Results 1,101-1,120 of 26,843 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Sale of State Assets: Statements (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is what the Minister's policy amounts to.

Sale of State Assets: Statements (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is sacrificing the needs of our society-----

Sale of State Assets: Statements (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: -----and the needs of our most vulnerable citizens to pay off bankers and bondholders. This is what the Minister is doing. If all of this is not bad enough, there might be some justification for it if it contributed one iota towards economic growth and recovery and eventually putting people back to work.

Sale of State Assets: Statements (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The issue of State assets exposes the lie of this strategy. This is about getting rid of the very resources and assets that could create jobs, that could provide the engine for economic recovery-----

Sale of State Assets: Statements (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister knows well because he has read the ICT report on the Eircom privatisation which was published this year. It makes me laugh to hear Fianna Fáil criticising the possible sale of State assets when they presided over Eircom, which was a disaster, let to 5,000 jobs being lost and to massive enrichment for Tony O'Reilly, Goldman Sachs, George Soros and all the rest of the vultures....

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Question 12: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the way she will ensure there will be adequate heating for the elderly and vulnerable in view of the cuts to the fuel allowance and the household benefits package; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29130/11]

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Is it not the case that the cuts to the fuel allowance the Minister is proposing and the cuts she has already indicated to the household benefits package are the sharp edge of an obscene attack on the most vulnerable sectors of our society and that despite soothing words about covering the cost of electricity and gas price increases the reality of these cuts is a matter of life and death for...

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: How can that be justified when Ministers are earning €140,000 a year, gas company executives are earning €400,000 a year and ESB executives are earning €650,00 a year when we are talking about equality of pain? None of them will die because of any increased taxes but elderly people may die as a result of these cuts.

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I urge the Minister to reverse these cuts and any thought of imposing cuts on fuel allowance.

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: A Cheann Comhairle-----

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Come on.

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: How can the Minister use the work of community welfare officers as a smokescreen for the substantial question that is being asked of her? If we have already had 2,000 winter related deaths, is it because the funds to procure fuel and electricity to provide warmth for elderly and vulnerable citizens are inadequate? Many of them would not have the confidence, knowledge or ability to contact a...

Social Welfare Benefits (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We all agree with that idea but it does not justify the cuts.

Back to Education Allowance (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have had a lot of calls about this. A simple criterion should apply; if someone wants to go back to education or to further their education, he should not be put in a position where he must stay on the dole for another six months before qualifying. It is an extraordinary situation. One young woman approached me recently. She decided not to sign on after having been away because she did...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (13 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Question 17: To ask the Minister for Social Protection in view of the recent Central Statistics Office reports on the increase in poverty and child poverty here, the measures she intends to take; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24752/11]

EU Summits (18 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Question 5: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the meeting of the Eastern Partnership in Warsaw; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27356/11]

EU Summits (18 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Given the deteriorating situation in the eurozone, did any of the leaders of the eastern European states and other EU member states have any questions for the Taoiseach on the policy of continued austerity and bailing out banks, the detrimental effect this was having on growth in the European economy and how it might affect them? Did the Taoiseach have any discussions with the leaders of the...

EU Summits (18 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: In discussing Ireland's economic and financial situation, the Taoiseach made much of Ireland's improved reputation but that was not really the question I asked. One cannot eat reputation and it does not provide jobs or services. I asked whether various leaders at the conference recognised that there is a major problem in terms of the impact of austerity strangling economic growth in the...

EU Summits (18 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We did it with Denis O'Brien and Eircom, did we not?

EU Summits (18 Oct 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It was done before.