Results 1,281-1,300 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Why has nobody sued the tobacco industry in Ireland, unlike in the United States? Would that be one way to put manners on tobacco companies, defeating them in court?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the witnesses, some of whom I know from Kenmare and others from the National Economic and Social Council. One of the observations I think we will agree on from the discussions of recent days is that we have a banking system and an accountancy sector that are not fit for purpose. They are at the core of the collapse of the economy five years ago. The submissions deal with the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome my colleague. It is always great to see him. The context of this discussion is that nearly all countries have unsustainable debts, the Vito Tanzi thesis and so on. The US economy cannot face up to even the slightest suggestion that fiscal stimulus might be removed. It is a Lance Armstrong economy. Tanzi used the phrase "fiscal termites". We do this all the time. In the last...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank Professor Barry very much. We had a debate last week seeking kinder tax treatment of people who did not report their offshore accounts accurately. There is an industry working all the time against the kind of model that Professor Barry and I might have in mind.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: It never relaxes and seems to have easy access to the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners. The latter could stop it if they had less special pleading and lobbying.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank Professor Barry very much.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: The good transaction described by Professor Barry is the research and development tax credit, whereas the issue at which I look askance is tax avoidance. It is difficult to split the two. Listening to Professor Barry's reference to the number of people who had to be brought into the country to fill posts in certain companies, I noted that we do not have the relevant policies evaluated when...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: The question I had in mind was whether we need better economic evaluation of these policies. I presume Professor Barry agrees that we do.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I compliment the Leader on his stand in respect of the future of this House. I point out in The Irish Times today that the Referendum Commission guide sent to every house in the country has a serious omission. It does not refer to the fact that if the referendum is passed, people in six counties of this island and overseas will be deprived of a vote which they have had since the foundation...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Upward Only Rent (Clauses and Reviews) Bill 2013: First Stage (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I second the motion.

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister and wish him well in his reforms. The first issue I wish to address is the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the IPA note on which states that the Minister appoints the chairperson and the 25 member council. Is that an issue we should look at?

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I accept what the Minister has said.

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Had I known that was the case I would not have raised the issue because what it presented, as written, was a total control from the centre which is the exact opposite of what the Minister has said. I am glad that appears to have been settled and no doubt will be dealt with in the IPA diary next year. Part of the problem as I interpreted it, listening on the monitor to the Minister and other...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Two matters arise on foot of yesterday's Order of Business. The first relates to the appearance of a 20-page property supplement in one of the daily newspapers. As I informed the Leader yesterday, there is a need to ensure banking reform. We have tabled two items on the Order Paper, Nos. 26 and 29, which deal with that matter. The same accountants, bankers and auctioneers who created the...

Seanad: Turf-cutting: Statements (19 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister whose visits I always enjoy. I hope his message is well received. He is a very reasonable man. He has made the offers to recloate and has mentioned the bogs where relocation is possible and the 15 tonnes of turf to be delivered. That is a reasonable offer which should be accepted and negotiations should take place. I welcome all he has done in that regard. Part of...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the election of the first woman bishop in either the Church of Ireland or the Anglican Communion in the United Kingdom. Bishop Patricia Storey came from Belfast to Trinity College, Dublin, and then went to Derry. She will be coming back to Meath and Kildare. Her appointment is a significant advancement for women and is much to be welcomed. I note that the other House is today...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I am pleased to inform the House that the literary and debating society in NUI Galway last night voted that the House should be retained. Senator Naughten and I were the Members of the House who spoke. The university has a superb tradition of oratory, not least the fact that President Michael D Higgins was the auditor in 1965, then came to this House and went on to the Dáil and...