Results 2,521-2,540 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: I do not wish to speak on the amendment as it was ruled out of order. I will refer to its substance in the section because it is important. There is another anomaly in the Bill in that provision should be made in it to cope with any subsequent error by the Department. I will give an example of how the system will work in order for the Minister to understand where I am coming from. As she...
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: The Minister has not tabled any amendments to this section but we wanted to bring to her attention a number of concerns that she might be able to address either in this Bill or subsequently. Under section 59B(2)(a) of the Pensions Act 1990, where the rules of the scheme permit, trustees can reduce the benefit paid to a pensioner once another pension becomes payable and when they become...
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: That might solve part of the problem but once the qualifying age for the pension increases to 67 and 68, it will become a problem. People are planning ahead and expect a certain income but that will not be met. I await the Minister's response as she seems to have information that might be helpful.
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: No.
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Report Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: What?
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Report Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: I second the amendment. Yesterday, a somewhat broader amendment was tabled by Fianna Fáil which sought to insert, after "income", "in excess of €6,000", in other words, to disregard the first €6,000 of what would be termed unearned reckonable income. I opposed that because I believed unearned reckonable income should be subjected to PRSI but a number of the Fianna...
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Report Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: Are we entitled to comment on the sections because all these amendments propose the deletion of sections?
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Fifth Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: I thank the Minister for her presence in the Chamber yesterday. It was a very long day but we had some very good discussions on many issues. At times the debate became party political but, in the round, we tried to confine our contributions to the many amendments being discussed. It was a constructive debate. I concur with Senator Darragh O'Brien that we must remember that we are here...
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Fifth Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: Let us be honest, Fianna Fáil's track record on their budgets-----
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Fifth Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: -----before it came into office tells me that if it was in the position that the Government is in the cuts would be the same or harsher.
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Fifth Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: It is very difficult to listen to them.
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Fifth Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: It is very difficult to listen to Fianna Fáil.
- Seanad: Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013: Fifth Stage (7 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: That is why I believe that the best thing for this country would be for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to merge as one party.
- Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: Fianna Fáil.
- Seanad: Order of Business (12 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: I again call for a debate on unemployment, specifically in the context of the Action Plan for Jobs. The Leader will agree that we continue to face many challenges and that we still have a great deal of work to do in order to create the jobs that are needed in the State. Job retention which is as important as job creation is an issue on which we must also focus. The Leader will be aware of...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Progress Update: Discussion with Microfinance Ireland (12 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: I welcome the group representatives to the meeting. Along with my party, I supported the establishment of Microfinance Ireland for good reasons because the Minister had set some very ambitious targets. The ten-year strategy includes a target of €90 million, an additional lending to 5,500 micro-enterprises and the creation of 7,700 jobs. I would love to believe that we will reach the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Progress Update: Discussion with Microfinance Ireland (12 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: That seems to be working in other countries so why are we not using these newer models instead of sticking with more traditional types of lending?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Progress Update: Discussion with Microfinance Ireland (12 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: That still does not explain why some counties have a much smaller take-up. There must be some reason for that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Progress Update: Discussion with Microfinance Ireland (12 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: Do the delegates have a target for next year in terms of how much money they hope to lend and the number of jobs they hope to create? It is easy to have five and ten-year targets, but is there a specific target for 2014?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Progress Update: Discussion with Microfinance Ireland (12 Nov 2013)
David Cullinane: What level of information is coming back to Microfinance Ireland from its customers?