Results 2,601-2,620 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Food Agency Co-Operation Council: Food Agency Co-Operation Council (6 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: Question 160: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of meetings of the Food Agency Co-Operation Council in 2004, 2005 and 2006; the number of times that its successor has held meetings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3589/07]

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (6 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: Question 166: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if is satisfied that farmers are fully aware of the compliance rules under the Nitrates Directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3562/07]

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (6 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: Question 274: To ask the Minister for Finance if cohabiting partners who separate obtain concessions to purchase a home following separation with the benefit of first time buyer stamp duty relief; and his view on extending a concession to such persons. [3968/07]

Decentralisation Programme. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: Question 104: To ask the Minister for Finance the timetable to which the Government is working in respect of the decentralisation of State agencies; if it includes an examination of the business case for the proposed move; and the special arrangements being prepared to deal with the entirely different role and contractual arrangements which exist in the State agencies compared to the public...

Decentralisation Programme. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Minister for his reply. I am sure he was invited to a recent meeting that was organised by some of the representatives of the workers affected. It was notable that there was no Fianna Fáil representative and many people were disappointed. Nonetheless, some very important questions were put at that meeting that require answers if the Government is intent on fulfilling what it...

Decentralisation Programme. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: What is the offer to people with expertise in State agencies who opt to remain in Dublin? This is supposed to be a voluntary programme. The Government wants people to volunteer to do one or the other. The only offer that I have heard from people who wish to remain in Dublin is unemployment. If they do not move and the Government pushes ahead, then unemployment is their only option if they...

Decentralisation Programme. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: Into what vacancies are people being deployed?

Decentralisation Programme. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: That does not apply to Stage agencies.

Tax Code. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Minister for his reply. The criticisms made by the Irish Taxation Institute have a number of worrying dimensions which militate against the view that Revenue is improving its performance. For this reason, it is important to carefully examine the institute's concerns. The Minister adverted to its concern that a high proportion of those entitled to certain reliefs, including...

House Prices. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: The Minister may think the property market will have a soft landing, but there is certainly no soft landing for first-time buyers. Is the Minister aware that the figures for the housing market show the percentage of houses bought by first-time buyers has declined rapidly, from over a half in 2004 to less than one third now? This clearly indicates first-time buyers are being squeezed out of...

House Prices. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: The policy is collapsing. The targets are not being delivered.

House Prices. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: That is all bluff and bluster. The Minister should consider the hard figures. The Government committed to producing almost 7,000 social housing units and 4,000 affordable housing units, but it has achieved less than half of that target. All this talk about what will happen in the years 2007 to 2013 does not butter the parsnips for people who are waiting for housing but find that, as the...

House Prices. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: The Government collapsed its own policy of 20% for social and affordable housing. It has not pursued its own policy.

House Prices. (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: The Minister is in Government. He can start lecturing when he is——-

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (7 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: Question 123: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the escalation of stamp duty costs on young families; and his views on measures to relieve this. [4121/07]

Order of Business (8 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: Will the Government agree to a debate on the annual report of the National Competitiveness Council, which was published yesterday? I understand that Pfizer, one of the flagship companies in Ireland's pharmaceutical sector, which has never seen any job losses, is about to announce significant job losses in Cork. There have been similar job losses in Motorola, Vodafone and Xerox.

Order of Business (8 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: I want to make the point that this is not an isolated incident. There is a trend of job losses in our traded sectors.

Order of Business (8 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: That is the question.

Order of Business (8 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: As the announcement is being made as we speak, it is appropriate, timely and urgent to raise the matter now. I hope the Chair will indulge me if I stray slightly beyond the boundaries of Standing Orders.

Order of Business (8 Feb 2007)

Richard Bruton: I am definitely inside those boundaries.