Results 24,141-24,160 of 27,080 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Raidió Teilifís Éireann (13 Jul 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 87. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if and when she intends to meet representatives of the RTÉ staff to ascertain their views on the payments controversy and the changes in culture and governance needed and to address the employment issues affecting ordinary staff; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34684/23]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (13 Jul 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 572. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware and concerned about the Coillte practice of sending native seeds to the Netherlands, where these seeds develop into saplings and are then purchased and imported back into Ireland by Coillte, running the risk of contamination and the importation of diseases into Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: RTÉ (Resumed) (13 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I thank the Chair and committee for allowing me in on this discussion. We are in a pretty grim and tragic situation. We are coming up to the budget, where I would like to argue – and will argue, despite all of this – that we are not putting enough public investment into arts and culture generally, including public service broadcasting. We are way below the European average...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: RTÉ (Resumed) (13 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: RTÉ (Resumed) (13 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Sorry.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Business of Select Committee (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I propose Deputy Durkan.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: One of the big debates as we head into the budget is around the fact we have a large surplus but we must be careful not to spend it because it may feed inflation. Although it is rarely stated upfront, most economists acknowledge that it is okay to spend more if it is covered on the other side by increased revenues. If people think that is true, it should be said. In other words, if we...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I just think it is important to stress. It is not in the language and it should be emphasised a little more. The problem from the point of view of ordinary working people and those on lower incomes and so on is that when we have budget deficits, they have to get it in the neck and when we have record budget surpluses, they still get it in the neck. Meanwhile, super profits are being...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: There are a couple of other points that are worth clarifying in this debate and I want to see what the officials think. Capacity constraints are being mentioned quite a lot. A major factor, possibly the major one, is labour and skills shortages. The officials might accept it is a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. I met a group of teachers today who said there are loads of people out...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes. My last point, and it follows from the previous one, but again I feel it is worth spelling out, is that one of the big ongoing current expenditures that is ballooning is the amount of money the State is forking out every year in housing assistance payment, HAP, rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and leasing arrangements. The same could probably be said about the outsourcing to the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I do not know if the witnesses have any comment on this but on the mortgages point, and it is a Government decision, is there any reason we cannot just fix mortgage interest rates at a level that is sustainable for people? This is particularly when the Peppers of this world are lashing them up to 5%, 6% or 7%, which is crippling people. The Government has the power and should cap interest...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It always seems to be in the first bulletin at the beginning of the year. I never see it in the others.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I always find that interesting because it can be seen year on year, basically since the recession, that net household wealth has dramatically increased. The most recent Central Bank bulletin I saw indicated such wealth was more than €1 trillion for the first time. That was net. That will come as a huge surprise to the bottom 50% or 60% who have a tiny proportion of that or, in some...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement: Central Bank of Ireland and ESRI (19 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Mortgage interest rates.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I thank the witnesses from IFAC for their contribution and work. They are making pretty much the same arguments as the Central Bank, representatives of which we were talking to earlier in front of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, and I think all the economists are looking at the same general picture. I accept they will not go into their views on...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I agree. We are very prudential in that regard. We think we should raise additional taxes on wealth, financial transactions and various other areas to cover what we see as the additional necessary expenditure to protect people from the cost-of-living crisis and to invest in housing, health or whatever. I agree. I would question one comment Professor McMahon made there, which is that...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: When Professor McMahon is talking about being targeted, is that not part of the problem with the interest rate hikes? They are very untargeted. The policy that is being pursued by the Central Bank and the ECB is to hike interest rates. There is nothing targeted about that, is there? The people who are getting hurt by it are often those who can least afford it. It might be cooling the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Engagement (Resumed): Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Nevin Economic Research Institute (20 Sep 2023)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Thank you.