Results 781-800 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: Even in the budgets where there have been no increases in the bands, PAYE credit was increased and reduced the tax paid by PAYE workers. It is also the case that there were no major changes in the VAT rate in recent years.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I listened in silence to the Deputy.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I will do the best I can but I am a Member only 21 years. We have a zero rate on food and a reduced rate applies to many services. It is like everything, one cannot compare apples with oranges all the time, although sometimes we all do so to exaggerate the point. The Deputy will find nobody in Monaghan on that wage who has to pay that rate to the local authority. Even an authority with seven...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The indexation issue would be a strait-jacket for any Minister or Government and would take from their democratic responsibility to make choices for the good of the community, such as targeting those on the minimum wage in the last budget. It is about choices. I do not agree with the idea that the use of the CPI is almost like a formula across the board, following which one can do what one...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: Corporation tax is there for a purpose to bring about the inward investment that has transformed this country. That is one of the few mechanisms we had available to us. We do not have a great deal of natural resources, a large population or a large capital base although, thankfully, it is increasing. We did not have an entrepreneurial spirit or solid capital formations.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I will defend this model. The Green Party, of which the Deputy is a member, has a different model and I wish it the best of luck. The Deputy will argue in its favour. When he has 84 Members to back the party he can come into this House and implement it. In the meantime I am defending this model and the way it works. There may be criticisms of aspects of it but on any objective analysis — be...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I did not. I said it has its costs.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy should not misrepresent my constituents.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I never used that phrase "weed out".

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I never used that word "weed out".

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I did not say it.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: On a point of information.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy is misrepresenting my position.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: May I state my position? Why does the Deputy not wish to hear my position?

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: Will the Deputy give way? I wish to correct the record of the House. The issue arose in the context of whether the measure is progressive. My criticism is that the Labour Party provided free third level education regardless of income and it is now enjoyed by the children of millionaires and those earning €200,000 or €300,000 per annum. My point is that it was not targeted. I am in favour...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I will not put words in the Deputy's mouth and have no problem giving way if I misrepresent her personal position. However, I have heard criticisms from the Labour Party benches to the effect that millionaires now have a medical card if aged over 70 years. Although the Deputy may not have made them, they are on record. I made exactly the same point with regard to free fees at third level and...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The Government is spending €1.7 billion per annum on child benefit which has increased by nine times the rate of inflation since 1997. I do not question the Deputy's commitment, credentials or convictions and she should not ascribe to me convictions which do me an injustice. In misrepresenting me she weakens her case and argument. That was not the basis on which Deputy Paul McGrath...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I did so for the reasons I have given.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: It is my 20th.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The amendment relates to the home carers tax credit of €770, which under section 466A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, is granted to married couples where one spouse works at home to care for children, the aged and incapacitated person. The amendment proposes that the amount of the home carer credit should be the same as the maximum of the employee tax credit, commonly known as the PAYE...