Results 261-280 of 346 for speaker:Jim Higgins

Seanad: Order of Business. (25 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: I support the call by the Fine Gael leader, Senator Brian Hayes, and by Senators O'Toole and Norris for an immediate debate on the exemption offered to France and Germany yesterday by their fellow Ministers for Finance, which I cannot understand. France and Germany were supposed to be our role models in terms of our financial and economic performance and of qualifying. I remember representing...

Seanad: Order of Business. (25 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: Yet they have been afforded a special concession which will completely derail and disrupt the Stability and Growth Pact with obvious consequences. We need an immediate debate on that. In his budget speech in December 1999 the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, promised that by the middle of 2001 an elaborate programme involving the decentralisation of 10,000 jobs to the regions would be...

Seanad: Address by Mr. Joe McCartin, MEP. (26 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: I join with the Cathaoirleach, Senator Brian Hayes and Senator Ormonde in welcoming Mr. Joe McCartin, MEP, to the House. I have followed the flight path of his career since his election to the European Assembly in 1979. I have never known anybody who has had such a comprehensive grasp of the complexities of Europe. The marvellous exposé he gave in the space of 20 minutes, in which he covered...

Seanad: Book of Estimates 2004: Statements. (26 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: On a point of order, will we get a copy of the Minister's speech shortly?

Seanad: Book of Estimates 2004: Statements. (26 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, to the House. The chickens have come home to roost and the double-digit public spending spree of 2001 has caught up with the Government. An election was just around the corner in 2001 when a reckless Government lashed out public money as if there was no tomorrow. As the Minister of State said, public spending increased by a whopping 20.1% over...

Seanad: Book of Estimates 2004: Statements. (26 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: One political certainty is that the Government will pay a high political price in the local and European elections next June.

Seanad: Book of Estimates 2004: Statements. (26 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: In the Estimates, the Government has targeted cuts at some of the most vulnerable sectors of society. The Minister of State was not a Member of the Oireachtas when another famous slogan won a general election for Fianna Fáil. I can clearly remember the poster with Charles J. Haughey beckoning in the direction of the slogan, "health cuts hit the old, the sick and the handicapped". The...

Seanad: Book of Estimates 2004: Statements. (26 Nov 2003)

Jim Higgins: Extravagant figures are being agreed county by country and this is from a Government that abolished the first-time buyer's grant of £3,000 or €3,700 last year. I am looking at the figures, for example, on capital expenditure. That is where the money should be going, into capital expenditure, into transport, into infrastructure, into developing the nuts and bolts of the economy to attract...

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Jan 2004)

Jim Higgins: Since the House adjourned, there has been a spate of adverse publicity regarding the huge hike in prices to the extent that we now find ourselves perched at the top of the league of costly countries in Europe and it is doing enormous damage. In a year in which we are supposed to have an increase in tourism revenue, this type of publicity is doing huge damage to the reputation of the country...

Seanad: Recognition of the Irish Language: Motion. (21 Jan 2004)

Jim Higgins: Phléamar an cheist seo ag Foram Náisiúnta um an Eoraip coicís ó shin agus bhí díospóireacht iontach againn. Tháinig An Dochtúir Pádraig Breandán Ó Laighin ós comhair an fhoraim agus thug sé tuarascáil mhaith chuimsitheach dúinn. Is léir ón dtuarascáil sin go ndearnadh an-bhotún i 1972 nuair nár chuir an tír seo iarratas isteach go n-aithneofar ár dteanga oifigiúil mar...

Seanad: Regional Development: Motion. (11 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following: "condemns the Government for its failure —to promote balanced regional development, particularly in relation to the Border, Midlands and Western Region; —to meet the targets for infrastructural development as set down in the NDP; —to synchronise decentralisation plans with the National...

Seanad: Water and Sewerage Schemes. (11 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter and I apologise for my absence last week when I was listed to discuss it. I thank the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Noel Ahern, for coming to the House to reply. I thank the previous Minister for the Environment and Local Government for delivering a long overdue...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I wish to raise three issues. Last week the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment published the redundancy figures for December and January. The latter figure was 2,800 and that for December was 2,200, marking an increase of 5% on the respective figures for last year. Behind each of these redundancies is a human story and while we might talk about growth and inflation, jobs are the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: It should be dealt with urgently because there is gross exploitation in this business.

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I welcome and endorse this timely, opportune and valid Labour Party motion and agree with the thrust of Senator McDowell and Senator O'Meara's remarks in that regard. I am galled by the manner in which the Revenue Commissioners wastes so much time and resources investigating the small taxpayer. In my previous capacity as a Deputy and currently as a Senator I have been approached in my clinics...

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I fully appreciate that point.

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: As Senator O'Meara said, there is a culture of acceptance within the courts and the Revenue Commissioners. We will not get to grips with the situation until such time as people who commit serious tax offences are imprisoned. The Minister of State referred to yet another review of the powers of the Revenue Commissioners. Its powers have been reviewed time and again. An announcement by the...

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: These people have no shame.

Seanad: Revenue Commissioners: Motion. (18 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: No. I do not want false charges made against him.

Seanad: Dormant Accounts: Motion. (25 Feb 2004)

Jim Higgins: I move: That Seanad Éireann condemns the decision of the Government to undermine the independence of the Dormant Funds Account Board by transferring all decisions on dormant fund disbursements to the Government and noting that the initial proposal for such a fund came from the Public Accounts Committee where it was recommended that moneys be ring-fenced for the most disadvantaged communities...