Results 3,181-3,200 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Written Answers — Dublin Transportation Office: Dublin Transportation Office (7 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: I have received a draft of the 2004 annual accounts of the Dublin Transportation Office. The accounts will be published, following sign-off by the Comptroller and Auditor General's office and the steering committee of the Dublin Transportation Office. This process is following the same pattern as in previous years. Following publication, a copy will be lodged in the Oireachtas Library.

Written Answers — National Safety Council: National Safety Council (7 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: I have not yet received the 2003 and 2004 annual reviews and abstracts of audited accounts from the National Safety Council. The council has advised that its annual review for 2003 is complete and will be forwarded to me shortly and that the annual review for 2004 awaits approval by the board and will be sent to me immediately thereafter. An issue arose in 2003 as regards an assessment for...

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: It is easy to upset him. I am not surprised he is upset. He must be frothing with upset.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: That is an old chestnut.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: It is a bit worn down. The Deputy should be a bit more updated and original.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: Throw him a few sprats. I welcome the opportunity to speak on budget 2006, which is targeted at improving the lives of people across the country and to sustain the economic gains we have made in recent years. The people have worked hard to generate the resources. Our job is to focus these resources to ensure maximum return for the taxes paid and budget 2006 does that.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Deputies opposite fail to understand that what will re-elect this Government is the sustained development of this country by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. It is not about one budget but about building an inclusive society, which we have done consistently in every budget and in every positive way.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: As my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, said, nobody in Ireland wants to return to the days ofhigh unemployment, spending, taxes and borrowing——

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: ——which was the consistent hallmark of Fine Gael and Labour in government.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: If one goes back to the speeches of pre-1973 and pre-1983 and the last Fine Gael and Labour Governments, to the last time they were in government——

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: ——and compares them to what they say today, absolutely nothing has changed. It is remarkable.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: The earlier speeches could be transposed to today. The language and philosophy are the same.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: Their problem is a consistent one. They promise everything and can deliver absolutely nothing because their promises are, as usual, utterly unrealistic.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: That characterises Fine Gael and Labour in government.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: The difference on the next occasion — if they ever get there, which I doubt — will be that they will have to throw the Greens into the mix and maybe Sinn Féin and the Independents who have utterly contradictory policies in all areas.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: Not alone would we have two parties looking in different directions but the possibility of at least three or even a combination of four.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: It is easy to predict what would happen to Ireland if these people were successful in returning to power.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: The consequence of decades of under-investment in our transport infrastructure is indisputable. It is clear that the Government has put in place the largest and most sustained programme of infrastructural investment in our history.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: It is almost impossible to travel a significant distance——

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Martin Cullen: ——without coming across a major project that is under way. Increasingly, it is also impossible to travel a significant distance without benefiting from a major project which has been completed on budget and ahead of schedule.