Results 4,761-4,780 of 26,843 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2013: Discussion with Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (24 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I would like to ask two more brief questions that require very short answers. Maybe I will get an opportunity to do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2013: Discussion with Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (24 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The issue of housing was raised. Evidence is emerging that we have a shortage of housing in areas of housing need. This is about to create a problem, not from the point of view of those who want houses, which is my concern, but from the point of view of the impact this shortage could have on the economy. Is the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council concerned about his looming problem?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2013: Discussion with Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (24 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes, on projections for unemployment, which I could not find among the tables, is it the case that if we continue to pursue the current adjustment path, unemployment will be approximately 13% when the programme expires in late 2015? In other words, if we meet all the targets and everything goes well, we will still have more than 400,000 people unemployed. Is this a concern for the council...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Official Engagements (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 11. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on all meetings he had during the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland and the issues raised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18599/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Official Engagements (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 12. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his most recent meeting with Christine Lagarde; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18601/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Official Engagements (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Last weekend I was involved in organising a protest in Wicklow that saw 4,000 people come out and demonstrate at the Avondale Forest Park, the former home of Charles Stewart Parnell, against the Government's plan to sell off the harvesting rights to Ireland's forestry. In that context, while the Taoiseach was in Switzerland, did he speak to any foresters or anyone in the Swiss Government...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Official Engagements (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: He would turn in his grave if he thought the forests were being sold.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Official Engagements (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I was just wondering if he was at Davos.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Legislative Programme (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I met the troika on Friday and it stated that as far as it understood it, there was a commitment to sell off the harvesting rights to Coillte.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Legislative Programme (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Taoiseach is saying it is being considered. Could the Taoiseach clarify for the House if it is a commitment or a consideration of a commitment? That is what we want to know and, more importantly, that is what the thousands of people who came out to Wicklow from all over the country at the weekend want to know. Is the Government required to do this under the troika programme? If so,...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Legislative Programme (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: When will that happen?

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Considering the context of this Bill, it proves to me and most people in the country that there is one law for the billionaires and another for everybody else. At the weekend, Independent News and Media, owned by a billionaire, Mr. Denis O'Brien, had €138 million of debt written off by a consortium including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland. If a billionaire owns a company, the...

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is semantics. He is the biggest shareholder.

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Fair enough but he is the majority shareholder.

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am genuinely at a loss, as is the public. Someone sat down with the board of the AIB and I do not know what influence that person used. Perhaps it was it the influence of someone who is very wealthy or several people who are very wealthy or perhaps there was a genuine consideration that this media company should survive and job losses should be avoided. That would be a reasonable basis...

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Perhaps they would but in a situation where we own AIB and a significant portion of Bank of Ireland, do we not have a responsibility to ask why different standards are being applied? A major company like INM, with massive debts, can go before the board of a bank that we own and have those debts written off. We do not know why; it could be a favour for friends or to keep the business going...

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I would be very pleased if he did but I am asking the Minister, and the Government, as the majority shareholder in AIB, how is it acceptable for a bank that the public owns to write off all this debt while the banks, under pressure from the troika and facilitated by the Government, are being allowed to repossess the homes of people who cannot make their mortgage repayments. The reason most...

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: In previous debates we have had the Minister has mentioned it.

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Then I do not understand why the Minister is doing this. Why is he empowering the banks now when he could have used this leverage over them to do what he says he wants them to do, which is to restructure debts for people so they become sustainable? Then, after a year or two, if there is tangible evidence the banks are being fair with people, we might consider removing the legal obstacle....

Organ Donation: Motion [Private Members] (30 Apr 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I commend Deputy Fleming on proposing this motion on what is a tremendously important subject. I understand this is the first time it has been discussed in the Dáil. It has only been discussed on one previous occasion in the Oireachtas when Senator Feargal Quinn raised the matter in the Upper House. This is, therefore, a first for the Dáil and Deputy Fleming is to be commended on...