Results 3,301-3,320 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The recommendation relates to section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 which provides tax relief for certain un-reimbursed medical expenses. The relief is granted in respect of qualifying expenses which exceed €125 in a year incurred by one qualifying individual and in respect of such expenses in excess of €250 in a year incurred by more than one qualifying individual. The effect...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I want to have answers for the Senator on the issues she raises.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I apologise.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: Prior to the budget, funds were being built up on a fully tax allowable basis and were capable of being distributed tax free or of attracting a long-term tax deferral. Now, however, there is a limit on the size of the fund which can be built up and on the size of the retirement lump sum which can be taken tax free, and there is no longer an option to use ARF structures for long-term tax...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The assumption was that when ARFs were initiated as a means of long-term pension provision, the annuities would begin to flow when people reached retirement age and that the tax would be paid. Using sophisticated taxation lawyers and other such individuals as we have in this country, people sought another mechanism to further defer taxation and perhaps ultimately transform it into a capital...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The point I make is that the job of a governance mechanism at any time must be to see where the objective or foreseeable benefits are not flowing. One makes the changes necessary to stop a practice which was not envisaged when the arrangements were initially put in place. As far as its introduction was concerned, it was a bona fide provision, and once it became clear from the Revenue...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The consideration raised by Senator McDowell in his last point is a real issue. I can see both sides of the argument. At the end of the day I want to achieve an objective where, through the specified reliefs provision, we do not have high income individuals who pay no tax. There is a wider confidence issue here in terms of equity in the tax system that we need to keep to the fore in our...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I agree with Senator Mansergh that we should be proud of the Irish horse breeding industry. It has developed from being a cottage industry 40 or 50 years ago to being a world leader now. I was in Australia recently and, for the second time in the last five years, I did not get an opportunity to see the excellent facilities Coolmore has there. It also has facilities in Kentucky as well as...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: Rather than being provoked into a response to Senator John Paul Phelan, Senator Mansergh should be aware that the inveterate love between Kilkenny and Tipperary probably motivated some of Senator Phelan's comments about Coolmore's success. The difficulty for a Kilkenny man to acknowledge Tipperary's success should never be underestimated, and vice versa. With regard to the position of Senator...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: In the same way as there was a trop de zèle in some political parties in this country about the exemption, there was also a trop de zèle in the EU Commission. I used all my persuasive and diplomatic skills, to no avail, to get it to look beyond what I considered to be a narrow, legalistic approach to this issue. Thankfully, in the European Council meeting last week we were successful in...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: It was imposed upon me by the European Commission and by nobody else. Unfortunately, the adverse publicity and the unwarranted assertions that were made about the nature of this industry detract from the high regard in which it is held internationally. We should be proud of that rather than begrudge it. It helped create the atmosphere which has culminated in us being told what to do in this...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: We really need to stop the nonsense. I cannot even get a decent tip in Galway when I go there. It is getting to the stage where I might not go there anymore.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The Senator is welcome to come into the tent anytime and have a look around. The argument has been made for years about golden circles and millions being salted away. Unfortunately, this is due to the personal agenda of the man who brought forward the scheme originally. If someone else did it, there would not have been a word about it.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: No, we will be doing so soon.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: Can the Senator repeat that?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: We have transitional arrangements for existing schemes.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed that there is a detail in the two studies that will give the Senator an indication of continuing activity in the pipeline projects.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2006 [Certified Money Bill]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (29 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: There are other schemes that will not proceed even though planning applications were put in before 31 December 2004. When an end date was suggested, many people came forward with projects that were in their back pocket for the day when they might be required. However, the hotel industry is an example where we no longer have under-capacity. Many in the construction industry who might have been...

Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: It is proposed to take No. 15, statements on the Irish language; and No. 1, the Health (Repayment Scheme) Bill 2006 — Order for Second Stage and Second Stage, to be taken at 1.30 p.m. today. The order shall not resume thereafter. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the proceedings on No. 15 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 1.30...

Order of Business. (30 Mar 2006)

Brian Cowen: The issue of investigation procedures for private nursing homes will be dealt with under the provisions of the health Bill, which is due this year. I understand the medical practitioners Bill is due later this year. On the first issue raised by Deputy Bruton, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, has been in contact with his British counterpart on this...