Results 2,681-2,700 of 5,388 for speaker:John Deasy

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: After that, do we invite the Departments in to-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: People in these agencies and Departments read newspapers. They will have read what Mr. Elderfield said. I am sure people in the Department of Justice and Equality will either disagree violently with it or will say it is very interesting and will ask if there was something they missed or if there is something they can do. It is so important for people who were victims of what happened over...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: The issue I wish to raise relates to the Valuation Office and what it is doing nationally. Representatives of that office appear before this committee on occasion and it is a number of years since they were last here. The office has begun a systematic revaluation of property as it relates to commercial rates in the country. Parts of Dublin, Limerick and Waterford have now been revalued.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: The city and county of Waterford. It is based on a 2011 analysis but it has become very problematic. I am not exaggerating when I say that in the region worst affected by the recession, the sector most badly affected within that region, the retail sector, has been very negatively affected by this process. In some cases, the retail sector in Waterford city and county has seen commercial...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: If memory serves me correctly, our biggest criticism of the Valuation Office when it came before us was that it was not doing its work quickly enough. It was a different time, even two years ago and the difficulties in the retail sector have worsened considerably since then. We need to take a look at the implications that something like this has for a sector of society.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: At the very least, contact the office and determine whether it, and by extension, the Department of Finance, takes these issues into consideration. I am dealing with Waterford city, parts of which have an unemployment rate of between 30% and 35%. The unemployment problem is enormous. A State body is, in fairness, only doing its job and is undertaking an exercise which made perfect sense in...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: Administrative efficiencies are not really the problem. I know I am straying into policy with my remarks, which I do not want to do because I know that is outside the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. However, there is an issue here for this committee. There is a larger issue in terms of the Government spend involved here and it is legitimate to examine that. I do not think...

Order of Business (25 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: It has become clear that the revaluation process currently being conducted in Waterford by the Valuation Office will result in businesses, and retailers in particular, going to the wall in large numbers. The Valuation (Amendment) Bill 2012, which was introduced in the Seanad, provides for an entirely different system of assessing rates for businesses based on self-assessment by the property...

Order of Business (25 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: I understand that but I am conscious of the damage that will be done with the revaluation process currently underway by the Valuation Office. The Bill has been drafted and introduced because it provides for a better way of assessment - self-assessment by businesses. This is extremely important because businesses will go to the wall under the existing system of revaluation by the Valuation...

Order of Business (25 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: The existing legislation-----

Order of Business (25 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: This is germane. The existing legislation was drafted in 2001 in completely different economic times.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: I thank the Taoiseach.

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Charges Review (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: It is clear that the revaluation process being undertaken by the Valuation Office in the city and county of Waterford will send a considerable number of businesses to the wall. The revaluation is leading to increases of over 300% in some cases and will affect the retail sector in particular, with some of the larger industrial users getting discounts of up to 40% for some reason. The average...

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Charges Review (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: The system is not fair. I know how it works and what is being proposed. I acknowledge that this is not the Minister of State's portfolio. The system is the problem. It will put people out of business. The town council in my home town, Dungarvan, has a lower rate valuation than the county. On its abolition, local businesses run the risk of being harmonised with the county rate. They may...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Properties (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: 124. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he wil provide an estimate of the current number of vacant properties, by county, which are in the ownership of the State and under the management of the Office of Public Works inclusive. [31163/13]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Properties (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: 125. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the annual cost to the Exchequer, across all Departments, of maintaining Farmleigh House, Dublin; and the number of overnight State visitors, high-level meeting delegates, and members of the public who attended events there in the years 2010 and 2012. [31165/13]

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Unemployment Statistics (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: 132. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his attention has been drawn to Eurostat data showing that citizens of other EU states living here had a higher employment rate than Irish nationals in 2012; and the reason that this is the case. [31152/13]

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: National Museum (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: 161. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of donations made to the National Museum of Ireland in the past ten years. [31164/13]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electric Vehicle Grants (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: 176. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of electric vehicles that have been purchased by consumers here in each of the past seven years. [31153/13]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Electric Vehicle Grants (26 Jun 2013)

John Deasy: 177. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the State's investment in electric vehicle infrastructure in the past seven years. [31154/13]