasticity of demand. I am not...
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: A little light relief is no harm on days such as this. We all welcome that. Let us take one example. Car sales have gone into decline since the end of the scrappage scheme in June. Figures released on Friday by the motor industry show that car sales in November were down 50% on those for the same month last year. The 2% VAT increase will add â¬300 to the cost of an average family car....
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: We believe the Government's decision to impose a levy on private pension funds was deeply unfair. The Government is in effect raiding the private savings of Irish citizens. This measure runs contrary to the long-established principle of all Governments to encourage people to save prudently for their retirement. It was a sneaky levy. The Minister said it is a levy on the industry yet the...
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: The levy is being passed on to pensioners by way of benefit cuts. We have all heard the Tara Mines story. Many others will emerge in the weeks and months ahead. Existing workers are being asked to pay additional contributions to make up the shortfall. We know by way of freedom of information that this decision was made against the advice of the Pensions Board and officials and that the...
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: This would be an investment of â¬700 million per annum and could be supplemented with an equivalent annual investment from the remaining discretionary portfolio in the National Pensions Reserve Fund. This would offer a long-term cashflow benefit to private pensions funds while stimulating economic activity and developing the infrastructure capacity of the State. Such a fund could also be...
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: I expected the Government to put enterprise and jobs at the centre of the budget announcements made yesterday and today. Sadly, I was disappointed. We must ensure that enterprise is at the heart of every Government decision. While we must continue to attract foreign direct investment, small and medium-sized Irish businesses will lead recovery in the Irish economy. We need to give them...
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: Presumably, that answer has been given. Today the Government has raised the white flag on the issue of upward-only rent reviews. The uncertainty it allowed to develop in the past nine months created a vacuum in the commercial property sector.
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: Retailers did not know where they stood and investors were not able to make investment decisions because they had no solid basis for calculating a rental yield. This was the legacy of the Government's decision on this measure for nine months-----
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: -----while failing to come up with a decision.
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: I am glad the Government has finally made a decision because that is what I had intended to ask the Minister to do today.
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: I had intended to ask the Minister to end the uncertainty and draw a line under the issue one way or another because this is what retailers and those who invest in property have been seeking for months. The line has been drawn under it, but it also has been drawn firmly under another broken promise by Fine Gael and the Labour Party.
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: On the â¬100 household charge, the Bill has been published by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan. However, it raises more questions than answers. In the detail of the document accompanying the Minister for Finance's statement today, I note the site valuation-based tax is now not proposed to come into effect until 2014. Consequently, it...
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: Amendments will be tabled and Members will find out how the Government reacts to them. How much time remains?
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: I have a lot more to say.
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: I will be brief.
- Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: This is a socially regressive budget. Its impact will be felt hardest by low and middle income families with children, young people with disabilities, vulnerable elderly people and students trying to chart a better future. The Government had the option of closing loopholes, a measure that was promised, and targeting higher income earners. Instead, it has played its trump card by increasing...
- Financial Resolution No. 12: Life Assurance Policies and Investment Funds (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: I am sure I am missing a simple point, but it is late. With regard to the change in the thresholds relating to CAT in financial resolution No. 9, the Schedule we got today states it is reducing the group A tax free threshold from â¬332,084 to â¬250,000, but in the resolution the figure is different. Is that because of a linkage or reference point?
- Financial Resolution No. 12: Life Assurance Policies and Investment Funds (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: Okay, it is a reference point issue. On financial resolution No. 11, which relates to DIRT, I received an e-mail from someone recently who argued that DIRT should be extended to some of the An Post products, such as savings bonds and saving certificates. I am not making that argument, but the person who e-mailed cited a figure that I cannot recall now, but which would yield huge revenue for...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (6 Dec 2011)
Michael McGrath: Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach the estimated cost to his Department of a 2% increase in the standard rate of VAT; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38470/11]