Results 5,281-5,300 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: I believe the Chair is misdirecting itself.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: Those of us who over our cornflakes this morning listened enthralled to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment suggesting on the radio that the problems in the economy had been solved are amazed that by afternoon tea the Minister for Finance has a completely different view.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: Section 13 does not address the questions raised by either the Labour Party or Fine Gael. It provides for a review by the Minister. I am sure that, as a competent Minister, he reviews all sources of revenue available to the State on an annual basis for the budget. However, the review provided for in section 13 has no status. If the Minister decides to outsource it, presumably it will be...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: It is called an emergency.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: I support the amendments proposed by Fine Gael. Certain categories of people who work in the public service earn very low incomes. For example, lone parents who work part time in the public service often do so because they have child care commitments. If they work only part time they can continue to receive part payment in respect of the lone parent's allowance and qualify for certain...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, line 30, to delete "as amended by" and substitute "inserted by". This is a technical amendment. I am advised that Chapter IVC of Part V of the Defence Act 1954 was inserted by the Defence (Amendment) Act 2007, rather than amended by it. The Bill states that the definition of "public servant" does not include "the President, a member of the judiciary or a...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: That is the logical conclusion.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: No, it is a charge.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: Will the Minister make available the advice of the Attorney General on this matter? I have been advised that it would be possible to include a clause in this Bill which would allow for a voluntary opting in by the Judiciary to this arrangement, and by the President as well. I have no doubt that the President would opt in to such a scheme, and I believe that the majority of the Judiciary...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: Many low-paid people in the public service are in for the shock of their lives when they find out they are subject to this levy. I want to talk in particular about those who work as outdoor staff for the county councils and the many people working in the Houses here who are not civil servants, but might be called industrial civil servants. They pay full PRSI for a contributory old age...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: It is not clear.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: Could the Minister clarify the position for persons such as gardaí and members of the Defence Forces who must serve a lesser number of years, 30 years, to acquire a pension? Somebody who is a member of the Garda for, say, 35 years stops paying his or her pension contribution after 30 years and cannot accumulate any extra pension benefits. Will such persons, who no doubt are definitely in...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: I thank my colleagues for moving this amendment. This will put the Bill in line with the 1% income tax levy, where the Minister exempted people with an income of less than €18,304. That made sense on administrative grounds alone. The Minister should do the same here. The administrative burden will be significant anyway and there will be a huge number of anomalies. I welcome what the...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: From the Minister's face I know that this comes as an awful shock and that he would like nothing more than to apply the levy at the top rate to persons in the State owned Anglo Irish Bank. To be honest, it would be a small piece of poetic justice. We know that in a former life the Minister was a skilled senior counsel. I rest my case and wait for him to bring forward an appropriate amendment.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: I remind the Minister that people earning up to €18,000 a year will pay 3% on the first €15,000, which amounts to €450. They will pay 6% on the next €3,000, which amounts to €90. Therefore, somebody on €18,000 a year will pay €540, if I understand correctly the way the levy is structured. This amounts to more than €10 a week for somebody on the very lowest rung of the...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: After that remarkable recent interview with Deputy Gogarty, perhaps tweaking is what happens under the duvet between Fianna Fáil and the Greens. Maybe we are looking in the wrong direction.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: I move amendment No. 17a: In page 7, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following subsection: "(6) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, payments which are not reckonable for pension purposes are not to be liable for pension levy deductions under this section.". So many amendments have been ruled out of order, I am surprised this was accepted when resubmitted. Rather...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: I move amendment No. 18: In page 7, before section 3, to insert the following new section: "3.—Funds received from the deduction under section 2 shall be paid into a fund under this section, to be known as the Emergency National Pension Levy Fund (separate from the National Pension Reserve Fund), the principal purpose of which is to pre-fund public service pensions.". The purpose of this...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: Not now.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Joan Burton: We drafted the amendment in very general terms because the establishment of such a fund would be complicated and require bipartisan discussion with all parties in the House. What I am putting to the Minister is the principle behind the idea, which is that if the Minister calls this a public service pension levy and asks public servants to accept an extraordinary level of sacrifice — it is...