Results 901-920 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2: In page 10, subsection (3), line 24, after ?Commissioners.? to insert the following:?The Revenue Commissioners shall be the designated primary body for the conduct of means testing in the State.?.This deals with the sharing of personal data on circumstances. Means testing takes place here, in SUSI, in community welfare offices and in the Revenue Commissioners. Is it...

Seanad: Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (28 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: I wish the Minister a happy Easter. I thank the Minister of State. We are nearly there, or we are closer to it than we thought. In an appendix to the Mangan report it is estimated that the compatibility of the Revenue and the Department of Social Protection is approximately 89%, so we might be moving rapidly in that direction. It would be of benefit if we could free up resources for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome our witnesses. Our problems were created by large capital flows, leading to the property bubble. How would the resolution mechanism highlight that if it were to happen again, as Deputy Dooley said?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: The design fault in the original euro was that it did not protect small countries from massive capital flows from large countries, which did not mean much to the large countries because, by definition, they are large countries. Do the witnesses think we are protected against the Croke Park-style cheering of the two main Irish banks as they bought vast amounts of money in Germany, causing the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: Is there a mechanism to require higher deposits on property lending?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: They are pretty well all in trouble.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: Denmark's success in not having a property bubble was due to a 20% deposit requirement. Does that mechanism exist here?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I am concerned that we still have a banking system that is obsessed with property. We are talking about the lack of money for small and medium-sized enterprises. The banks have not provided that for ten or 15 years. Playing golf with builders was the life of a banker. All measures the witnesses can take to end that connection could only help the Irish economy. How do we separate the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I wish to raise two points. We have been very concerned about bankers' bonuses. Let me reiterate that all of the constituencies represented here would say more power to the elbows of people who are trying to control them, as they are seen as a scandal. Speaking on behalf of the majority of the committee, we are disappointed with the public interest directors. What is the role of public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Recovery and Resolution Framework for Financial lnstitutions: Discussion (4 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the delegates.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Annual Growth Survey 2013: Discussion with European Commission Representation in Ireland (10 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome Mr. Nagarajan and his colleagues. I found the document to be an instrument of despair. Page 9 sets out that we added 2 million to the number of unemployed in Europe in the last 12 months. I see the same old clichés about more committees, waffle and quangos, while nothing is done to address the basic problem. The design faults in the euro must be addressed. It has been a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Annual Growth Survey 2013: Discussion with European Commission Representation in Ireland (10 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank Mr. Nagarajan and his team for their presentation. However, the difficulty I have with a deeper EMU is that it is coming from the folks that brought us the last one. Have they improved their knowledge of economics since the launch of the first project? I hope they have but there is very little evidence of it. It will be very hard to sell giving more power to the guys who really...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: Over the next two days, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, will preside over the meeting on a free trade area between the United States of America and Europe. This was mentioned on this day last month by the Taoiseach and President Obama. I ask the Leader to convey the best wishes of the House to those at those discussions and I look forward to...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Report Stage (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 2: In page 9, to delete lines 34 and 35.I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I note the Minister of State has tabled 43 Report Stage amendments. He also introduced 44 amendments on Committee Stage. It is important that the Seanad has been of assistance to the Minister of State in progressing this Bill. That is the spirit in which we conduct our business and I...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Report Stage (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister's assurance on this. I hope we will have a full debate on the statutory instruments involved.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Report Stage (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 3: In page 9, line 39, after “Taxi Regulation Act 2003” to insert the following:“and statutory instruments under the Taxi Regulation Act 2003”.This a development on what I was saying about the previous amendment. The House has helped the Minister to make nearly 80 radical changes to the Bill as originally presented. We support him on quality...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Report Stage (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: With regret, I must press the amendment. We have tried in all of our debates on this issue to move the Minister of State away from restrictions on quantities. The policy was a major success, as is well documented. The incumbent licence holders wanted to restore a scarcity value for licences and they did this through a statutory instrument, not by way of debate in this House or by appealing...

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Report Stage (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: No.

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Report Stage (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: Could I say a word about amendment No. 5?

Seanad: Taxi Regulation Bill 2012: Report Stage (17 Apr 2013)

Sean Barrett: Our briefing notes state the licensing income was €5.9 million and the expense was €3.9 million. When the commission moved into the NTA, it took assets of €20 million with it. I was trying to communicate some good news to our friend, the Minister of State, that it may not be necessary to come to the Oireachtas as there seems to be a lot of money in the licensing system.