Results 1,421-1,440 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: Regarding No. 14, I object to the imposition of a guillotine on the Finance Bill 2006.

Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: The Minister for Finance promised an explanation by the end of February. This has now been postponed until the end of March and we are still no wiser on what the sum of €56 million was spent on, besides what leaks to newspapers suggest. It appears to have been spent on current spending, which means the capital budget for the HSE is 10% less than what had been planned on budget day. We have...

Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: I object to the fact that the Minister has brought forward a series of quite complex amendments for Report Stage and we will be unable to discuss many of them. I take a fair amount of interest in the details of the tax code. I contacted the Minister's office to ask for some commentary or explanatory summary on the Report Stage amendments which the Minister is putting forward but I did not...

Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: Some of these amendments run into many pages and propose to change key qualifying dates in the Finance Bill. Some of this is worth millions to some of the richest people in this country——

Order of Business. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: ——while other people are paying 42% when they earn more than €30,000. It is all to do with money, and money certainly talks for the Government, but this Parliament is not being given time to debate it.

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: I move amendment No. 1: In page 9, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: 1.—The Ombudsman shall include in her annual report a special report on the overpayment of tax by PAYE taxpayers, and on the take up of credits by such taxpayers, and the branch of her office dedicated to ensuring that the take up of credits is readily available to all taxpayers, and refunds made as rapidly...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: The Minister does not see the bigger picture. This year, 400,000 people were left without tax certificates until the week before last. The Revenue Commissioners have a number of new computer systems, including the revamped ITS systems, but the Minister is blissfully unaware that many people have serious questions about their entitlements to their basic tax credits, which they have not been...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: I congratulate Deputy Boyle on getting his amendment accepted, which was no small feat. It is useful that we find ways of dealing with the financial implications of the Kyoto Protocol. The Government would probably like us to believe that, because the implications of the Kyoto Protocol will only kick in after the next general election, the matter should not be discussed in detail by this...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: The Minister should explain the reason certain types of contributions are valued more than others in the tax structure. For instance, highly paid individuals who make pension contributions of €100,000 receive tax relief of €42,000. In comparison, the position of carers is one of extreme disadvantage. The Minister should explain the reason he lavishes so much resources on high income...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: I support the amendment. Given the statistics provided by the Minister on the rate of pick up of tax breaks, it would seem that some 800,000 households are not claiming tax relief on refuse charges. This means the Minister is in pocket to the tune of that amount. The Minister recalls, I am sure, correspondence and comments about Dublin Bus. If a person overpays a bus fare, Dublin Bus gives a...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: The Minister must accept that probably the most unfair aspect of the entire Irish tax code is that dealing with pension relief. This fact is borne out by the study commissioned and written by the Minister's officials, as volume 3 of the study into tax breaks. It showed an extraordinary position. Of the six or seven case studies in the report, two deal with separate individuals who have...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: If the Minister is to boast about his Government's achievements it is important to note that the abuse of pensions for tax purposes was consciously slipped into the Dáil by then Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, around 2000. If the Minister examines his officials' report he will see that in 2000 Mr. McCreevy removed practically all limitations on pension investments for tax purposes. He...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: The Minister must acknowledge that he was put in office to remove his predecessor, some of whose actions were so extreme in favouring tax evasion and avoidance by the rich that the Taoiseach saw fit to replace him. The Minister should remember that.

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: Let the record show what Mr. McCreevy did.

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: That is why Mr. McCreevy was removed.

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: We know who the Minister looked after.

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: Has the Minister any idea how long it took his predecessor, the former Deputy McCreevy, to swim from Inchydoney to the shores of Belgium when he was thrown overboard after the meeting with Fr. Seán Healy? As well as creating open season for pensions and all manner of extraordinary arrangements for the wealthiest, he gave them tax-free holidays and a scenario where people with income in...

Finance Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: I move amendment No. 15: In page 11, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: "4.—No deduction, allowance or relief that would, but for this section, be allowed or available in computing profits or gains arising from rental income or in assessing liability to tax on that income shall be allowed or made available to a landlord of a tenancy, within the meaning of the Residential...

Written Answers — Courts Decisions: Courts Decisions (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: Question 153: To ask the Minister for Transport the degree of contact and co-operation between his Department and the Courts Service on road traffic case law; if he is satisfied with the exchange and flow of statistics and information between the two bodies; and the steps he is taking to improve matters. [9196/06]

Written Answers — Accident and Emergency Services: Accident and Emergency Services (7 Mar 2006)

Joan Burton: Question 199: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the way in which the daily figures regarding the number of patients who have been admitted to hospital through accident and emergency departments, yet are still lying on trolleys, are compiled; if trolleys are counted at the same time every day; if individual hospitals have been given guidelines on the way in which to...