Results 621-640 of 9,823 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am just going through the taxation measures. The amendment was carefully drafted to allow a wide-ranging discussion in the expectation that the Bill would be guillotined. I think that is the idea. I hope the Cathaoirleach will bear with me.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I have been reading what the members of the Government used to do when they were in Opposition. I will see how it works. I am not doing too well, judging by the number of amendments the Cathaoirleach has ruled out of order. I hope this amendment will do the job. We are giving €1 billion to business in the form of a VAT reduction. As I keep saying, the newspaper industry is included in...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The amendment has a substantive purpose.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister of State is not the Cathaoirleach.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister of State-----

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister of State should say that to the Minister, Deputy Reilly. Perhaps he will make tomorrow's major health statement in the Oireachtas.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister of State was here at one stage.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: If certain areas are to be targeted for employment growth, there should be some standard by which that growth can be measured. It is shocking that the Department is saying that what the Government is doing cannot be measured. We are being asked to sanction almost €1.8 billion in tax breaks with the aim of creating jobs in a small number of sectors. I am not criticising the overall...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: No, we are not. This is very much within the scope of the Bill.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: This is very much within the scope of the amendment.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I said it would be far better if the press conferences were held later in the year. As the Minister of State said, we all hope this works. I hope it can be shown later in the year that it is working. Figures that were released today show that the official seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has decreased. Some analysts have said the reasons for that may not be as good as they appear. I...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I am sure the Department would have had discussions with the various industries on the prospects for job creation. While the amendment describes a report, it does not describe a report informed by CSO statistics. We regularly get Ministers making jobs announcements. They are not based on CSO figures. Unfortunately, we often hear that some of the jobs do not always materialise. It would be...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: We have an equation to which the answer is jobs. All of us want more jobs to be created. The Government believes taxing the pension pots of ordinary workers to give a tax break to large and small businesses will generate employment. However, the Minister of State is unable and unwilling to provide a figure for the number of jobs that will be created by this measure. If taxing ordinary...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Will the Cathaoirleach please explain the reason? It appears the word "declaratory" does not require the Minister to do anything. Perhaps the Cathaoirleach might explain the meaning of the word in this context.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I understand my recommendations are ruled out of order, but it is important to highlight what is being done here. This specific part of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act reduces the VAT rate for a number of services to which a 13.5% tax rate applies to 9%. The difficulty I have with the section is that it applies only to a certain number of services, but it is for the benefit of...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I would like to clarify for Senator Gilroy the reason I am disappointed at this VAT relief, which we are not opposing and which we welcome. We are not opposing the section. We are concerned that the VAT has not been extended to other items that are included in Schedule 3 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010. That schedule contains a list of goods and services. This Bill refers...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I agree.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I accept the Minister of State's rationale for the inclusion of hairdressing in the lower rate. My point was that it was something of a stretch for a Government Deputy to say on radio that it had been included because hair salons were increasingly located in hotels. Nevertheless, the Minister of State has made his point well. However, it is certainly a stretch to include the newspaper...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I move recommendation No. 9: In page 12, to delete lines 44 to 57 and in page 13, to delete lines 1 to 3 and substitute the following: "(a) a chargeable person who is an insurer pays an amount in respect of the duty in relation to a contract of assurance, the amount shall be deemed to be a necessary disbursement from the pension fund of the insurer. Notwithstanding that, the insurer may not...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I will not pursue the matter further. Suffice it to say that if Senator Jimmy Harte is concerned about administrators' and managers' charges, he should note the recommendation is an attempt to deal with them. While it may not be properly drafted, we certainly had in mind that one should not be able to cut people's benefits. The Taoiseach said one could talk to the banks or fund managers in...