Results 2,501-2,520 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: A childhood blighted and, perhaps, a whole life blighted. We were promised a metro by 2007 and a modern transport system for our capital city. Instead, we have day long congestion on the M50 and a bus service that has not seen a single new bus in five years.

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: We were promised affordable homes in sustainable communities. Instead, we have had the inept policies that have abandoned first-time buyers to hopeless lotteries for the so-called affordable homes that have barely arrived and long commutes from distant green field sites where no facilities exist. This is the legacy of ten years. These are not the problems of success; they are the problems...

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: It has brought tax to 38% as a proportion of national income. It is higher than it was in the early 1990s when the Tánaiste's party was formed. That party has assisted in increasing tax on ordinary people.

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: This Government has several firsts on its record. This Government is the first ever to make more people pay at the top rate of tax than at the standard rate. This is the first Government to raise more in VAT than in income tax, because it relies on people who are on low incomes to pay tax. Through its tax policies, it is the first to put an average home beyond the reach of ordinary...

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: The Tánaiste and his Progressive Democrats Party have made much play of tax and their belief on tax. Only one Government in the past four has reduced the proportion of income spent on tax. I will give Members a clue: it did not contain the Progressive Democrats or Fianna Fáil. The one Government that reduced the tax burden comprised Fine Gael, Labour and the Democratic Left.

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: That is the reality and the Tánaiste needs to learn to get used to it.

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: The last time we heard from the Tánaiste, did the property market not stagnate?

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: What of personal taxation? The Government is supposed to have presented something fair to ordinary families who pay tax. Where is the reform in today's package? The reform, such as it is, is a sum total on personal credits of €2.50 per week. What happened to home carers? They get nothing out of the proposed PAYE increase. Home carers who stay at home and look after families get the...

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: Last year we were told there would be a five-year plan for child care. The five-year plan only lasted for one year. Having searched high and low all I can find for child care is €2.30 per week on child benefit. How is that to cope with the growing cost of child care? It now costs a family €18,000 in pre-tax income to look after just one child. How is a family with two or three...

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: The Government's policies have not been inspired by the needs of young families, but by the needs of developers who have dominated the Government's thinking on housing development with the cheapest option of sprawling relentlessly out to far-flung towns and villages becoming the norm where young families cannot get child care, transport or facilities. That is the reality of the Government's...

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: The public will not accept it. That is not the way in which multi-millions in public moneys should be spent. The legacy of the Government will revolve around opportunities presented and not seized. I welcome some of the measures relating to health. These are the product of a health policy that does not treat seriously the needs of older people and that has allowed the grass grow under our...

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: The Government is tricking around with the idea of changing VRT and adjusting it to reward those who purchase lower-emission vehicles. However, it cannot quite make the commitment in that regard and is intent on awaiting the findings of a few more consultation groups or the compilation of further reports. The Government is putting off until tomorrow the decision it is not prepared to make...

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: This is the last year in which the Government will have an opportunity to introduce budgets.

Budget Statement 2006 (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: A bitter taste has been left for many, since the Government has not confronted reform. We have had neither a serious expenditure review process nor Estimates based on measurable performance targets. We have had Estimates with no programme evaluation. Multi-million euro projects are committed to without any scrutiny. Those are not the arcane concerns of someone with a sharp pencil and a...

Written Answers — Public Transport: Public Transport (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: Question 104: To ask the Minister for Transport the role which will be played by the Dublin Transport Authority in relation to the regulation of bus services in the greater Dublin area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41749/06]

Written Answers — Medical Aids and Appliances: Medical Aids and Appliances (6 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: Question 206: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when she last answered a parliamentary question on the introduction of digital hearing aids; her views on whether since she ceased playing a role in reporting progress to the Houses of the Oireachtas on this project, greater progress has been achieved by the Health Service Executive in delivering this technology; and the role she and...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (12 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: Question 152: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the expected cost of providing central storage of electronic voting machines, including security costs, compared to the cost of storing such machines locally at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42548/06]

Written Answers — Noise Pollution: Noise Pollution (12 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: Question 140: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has satisfied himself that the measures currently in place to combat noise pollution are sufficient; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42538/06]

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (12 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: Question 261: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason the Health Service Executive has not arranged a continuation of the Meals on Wheels service in the Marino area and are proposing to charge people for an alternative service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42370/06]

Written Answers — National Minimum Wage: National Minimum Wage (12 Dec 2006)

Richard Bruton: Question 362: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of inspections that have taken place in the retail sector to ensure that established pay rates are not being undermined by employers recruiting foreign staff to work at below the agreed rates; the number of cases where evidence was found that workers were not receiving their full entitlements; and if he will...