Results 1,521-1,540 of 26,842 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Except Denis O'Brien.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Everything Deputy Durkan says is wrong, but we do not interrupt him.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I am sharing time with Deputy Catherine Murphy, and I eagerly await the barracking from the other side. There is a pattern developing with this Government in the legislation it proposes and the statements of policy it outlines. It tries to tap into the huge sense of outrage felt by ordinary working people, the less well off, the lower and middle income earners in our society, who cannot get...
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Those at the top who had grossly inflated earnings and a vast accumulation of wealth used that wealth, their position and their earnings to drive an economic agenda that has crashed our economy and the entire European economy. People want to know that we are serious about doing something rather than offering tokens and it seems to me this is tokenistic. The Government knows there is anger...
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I propose that it is absolutely unjustifiable for anyone paid from the public purse to earn one cent more than â¬100,000. It is unacceptable-----
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Is five times the earnings of someone on social welfare who has lost their job through no fault of their own not enough?
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Is five times that figure not enough? Is five times the earnings of the worker who has lost their job through no fault of their own not enough?
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I would go further on pensions.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister should let me finish. He had his chance and he will get his chance again.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: We have argued for an earnings figure of â¬100,000 for five years.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: However, we should not mix up this figure with appropriate pension limits. The pension of a public sector worker earning â¬100,000 will be approximately â¬50,000. I propose no more than â¬50,000 for pensioners. Is that not enough for the Minister or for the heads of the semi-State companies or top civil servants? It is extraordinary that we do not have emergency measures to get back...
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I am keen for someone to explain and justify that. However, this speaks to the bigger issue. It is not simply about the pensions and pay of public servants but the lack of willingness of the Government to take emergency measures to go after the wealthy. Where is the wealth tax? Earlier, I referred to a sum of â¬131 billion owned by 1% of the population. If we include the top 5% then...
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: No, not on farm land.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Our proposal is simple and does not relate to private residences, it is limited to assets worth more than â¬1 million and not to farm assets worth less than â¬5 million. As I pointed out to the Minister, the financial assets make up approximately one half of the figure of â¬131 billion to which I referred and the figure is rising. These assets have risen significantly in recent years....
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Technical reasons are always given to explain why people at the top cannot be brought into the net. On the other hand, it is always possible to bring those at the bottom into the net. I do not understand this and I do not accept that if there is a will, a way cannot be found. The Government is arguing that it has the will to do this, but it is technically difficult to find a way. It does...
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: We can change our Constitution. The lesson to be extrapolated from the recent referendum on judicial pay is that people want the salaries of top earners who are paid with public money to be reduced. The Minister knows that is the case. It is why he proposed the referendum. The people did not concern themselves with the detail. They accepted the principle that the salaries of people at...
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I am speaking on the proposal to extend this principle across all sectors of the public service.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I am trying to establish the principle that the pay of everyone who is paid with public money should be capped.
- Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Not all doctors are that greedy.
- Written Answers — Disposal of State Assets: Disposal of State Assets (29 Nov 2011)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Question 54: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has moved any further towards a decision on which State assets to sell under the EU-IMF deal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37391/11]