Results 4,101-4,120 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: On a point of order, I concur completely. I read the Standing Order and I cannot see the difficulty. We may be missing something. I cannot see how recommendation No. 2, which calls for a report on a form of taxation raises the question of a potential charge on the people or State. I do not see it. The Cathaoirleach may have made an error. It may have been misread. A casual reading of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: On a point of order, I do want to be awkward but this is an error. This is the same idea. The Sinn Féin recommendation refers to the need to examine the introduction of a stimulus package. Can somebody tell us from where the charge comes? I am not comfortable with challenging the rulings of the Chair; it is not something which is done lightly. Would the Cathaoirleach at least undertake...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: This is an idea that is worth exploring and I completely support it.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I move recommendation No. 5: In page 13, before section 4, but in Chapter 3, to insert the following new section: "4.—The Principal Act is amended— (a) in section 238(2) by the insertion after "yearly interest of money" of "and apart from any period payments made to a plaintiff by means of compensation or damages for any wrong or injury referred suffered by an individual in his or her...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I regret the fact that the Minister has kicked it down the line. It is not that I do not have full confidence in Mr. Justice Quirke to deal with this matter. In fact, of all those involved in the Judiciary, he is the one I would be delighted to see deal with it because he has dealt with such cases. Much of the argumentation I have made to the Minister today comes from his comments from the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Not yet. While I accept the Minister's good intentions, this has been dragging on for 13 years. The day Deputy Hanafin was made Minister in 2002 the Government adopted a programme for Government. In the same year the Motor Insurance Advisory Board issued a report with 67 recommendations, one of which was that the system of lump sum compensation payments be reviewed on the basis that the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I note the Minister is shaking her head. I hope she will not let me down so grievously at this point. Recommendation put and declared lost.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I fully support the arguments for having primary care centres but does this not represent taxpayer investment in a private institution? Have I misread what my Fine Gael colleagues have put forward? Does this not involve putting public money into a private hospital or health care system? I agree completely with all the argumentation on both sides of the House, especially that of Senator...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: There will be a loss to the taxpayer.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: It merely involves privatisation of an element.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: Nursing homes are commercial operations. They are organised by big companies.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: With a change of Government.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I support Senator Twomey's recommendation which is timely and important. The points made by the Minister of State are important. I do not disagree with the fundamentals of what he has to say. However, there are two other issues to be considered. The Government is having trouble finding money for the Limerick regeneration project. There are ongoing arguments in regard to whether it is...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: We are indebted to Senators Donohoe and Twomey on this issue. This is the kind of thinking we need in industry. In 1492, Columbus set out from Spain to find the Indies, as he thought, and he discovered the great continent of America, by accident. Many of the great developments have happened as a result of serendipity, finding something by accident. The best example is the discovery of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: He sounds a bit like Senator Donie Cassidy.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: The claim about shifting from one company to another has been thoroughly addressed by Senator Donohoe. One of the problems that arises in assigning innovation to a Department is that people will think the matter can be addressed in one place. A Department with responsibility for innovation should simply be an additional extra to innovation taking place everywhere else. There is a...

Seanad: Order of Business. (30 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: For the last six months, a number of us here have been calling for everybody to move in the same direction to deal with the economy, and I refer in particular to the social partners. Senator Marc MacSharry has raised this many times and Senator Buttimer has done so as well. It is good to acknowledge the progress that has been made today. It is discouraging to hear the response from the...

Seanad: Order of Business. (31 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: It ill behoves anybody to cast aspersions on anybody in the middle of all this. I perfectly understand the views of the Opposition parties. I recognise the responsibility of Ministers and other politicians in this regard. I recall that we welcomed the appointment of the new Governor and expressed trust and confidence in him. I recall that we welcomed the appointment of the new Financial...

Seanad: Order of Business. (31 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: I am not saying this in an oppositional way. Nobody can claim to be right on this issue. People have to indicate how they came to form a judgment on it. As I see it, the winding down of Anglo Irish Bank would cost as much as the recapitalisation of the bank. The difference with recapitalisation is that we still have a bank at the end of it.

Seanad: Order of Business. (31 Mar 2010)

Joe O'Toole: People can argue all they want. It may be the case that other Senators are right and I am wrong. I do not think people on this side of the House are more honest than people on the other side of the House.