Results 2,561-2,580 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: With the bulk of our excise rates we compare very favourably with the UK. The ultimate sustainable position for the country with regard to competitiveness, in terms of responding to the global scenario, is to change behaviour and significantly shift policy. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, made very significant tax reliefs available in the last budget with regard to alternative motor...

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: That is an example of the creative fiscal measures that ultimately add much more to the competitiveness of the economy.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: It is a more sophisticated response——

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: ——to the issue of global difficulties in terms of oil supply and refining than a measure suggested by the Deputy, which has no guarantee with regard to follow through or downstream impact.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: On the surface it sounds popular and simple, but in reality the Deputy knows it is very different.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is a former Minister——

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I will speak of a simple item, the price of a pint.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: For a decade, year after year——

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should hear me out. Year after year there was no increase in the price of a pint in the budget, going back to when the Taoiseach was Minister for Finance. Did that stop the price of a pint going up? It did not. The Deputies know this.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: Before an election, for three or four months, there was a maximum prices order.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: When we had maximum price orders in this economy, inflation was at its highest.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: It was at its highest when the notion existed in the 1970s and early 1980s of fixing matters by putting price orders in place. These prices very quickly became the floor. Thankfully we have moved away from the idea of intervening in the marketplace with price orders, which did not have the impact people believed they would have. In essence, they had the opposite impact.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am glad the Deputy is reading it.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: Which group is the Deputy referring to?

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: There is no question but that rising oil prices have an impact, and nobody is arguing that they do not. With regard to the social partnership talks, the objective from our perspective is sustainability and competitiveness.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The social partners have other issues, which they have raised. The first issue relates to labour law compliance etc., and there have been substantive talks and progress on that matter. We are moving into a new phase of those talks, which have been under way for some time. In that context, competitiveness is of course an issue. Employers are looking for restraint with regard to pay awards. The...

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: With regard to the energy issue, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is producing an energy paper which is considering the wider issues pertaining to the energy market——

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: ——and how we can restructure it to get a better long-term outcome. We are after sustainable outcomes rather than short-term knee-jerk reactions.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: Such reactions may not impact to the degree that people want.

EU Programmes. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: There are two units in my Department with responsibility for the monitoring and evaluation of European Union co-financed programmes. These are the European Social Fund policy and operations unit and the productive sector operational programme management unit, which has responsibility for the European Regional Development Fund moneys in my Department. These units also incorporate the managing...