Results 4,621-4,640 of 26,843 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion with Centre for Public Scrutiny (20 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Lots of journalists could be sacked and people could just use civil servants to get information.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2012: Discussion with Centre for Public Scrutiny (20 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: They never report good news.

Disability Services: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (21 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: While many of the sentiments expressed and assurances given by the Minister of State are positive, those who are affected by disability have reason to be somewhat sceptical about words of assurance. The programme for Government contains noble aspirations and states the Government will "ensure that services meet the needs of users", "facilitate people with disabilities in achieving a greater...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his input to the proposed sale of Coillte's harvesting rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15000/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We are staying on Coillte.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: As the Minister knows and I have made clear, even considering a plan for selling State forests is repugnant and should be abandoned. Will the Minister give straight answers to my questions? As I understand it, he committed to selling the harvesting rights to the troika, but he now says he is considering it. Is that a change?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Under the troika programme, the Minister committed to selling the Coillte harvesting rights. Is that true? If he now says he is considering this, does this mean he is backtracking on that commitment or that there is a possibility of changing the agreement with the troika? The lack of information and transparency around the proposed or considered sale of the harvesting rights stinks to high...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: There is no proper information on these areas.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: For example, why have so many harvesting rights been sold by Coillte in recent years? Was there a tendering process in each of those cases, as required under EU law? What conditions applied to those sales? These are serious questions, particularly given that one of the main beneficiaries of those sales was the Irish Forestry Unit Trust, which consists of Bank of Ireland, AIB and Irish...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Not according to the website of the Forest Service, which I looked at today.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Forest Service does not produce proper annual reports. According to its website, the target is 25,000 ha. The Minister has said that the current rate of planting is 7,000 ha. We have evidence that 1.5 million cu. m of forests have been cut down. When all of that is added together, it is clear that we have deforestation in this country. We are not meeting our targets. We need a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Coillte Harvesting Rights Sale (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: These questions are coming from people in the forestry sector.

Other Questions: Geological Surveys (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister has said this question has been asked previously and getting an answer to it is particularly important in the context of the possible, or proposed, sale of harvesting rights. No doubt the Minister will say that is a different issue and that we are not selling the land, just the harvesting rights. In that context, if the profitable bit of State forestry is taken over by private...

Other Questions: Geological Surveys (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Given that 7% of the landmass of the country is in the hands of Coillte, would it not be a priority to ascertain what is under that forestry and those lands in terms of mineral deposits such as oil, gas, sand, stone, gravel and so on which potentially could be very valuable? We need to know what valuable resources we have in the State, particularly at this time. Should the Government not...

Other Questions: Geological Surveys (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: In any of these matters, I am for weighing up the risks and benefits. Putting an oil rig 6 km off the coast was all risk for the public and of no benefit given the licensing regime. That is also true if the Minister is making an oblique or not-so-oblique reference to fracking. We need to examine the environmental dangers. In any event, given the licensing and taxation regime, there is...

Other Questions: Coillte Lands (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister's most recent response is the most worrying I have heard yet. He said he is giving assurances and then he said that things might change in the future. How can we be confident of his assurances that public access to State forestry will be protected if the profitable part of Coillte's business is sold off and the State is left holding the baby in terms of the public amenity...

Other Questions: Coillte Lands (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: How will we fund them?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the most recent meeting of the Clearing House Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56787/12]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is vital that there be transparency and accountability in terms of the influence of this extraordinarily privileged group of bankers and financiers who have unprecedented access to the Department of the Taoiseach. The clearing house group is made up of J.P. Morgan, Citibank, State Street Bank, Barclays, Bank of Ireland, KPMG, Bank of America, Deloitte, AIB, Ernst & Young,...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): IFSC Clearing House Group (26 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have a simple question for the Taoiseach in the aftermath of the wipe-out of senior bondholders in Cyprus. Is the reason senior bondholders never took a hit in this country and that the Government will not introduce a financial transaction tax, instead of imposing a property tax on ordinary householders, the influence of the clearing house group? Is that the reason senior bondholders were...