Results 9,561-9,580 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for raising this issue. The Government very much shares the concern he expressed about the difficulties mortgage holders are having, both in respect of the interest rates that are being charged by some institutions and also the difficulties they are having in respect of arrears and the pressure on them, and has acted in this area. Last month, in the budget, it...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: In the earlier part of my response, I was responding to the allegation Deputy Ó Cuív made that the Government was not dealing with the mortgage issue. I believe he is now satisfied that the Government is dealing comprehensively with the mortgage issue in respect of interest rates and mortgage arrears. In regard to the specific issue he raised, as he is aware, the Government has spoken to,...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: I am very happy to answer those questions. My assessment of the situation is that we inherited the biggest economic mess any incoming Government ever inherited. When we came into office last March, the banking system and the economy were broken and, as my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills often says, the country had effectively been put into receivership by the previous...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: I did that-----

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: -----and I am helping the Government to achieve the objective of getting the country's economy to recover-----

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: -----to get us out of the bailout, to say goodbye to the IMF and the ECB and to recover our economic independence.

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: All of us, whether in Government or Opposition, owe it to the people we represent to be straight with them. When Deputy McDonald talks about the reduction in the 7.5% interest rate that now attaches to Irish bonds, she might also tell people that that is, in fact, now about half what it was last year.

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: It is down and is going in the right direction. It is not where we want it to be but it is going in the right direction and the Deputy might at least acknowledge progress. Nobody on this side of the House is enthusiastic about cutting any service to the public, but we are in an economic and financial hole. We are short of money and the gap is made up by borrowing. That is the Government's...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: That is the policy of us all, but one does not get people back to work simply by making a declaration about it in Leinster House. It has to be worked upon and one must restore international confidence in the country. In order to get people back to work we have to persuade people, outside this country first of all, to invest here to create jobs. We are doing so and the proof of the pudding...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: In respect of the money we must borrow in order to keep the State services going, what would Deputy McDonald do if we were not in a position to borrow that money? How much would she have to cut wages by? Is she going to go down to the Mater Hospital or any other hospital and tell the nurses that she is going to cut 30% of their wages?

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: Is she going to tell old age pensioners that she will have to cut maybe up to €100 per week from their pensions? It is time that Deputy McDonald grew up and accepted the economic reality we are facing. If she does not like what the Government is doing - and that is fair enough, it is the privilege of Opposition - then instead of coming in here every Thursday morning and bellyaching about...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: There are a couple of elements to the question. First, I do not accept what the Deputy says - that there has not been payback for the country delivering on targets in the agreement we have with the EU, ECB and IMF. Last year, there was a practical and tangible payback when we secured a reduction in the interest rate. The value of that payback in terms of our overall debt is approximately...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: Let us look at our record on this. When the issue of 12.5% corporation tax was put forcibly on the agenda by other member states when the Government came into office in March of this year, we vigorously and effectively rebutted and refuted the argument. We made it clear that there was an attempt to get us to trade the position in respect of reducing the interest rate for concessions on the...

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: It is proposed to take No. 14, Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2011 - Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; No. 15, Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011 - Second Stage (resumed); and No. 4, Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011 - Second Stage (resumed).

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: The Booker prize is awarded following a competition.

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: I will happily produce the record in respect of the A list the Government published in the past session and compare it against all of the A lists produced by Deputy Ó Cuív's party during 14 years in office and see where the prize for fiction goes. Of the 32 Bills committed to on the A list for the past session, 21 have been published and there are four or five of the remaining Bills on the...

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: There are different reasons for that. Some, in respect of their prioritisation with the troika, have been moved back and some have been replaced with other items of legislation.

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: The intention is that the legislation will be published this session. I do not have a date for the report of the group looking at the Magdalene situation but I know progress is being made. The question of the detail of the legislation can be debated when the legislation comes into the House.

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: There will be a finance Bill in the normal way this session and it is intended that the Government will bring forward the fiscal responsibility Bill. It is not normal to comment on the content of legislation until it has been published, and it has not yet been published. The fiscal responsibility Bill has not yet been approved by Government. On mortgage debt, the legislation which will be...

Order of Business (19 Jan 2012)

Eamon Gilmore: The whistleblowers legislation is due to be published later this year.