Results 1,441-1,460 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report November 2013: Discussion with Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (5 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: Bearing in mind that when Mark Carney moved to the Bank of England from Canada, where he had a good performance record in macro-economics, his first act was to persuade the British Government to pull out property based investments of the kind that worried Deputy Boyd Barrett. Do the witnesses see us moving towards maximum loan-to-value and loan-to-income ratios? Banks used to loan up to 80%...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I second Senator Feargal Quinn's amendment to the Order of Business. On the day on which we are all paying tribute to the late Nelson Mandela, the day of his memorial service, I welcome to the Visitors Gallery Ms Leanna Byrne, communications officer of the students' union in TCD, and Mr. Tom Lenihan, its president. The students' union renamed House 6 Nelson Mandela House when Mandela was...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I share the frustrations of Senator Ó Domhnaill that amendments we put down are ruled out of order. My amendment, amendment No. 24, was ruled out of order because it involves a potential charge on the Exchequer. My intention is to find out what we have failed to find out, as Senator Norris asked on the last occasion - that is, the amount of the "generous" free allowance. That will be...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I sometimes wonder whether the Government is too much in favour of centralisation. This Administration and its opinion pollsters, opinion formers, etc., received a very rude answer to the question relating to the proposed abolition of this House. It just might find that local authorities are much more popular than imagined. The decision to abolish the requirement with regard to electing...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: On the approved water charges plan, the Minister of State very eloquently states in respect of amendment No. 12 that nothing will be hidden from anybody and that the process will be transparent. The same issue arises in this amendment. What is the approved water charges plan? We do not know how much water will cost or the amount of the free allowance that will be granted. I am not trying...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: The Minister of State referred to a figure of €1 billion and 1.35 million houses. That works out at €740 per year. If that is what we are being asked to impose, the Minister of State should make the information available. However, such a charge would cause severe concern. That is the amount I calculate based on the information given by the Minister of State. As Senator...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 31: In page 12, line 28, after “Commission” to insert “, the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority,”.The section reads: "Irish Water may, from time to time, and shall when so directed by the Commission, prepare and submit to the Commission...". My amendment proposes the addition of "the National Consumer Agency and the...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I am not happy. I thank the Minister of State, as always. A number of enterprises are charging prices way above the European average, particularly in the area of energy. I do not know why we chose to associate water with energy given people's bad experience with electricity and gas, but that was a choice that was made. We have the international record, including that of Nobel Prize...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: What does the Minister of State propose to do? I appreciate the dilemma he posed whereby the water supply to premises is not measurable by a meter. Will the consumption per head be estimated? What will be the pricing system where there is no meter? Amendment No. 36 provides for different methods for different classes of customer. Does the Minister of State have details on that? He...

Seanad: Water Services (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: The ability-to-pay principle is important. This is a tax. In the tax system we have a tax free allowance, a standard rate and then a higher rate. If we are substituting water charges for taxation, these principles should be taken into account. The €740 figure for water charges comes from the website www.moneyguideireland.ie. The Government stated it would be a smaller charge of...

Seanad: Death of Nelson Mandela: Statements (10 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Leader for arranging this debate. I agree with everything that has been said by previous speakers. We honour an amazing hero for our times. When Nelson Mandela received his honorary degree in TCD, the Public Orator, Professor Luce, started with a quote from Lord Tennyson: Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand...He described how, bereaved by the...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (11 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. Leaving the bailout on Sunday is a momentous occasion. I suppose our concern is to ensure we do not return to the bad old days and let the previous operation of the Irish economy return to haunt us. As the Minister of State plots the future, his Department needs to look at financial regulation. In recent times, we have had discussions on the regulation of...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (11 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: These are the signals as we go forward. As the Minister of State has said on so many occasions, we need evidence-based policy. Section 15 deals with retirement relief for sports people. I wonder whether the sentence in the explanatory memorandum is what is intended; perhaps the Minister of State might look at this prior to Committee Stage. It states, "In addition, instead of having to be...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (11 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: -----I wonder how many more attempts the Minister will make before we get this one right. On this matter, everybody is on the Minister's side. I am concerned about pension funds. The Minister has chosen to dip into them but, as Senator Michael D'Arcy stated earlier, the sector itself is in fairly awful shape. We had this discussion with the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister for...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (11 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Critical Utilities (Security of Supply) Bill 2013: Second Stage (11 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister. It is an honour to support Senator Feargal Quinn’s Bill. Last night the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government indicated we consumed 145 litres of water per person per day. Some 82% of this water is for drinking, sanitation and the washing of dishes, etc. One can imagine that a cessation of the supply of water...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the establishment of the National Data Analytic Centre which will be announced later today by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton. It is the combined effort of four universities, namely, Dublin City University, National University of Ireland, Galway, University College Cork and University College Dublin - to carry out statistical research in a...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, on the start of a happy weekend for him as he escapes the clutches of the troika and company. I was seeking to limit a fiscal privilege in the agriculture sector. As the explanatory memorandum states, the changes will not apply to a loan where a farming partnership is involved. Tax concessions in the agriculture sector manifest in...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2013)

Sean Barrett: I note what the Minister said in his earlier helpful replies. There is a cost and it could be substantial. He is taking steps to control costs. The scheme will end in two years, which I welcome. It could be expensive and the problem with such tax expenditures is one does not know how much they will cost. If it was more explicit, we would know the cost in advance and could try to estimate...