Results 11,701-11,720 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: It cut the actual fuel allowance amount by €3.90, it cut their gas and electricity units allowance by 25%, it abolished the telephone allowance and imposed the local property tax and water charges on elderly people with no account taken of ability to pay. The Government promised to abolish their prescription charges but multiplied them by five. It increased the cost of a bag of coal...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: In addition, the Government has cut thousands of hours of home help.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: On top of all that, the Minister's announcement of an increase of €3 will ring hollow for many people because in 2012, the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, introduced sneaky changes to the eligibility criteria for the State pension-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: -----by changing the yearly average contribution bands. A lady from my constituency wrote to me last week.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: Her yearly average band came in at more than 20 weeks per annum-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: -----and under the old regime, at €225, her pension would have been €5 short of the full pension. Instead, €34 has been cut from the pension she otherwise would have received.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: That is the reality and many people are only now beginning to realise, as they reach the age of 66-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: -----that the eligibility criteria for the State pension has changed fundamentally. The Minister's comments on housing and accommodation were nothing short of pathetic. He would have been better off saying nothing than what he actually said. There has been no increase in rent supplement. It was flagged and leaked repeatedly that rent certainty would be introduced but there is no rent...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: -----but there has been no such tax relief.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: There were to be grants for builders who sold houses at below the market value. Apparently, Members are told, the Minister, Deputy Noonan and the Minister, Deputy Kelly, could not reach agreement on the package of measures to help people trying to put a roof over their heads. Is it not amazing the Ministers did manage to reach agreement on giving themselves a €900 tax cut? However,...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: Is the Government not aware of what the Simon Community found in its recent report? In the areas it studied, which included all the major population centres, 93% of properties available for rent were outside of the rent supplement cap. In the five major cities, the Simon Community could not find a single property available for rent that was within the rent cap for a single person.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: Not a single property and not a word about it in the budget today, which is an absolute disgrace-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: -----because apparently, the Government cannot reach agreement on all of that. It is an absolute disgrace.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: In responding to budgets, I have stated consistently that Fianna Fáil wants to see this country recover.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: However, I have a duty to analyse critically that recovery. The economy is recovering, that recovery is broadening and its pace has almost surprised everyone. I agree the task now is to make sure it is a sustainable recovery. There is a general air of self-congratulation about the Government's pronouncements on the state of the economy. Ireland remains vulnerable to a change in...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: That loophole must be closed urgently.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: We have published legislation in that regard. It remains a legitimate aspiration for many young people and for many couples to buy and own their own homes. The steps the Government has taken, combined with the measures introduced by the Central Bank, has put home ownership beyond a whole generation of young people. The new Central Bank rules are particularly punitive for people who want...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: This is a divided country and a divided economy. The Taoiseach has not taken any tangible steps today to bridge that divide. On the cusp of all the celebrations and commemorations we will have next year, that, first and foremost, was his key duty. That is not to mention the 40% cut in Leader funding, which has savaged local community projects in this country for the next number of years to...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: -----he is sending out a very negative signal. It is a statement by Government of a distinct lack of confidence in the credit union movement. At a time when we need a counterpoint to the power of the banks-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Michael McGrath: -----he is diminishing and undermining the role of credit unions in local communities throughout this country. He is not allowing them to hold savings in excess of €100,000, to lend the money or to deal with the additional burden off regulation they face. The Minister should talk to them. He is shaking his head. I am sure the credit unions in Limerick are no different from the...