Results 321-340 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: They have been less successful in dealing with the trade union side of their movement than we have been in dealing with Senator O'Toole.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I know we have drifted somewhat, but we are discussing a fairly general recommendation regarding an important section of the Bill. There is probably more sense in trying to elucidate something of the Minister's attitude to these issues, rather than moving rapidly through a list of recommendations we know the Minister will reject. Senator Higgins and I have read his lengthy scripted speeches...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I can imagine. Since we are having such a frank exchange of views, I thought I would encourage the Minister to put it on the record of the House.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: That is what I wanted to ask.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I still take an interest in these matters. I have not given up on the people of Dublin North-Central and I like to persuade myself at times that they have not altogether given up on me. I agree with the Minister. I note what the Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, said a few months ago when he effectively blamed the stability and growth pact for the failure to deliver on public transport...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: They never really implemented that.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: Is the Commission proposal off the table?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I understand the motivation in limiting the numbers, but there will be problems in regard to implementation. People move out of the public service and some people die. The people who move out are typically those who get better jobs.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: Yes. The middle-ranking people who move out before reaching retirement age are those who get better jobs in the private sector which pay them more money. These people are a real loss to the system. The dead weight people who do not move out remain as constants. One will lose quality people by imposing an absolute cap which does not discriminate.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: There has been a problem in recent years in relation to nurses. Some of the major hospitals and health boards have been recruiting nurses from the Far East and the Philippines at considerable expense. This has not solved the problem because most of them are here on two-year work permits and will presumably return home at the end of that period unless their work permit is renewed. Will this...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I wanted to give the example of the Government's commitment to increase numbers in the Garda Síochána by 2,000. How does that sit with the overall cap?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: I do not understand how it will work. Will it be done on a departmental basis?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: Will it be done on a departmental basis?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: Is it caught by the cap?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: The fifth year will be very exciting.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: This recommendation is obviously, as Senator Higgins said, intrinsically linked to individualisation which the Minister did nothing further to advance in the budget. Does he remain committed to the individualisation process? I have never been particularly in favour of it as, no doubt, he will have noticed. It did not appear in the Labour Party manifesto either. There are difficulties in...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: How does the Minister anticipate that this will happen in circumstances where people are not eligible to pay PRSI in the first instance? Do the same exemptions and thresholds apply? Will the sum total of what one receives in cash plus the benefit-in-kind put one over the threshold?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: So the limit does not apply in any event. Question put and agreed to. Sections 7 and 8 agreed to. SECTION 9.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: There are a couple of separate arguments but they come together to some extent. It was wrong to get rid of the grant, which is not to say I do not accept the Minister's general thesis that the grant was increasing house prices, which it was. However, it was being run into the price in terms of the full repayment over, typically, 20 years. It is correct to say that over 20 years the buyer...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2003 [ Certified Money Bill ] : Committee and Remaining Stages. (26 Mar 2003)

Derek McDowell: The Minister said economists had advised him to abolish it but that is usually an indication that he will not do so.