Results 7,201-7,220 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: There is no clarity. Two lawyers, in the persons of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, drafted this, but they have made a dog's dinner of it.

Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: We have a senior counsel who has not read his own Bill, and he is not even here.

Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: He is out sick for the day. We are objecting to the imposition of the guillotine because the Ministers themselves do not understand their own Bill. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance-----

Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: -----have clearly not read their own Bill.

Order of Business (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: Civil servants earning €30,000 a year are taking a cut of 5%, yet we do not know how the reduction will apply to Ministers and Ministers of State. We are entitled to clarification.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, after line 35, to insert the following: ""enactment has the same meaning as in the Interpretation Act 2005;". This is a technical amendment which seeks to bring clarity to the Bill in terms of to whom it is supposed to apply. The word "enactment" is used in paragraph (g) of the definition of a public service body but is not defined in the Bill or in...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: We were promised an amendment on the inclusion of the Central Bank. The Minister stated that the board of the Central Bank had offered to be included and I am not clear where that amendment is. Is that amendment included? I do not see within any amendments the Central Bank being deleted from the list of exempt bodies. It is on the list of the exempt bodies in the appendix but I do not see...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: My party's legal advice is that this applies to any body or institution where provision of a pension is possible, irrespective of whether such pension is provided. As Deputy Brian Hayes stated, that applies in the educational sector. As the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, acknowledged, that can apply, under the HSE and the Health Acts, to the wide range of persons such as home helps. I...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: The point I was making before we broke for the sos was the full extent or remit of the legislation is very unclear from the Bill. I made the point in respect of those on a very low wage in a contract with a body which has a pension scheme. Such people do not necessarily have a public service pension but it appears likely they will be caught under the remit of the Bill. I refer to one...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: It was an important point.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: This Bill applies to anybody in the public service area for whom there is an available pension scheme. It applies to all staff and people employed whether they actually receive a pension entitlement. In the statement issued overnight on RTE, the Minister said the Government was to produce an amendment today which would confine the reduction-----

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: -----to those who had a pension and were subject to the pension levy.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: This is much wider and includes university researchers on contracts, teachers on part-time and temporary contract work, home helps employed by public bodies that have a pension scheme and a range of other people who, essentially, work for a body that has provision for a public pension scheme whether enacted or not.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: Is it not-----

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: That was the Minister for Finance's term. He used it.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: I remind the Minister of State there is a fundamental difference between what he proposes today and the public service pension levy. In that case at least provision was made to differentiate between people on very low wages of €18,000 and under and others. This measure does not distinguish between anybody on any wage. As I stated in my comments on the Bill, if a person earns €10,000 a...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: Public service unions represent public servants. People do not have to be a member of a union. They choose to be a member of a union. I remind the Minister of State that societies do best where people are paid well, conditions are fair-----

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: -----and the gap between the very poorest and the very richest is moderated. We have had all of the examples and long studies done over 30 years of different economies where that prevails. There was a debate in the past about Berlin or Brussels versus Hong Kong and so on. The reality is-----

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: Boston versus Berlin was another debate but Hong Kong is a better example. There are huge numbers of people tolling away on extremely low wages in Hong Kong; Dubai is another example. There are then people at the upper echelons, including ex-patriots, who live very well. Hong Kong and other societies like that may do very well in international financial terms but many of the populations in...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2009)

Joan Burton: There is no doubt that the intention behind this Bill is to reduce the minimum wage and drive down wages in the economy generally, with public servants as the prelude.