Results 2,541-2,560 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Financial Resolution No. 1: Excise (Tobacco Products) (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: I think the Taoiseach is right. I am becoming deaf.

Financial Resolution No. 1: Excise (Tobacco Products) (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: That is what worries me.

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: The Labour Party will also oppose this resolution. This is a mean tax increase, particularly for older people and those on low incomes. I refer to those who use cheques rather than credit or laser cards. Many of us remember much comment in the House and in society in general some years ago to discourage older people from holding large amounts of cash in their homes. People were robbed and...

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Using the hole in the wall, the ATM, is something with which those slow in movement are not comfortable. They fear someone will come from behind and whip away the cash. Many people were persuaded to open a bank account and use cheques. It seems this measure is being implemented for the convenience of the banks, who wish to move people from cheques to electronic means, thereby reducing the...

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: They have a service obligation. We should not increase the stamp duty. There is already a bank charge on signing a cheque. This will make the signing of a cheque——

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: ——quite expensive. It is also regressive because it does not take account of the value of a cheque. One pays the same amount for a cheque to pay the milk bill as for the deposit on a house. This is an unnecessary and mean measure and the Labour Party opposes it.

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: I must go back to the question to which Deputy Curran referred. The person with the credit cards who does Internet banking will save money as a result of this. However, we must remember the older person who maybe did not have a bank account at all for years, who then opens a bank account and gets used to using the cheque book. Apart from the penalty, the danger is that this will force some...

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Some transactions have to be done by cheque. One can only pay by credit card or electronically if the person one is paying is able to receive it.

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Many household bills are paid by cheque. One cannot pay the milk man by credit card if he has not the equipment to take it. One must pay him by cash or cheque.

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: This is a mean little tax. Let us call a spade a spade. It is being brought in at the behest of the banks to wipe out the cheque and reduce paperwork.

Financial Resolution No. 2: Stamp Duty (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: As Deputy O'Donnell and other speakers said, if the banks want to move in that direction they have means open to them to do so. It is not the State's job to facilitate the banks in shifting people from cheques to electronic transactions.

Financial Resolution No. 4: Income Tax (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Will the Minister set out the current position? I understand from her that the difference between the preferential rate of interest and the market rate is deemed to be a benefit-in-kind and is therefore taxable. What tax liability applies to somebody who gets a loan from a particular source at a rate of interest other than the market rate?

Written Answers — Irish Language: Irish Language (5 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Question 90: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the discussions he has had with the Department of Education and Science regarding the linguistic study of the Gaeltacht; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32615/07]

Order of Business (6 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Following the budget statement yesterday, the Minister for Health and Children announced increases in charges for accident and emergency departments and overnight stays in hospital and an increase in the threshold for the drugs payment scheme. Why were those increases not contained in the budget statement made by the Minister for Finance yesterday? Are there any other little increases in...

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: This budget is a monumental breach of the promises made by Fianna Fáil to the Irish people at the general election in May. We recall that when the Fianna Fáil campaign floundered last May, the Minister for Finance appeared at a press conference, thumped the table, steadied the ship and made the promises. Nobody was better placed than him to be informed of the state of the economy before...

Written Answers — Transport Regulation: Transport Regulation (6 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Question 38: To ask the Minister for Transport if he has plans to introduce new national or regional transport authorities to complement the proposed Dublin Transport Authority and implement Transport 21; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32797/07]

Constitutional Amendments. (11 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Question 1: To ask the Taoiseach if there are changes to the plans he has for constitutional referendums during 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29092/07]

Constitutional Amendments. (11 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Is it the Taoiseach's intention to hold the two referendums, the referendum on children and the referendum on the EU treaty, on the same date? Are there any other plans to hold constitutional referendums in 2008? I noted the comments made by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, on reform of the Seanad which I understand would require changes to...

Constitutional Amendments. (11 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: Some matters arise from the Taoiseach's reply. While I understand the Taoiseach's preference is to hold the referendums on children and the EU reform treaty on the same day, do I take it that this is now unlikely to happen, given the timetable the committee has set for itself? Second, is there still some doubt about whether a referendum is required on the EU treaty? Do I understand from the...

Constitutional Amendments. (11 Dec 2007)

Eamon Gilmore: I asked whether there is any doubt about the need for a referendum on the EU treaty.