Results 241-260 of 583 for speaker:Tom Barry

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Maintenance (21 May 2013)

Tom Barry: 714. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when secondary and primary routes are being upgraded and renewed, if he will consider setting aside a certain proportion of funding to address the excessive wear to regional and rural roads which bear the traffic of the major roads during the construction process. [23859/13]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Groceries Sector: Discussion (Resumed) with Fresh Milk Producers (21 May 2013)

Tom Barry: I apologise for being a few minutes late. The producers are very welcome to this meeting. It strikes me that the liquid milk sector is like a few other sectors that are living on depreciation. One cannot invest constructively for the future if one does not have a sufficient margin. It seems strange that a country which has aspirations to feed up to 50 million people under Harvest 2020...

Hundredth Anniversary of 1913 Lock-out: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (19 Jun 2013)

Tom Barry: I welcome the opportunity to speak to this motion. It is disingenuous in the extreme to attack the employers of this country in the sweeping way the tone of this motion seeks to do. It sends out the wrong signals internationally from a small, open economy such as our, which has a very good track record in employer relations. Those employers include some of the 200,000 small business...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: I compliment the Minister on a job well done, not just on the CAP but also on the CFP. The sugar beet issue is also close to my heart. Does the Minister think an EU fund should be put in place to allow for the cost of holding the EU Presidency to be borne across all member states? It seems unfair that if a country spends too little on holding the EU Presidency, it may not progress. ...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: I am a little confused trying to figure out the details. The Estimate for laboratory services at the Backweston laboratory has increased by approximately €400,000. Has the number of staff increased?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: It is difficult to figure out the page.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: I have so many documents, the Lord himself would be confused. It is on page 30, under the administration subhead. The figure also arises in references to the Backweston laboratory.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: To follow on from the discussion on TAMS, the Minister mentioned the benefits for the pig sector. However, tied into that sector are those tillage farms, including my own, which take much of the slurry from these units. The problems farmers like me face in this regard is that each load is inconsistent and is not homogenous. Moreover, the slurry arrives at times of the year when its value...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: It would be very tight.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: On that very point, I know of schools which have given up that scheme. It really upsets me that while we encourage our children to drink milk, some schools do not take up the scheme. It is Government policy to subsidise the scheme. What about children who want milk to be available? How can we stop this two tier system where it depends on whether there are so many milk drinkers in a school?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: Would the Minister consider a token system or something like that to allow this to be taken up? Obviously, some schools are failing to do their job in this regard. This should not be allowed to slip through the net.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised) (2 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: Can we discuss-----

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (16 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: 350. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there is a method of geographically prioritising, or moving between panels for teachers who have children with special needs. [34745/13]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Black Economy Issues (16 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: 532. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the action being taken to address black market activities, particularly in the area of construction. [34740/13]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Groceries Sector: Discussion with the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency (16 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: I welcome the witnesses here today. This is an issue close to my heart. The multiples have the financial strength which protects them against the primary producer. I believe they need to display their profits here because when they deal with their suppliers in many cases they ask them to open up their books. There is a double standard. They dissect the books of their suppliers and decide...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Groceries Sector: Discussion with the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency (16 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: I apologise, I was not very clear. My point was that when farmers were getting 26 cent per litre the branded product was selling for €1.49 for 2 litres. However, when the price to farmers collapsed to 19 cent per litre, at a time when they were losing their shirts, the price to the consumer did not, as it should have, drop to approximately €1 per 2 litres. The multiples did...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Groceries Sector: Discussion with the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency (16 Jul 2013)

Tom Barry: I agree with Ms O'Leary that the writing displaying the cost per unit is too small. One would want a magnifying glass with one, never mind a calculator. I smiled when she mentioned nappies because I would be something of an expert in that area. One can buy the large box that hardly fits into the back of the car. They are dearer than buying the small boxes but the manufacturers know one...

Mortgage Arrears: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (19 Sep 2013)

Tom Barry: I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this very serious topic. It is a problem that has been with us for quite a while. I wrote extensively on this issue in February 2010. My aim at the time was to promote parked-percentage mortgages, whereby banks would split the debt into an affordable, sustainable amount for the distressed mortgage holder. This was fed into the Keane report,...

Mortgage Arrears: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (19 Sep 2013)

Tom Barry: The situation has changed ---

Mortgage Arrears: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (19 Sep 2013)

Tom Barry: I am sure that Deputy Dooley would not like to make the situation worse than it already is. However, I will listen to whatever he has to say on his point of order.