Results 9,621-9,640 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Court Procedures: Court Procedures (14 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: Question 173: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a number of single parents have experienced great difficulties arising from the changes in legislation relating to orders of maintenance; his plans to address the anomalies that have arisen in relation to enforcement proceedings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46982/10]

Written Answers — Social Insurance: Social Insurance (14 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: Question 235: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if, in view of the equalisation of PRSI rates paid by employees and the self-employed as announced in budget 2011, self-employed workers will be entitled to claim jobseeker's benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47218/10]

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: The Labour Party objects to this Bill being taken today. This Bill could probably teach the North Koreans a lesson in ministerial powers, because-----

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: Outside of totalitarian regimes, I do not believe there has been a proposal to give powers like this to a Minister for Finance. We have received legal advice from a number of sources which agree that section 53 is more than likely unconstitutional, because it seeks to replace the law-making powers of the Oireachtas within the Constitution and transfer them to the Minister for Finance.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: The later Schedules to this Bill provide for the disemboweling of the National Pensions Reserve Fund in two parts; one for the banks and one for spending-----

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: You are interrupting me when I am speaking. The second power in respect of the National Pensions Reserve Fund is a power to the Minister for Finance to devote what he can of that fund to capital expenditure. It is a Fianna Fáil election slush fund.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: It is proposed to turn-----

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: May I finish speaking?

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: I made two points about this Bill. Section 53 is clearly unconstitutional because it provides most extraordinary powers to the Minister for Finance.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: The section on the National Pensions Reserve Fund equates to the creation of a slush fund for Fianna Fáil to put into capital projects.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: It is a slush fund for the Minister's party.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: I will finish on this. The provision of these extraordinary powers after a debate of less than four hours on 77 sections and 66 pages is a travesty of democracy. People talk about political reform.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: The job of Parliament is to examine legislation.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: You are aiding and abetting that.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: Four hours is not enough for this.

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: What remark?

Order of Business (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: Sorry - are you now going to keep control?

Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill 2010: Second Stage (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: Today's stopgap Bill is too little, too late. It is too late because the horse has bolted since the expiry of the original bank guarantee, and too little because it does nothing to address the treatment of liabilities other than subordinated bondholders. It fails to address the issue of senior bondholders now out of the guarantee, the debts for whom amount up to €20 billion. Had a...

Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill 2010: Second Stage (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: The Bill also covers the credit unions. Given the importance of the credit unions in the fabric of Irish community, social, family and business life I am disappointed that the Minister has not explained the implications for the credit union movement of its inclusion in the Bill. I made recommendations to the Minister in a previous debate, which he promised to consider, regarding proper...

Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill 2010: Second Stage (15 Dec 2010)

Joan Burton: I am pleased someone from the United States Embassy committed this in cables from the ambassador because the tone of the cables represents exactly the type of advice and brush-off that the Department of Finance gave to people such as myself when we questioned the notion that nothing was wrong other than a little liquidity problem in the Irish banks that would right itself by the subsequent...