Results 4,481-4,500 of 21,440 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Availability (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: 123. To ask the Minister for Finance if it is permissible for a registered charity to include political donations for tax relief purposes. [23287/13]

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: My amendment No. 3 has been ruled out of order. I am puzzled by that because in May 2012 on Second Stage, the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, said that having examined similar legislation in other jurisdictions, he could see the merit of broadening the scope of the legislation to include bespoke construction supply contracts. I, too, would like an explanation as to why our amendments have...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I accept the Minister of State's explanation for the removal of drilling and the extraction of oil or natural gas from the legislation. He has explained that fairly and well. However, I do not understand why bespoke materials do not come under the scope of the legislation. The Minister of State indicated on Second Stage that he understood that it would be a necessary measure and that he...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: We should avail of that opportunity. I do not accept the logic of the Minister of State's argument on broadening the scope of the legislation so much that it becomes a catch-all. It is very clear that we are discussing bespoke materials for construction projects. If the Minister of State has an open mind on the matter, we should certainly use the time between now and Report Stage to hammer...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes, supply and install. He suggests that therefore the issue of bespoke materials is covered implicitly in the legislation. We want to get to an explicit articulation of that. For my part, I would be more than happy to take up the opportunity to find that wording. We will certainly be tabling this amendment again on Report Stage.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: They are grouped together so I shall discuss the amendment but will not move it until later. It is important that the social clause is referenced in the legislation. The Minister will see that my amendment is cast more broadly than that of Deputy Fleming. It therefore addresses the issue of long-term unemployment, but also addresses apprenticeships, compliance with fair employment,...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I welcome the lowering of the thresholds. We all agreed that they were set too high, but why have a threshold at all, or why not set it at €5,000 or €2,000 instead of €10,000? I am taking on board Deputy Creed's comments in respect of those who were burned, those whose work was worth modest sums in the greater scheme but for whom those sums became significant when unpaid.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I will vote "Níl" for the simple reason that we must still straighten out the issue of bespoke materials. I want to put that on the record.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I support the sentiment of Deputy Fleming's amendment. I have, however, a concern about not awarding a contract to a party on the basis of information received in the manner outlined. That would be open to challenge and could be problematic. That said, Deputy Fleming has set out clearly a strong case for considering some provision of this nature to be included in this legislation. I would...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: This is a crude device. I do not see the Minister of State accepting this amendment. I am guessing he will knock it out of the park. We should forget about putting notices on sites but there is an issue around the ability of a subcontractor in circumstances where a schedule of payments has been agreed with a main contractor to check that those payments have been processed and made. That...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I wanted to raise this issue. There is concern that a loophole would be created in the case of very large residential properties which involve large contracts and substantial sums of money. The resolution mechanism envisaged in the legislation should prove to be efficient and cost-effective. Outside of the loophole relating to very large single residential developments there is the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: For the purposes of clarity, should this, along with the issue of the bespoke materials, be something on which the Opposition spokespersons should enter into conversation with the Minister of State's officials rather than second-guessing what he might or might not do?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am not saying they are comparable levels of difficulty. In the interests of getting all of this right and in the way we have proceeded with this legislation, it would be an idea for us to talk to the Minister of State's officials.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 20: In page 6, subsection (1), to delete line 24.This is simply to try to prevent the misuse of conditional payment clauses.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Whatever about affording a level of flexibility within the contracts, I would be concerned that this opens up an exit clause or a level of ambiguity in respect of pay out on the contract terms. That is why I tabled my amendment. The genesis of this legislative initiative is that promises were entered into with sub-contractors but were not met and people were left high and dry. My concern...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: To try to be helpful, can I suggest that is something we might consider before Report Stage? If we look at the wording, instead of saying "or for an adequate mechanism" for determining these amounts, could we consider the words "and for an adequate mechanism" for determining those amounts? We can talk about this again because I take the Minister of State's point on the flexibility.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does the Minister of State see my concern? My concern is that "or" gives one an absolute out in respect of the interim payments.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I understand the Minister of State's concern about taking the line but I am trying to-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: We will come back to it.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move amendment No. 22: In page 7, subsection (6)(a)(ii), line 7, to delete "the presentation of a petition to wind it up".The amendment is proposed because we must be sure that if insolvency is used as a rationale for non-payment, there is a genuine insolvency event. The amendment is intended to add a level of certainty and to close down the escape hatches in respect of non-payment.