Results 2,681-2,700 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: Is the objective to lower total tax paid or to rebalance how those taxes are paid, from whom they are taken and for what kind of activities they are used?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I have been struggling with an issue that is not in any of the submissions. We are overly reliant on foreign direct investment in this country and we need to develop a vibrant domestically owned SME sector, and bigger than SME sector. When I speak to investors and private equity fund managers about all of this cool high technology entrepreneurial investment that we keep hearing that we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: Dr. O'Connor's figure of one sixth paying at the marginal rate surprises me. The CSO is stating the average industrial wage is €42,000. I thought it was €36,000 or €37,000. The 52% tax rate kicks in at €32,000 or €42,000. How is it that only one in six workers pays it if it is payable at the average industrial wage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: But a couple will kick into the marginal rate at €41,800.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: And for so many other reasons.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: That is fascinating; I would not have thought so. I have a final question. If I understand him correctly, Dr. O'Connor is advocating that tax relief of 20% on health insurance be dropped. Is there not a concern that that would price a group of people out of the market at a time when we need people to get back into the health insurance market?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: Is Dr. O'Connor suggesting the price would fall fully to compensate for the 20% relief being taken away?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (15 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Dr. O'Connor.

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 27:In page 16, to delete lines 11 to 23 and substitute the following:“(3) Where the Minister considers it appropriate, having had regard to the matters specified in subsection (4), he or she may recommend to Dáil Éireann that subsection (1) shall be applied, or shall no longer apply, to any particular public body to the extent specified in the order. Any...

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 28:In page 16, to delete lines 34 to 37 and substitute the following: “(5) Where a dispute arises as to whether subsection (1) applies, or as the conditions arising by virtue of that subsection, the dispute shall be submitted to the Commissioner, whose determination shall be binding.”.The amendment is in the same vein as No. 27, which has fallen. It is a...

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with the Minister that the matter should absolutely not go to the courts, but where there is a dispute the Information Commissioner makes rulings all the time.

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: But is it not the body itself that is disputing its inclusion?

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: An analogy for me would be a body. If the Information Commissioner says the information should be provided and the body disputes that-----

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, or that for whatever reason it is not providing certain information under freedom of information, it is the Information Commissioner who essentially has the final say and insists that citizen X is provided with the information. At the moment a body can have a dispute with the Information Commissioner on the provision of information and under law the Information Commissioner can say that...

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 29:In page 16, to delete line 41, and in page 17, to delete lines 1 to 14.I am sorry, I was mixing up my amendments. Amendment No. 29 is very similar to No. 27. No. 27 says a Minister may put a body on the exempt list and amendment No. 29 is about the Minister putting part of a public body on the exempt list. As with amendment No. 27, it is a serious thing to do, to...

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: In that case I thank the Minister.

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: Like the other Deputies, I acknowledge the work done by the Minister and the fact that he reviewed a substantial part of the legislation that was debated on Committee Stage. The review was very useful and I thank the Minister and his officials. I can see that many of the arguments made by me and by other Opposition Deputies are reflected in these amendments and I welcome this fact. The...

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge that this is a huge and very welcome step forward but will make some observations in the spirit of improving the legislation further. The table on page 29 of the report shows there is a severe step change in the fees that can be charged. The first five or six hours are free but if a requester's application takes seven hours to process, he or she is to be charged for all seven...

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister for his reply. I take his point on the need to split requests into parcels to ensure the work involved for each parcel does not exceed five hours. It is odd that in the case of a person whose request involves seven hours' work one would provide five hours of work free of charge and impose a fee of €40 for the remaining two hours. Would the requester not be asked...

Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Stephen Donnelly: The Minister may have been distracted when I asked a question earlier. May I ask it again?