Results 1,561-1,580 of 1,591 for speaker:Eugene Regan

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: Senators on the Government side have been bleating about the difficulties they are experiencing this week. I refer to the collapse of the Government and the issues that arise therefrom. The reality is that the Government collapsed a long time ago. However, the Fianna Fáil Party and the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, have been in denial about that fact. When the Green Party pulled the plug last...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: Those on the Government benches must just simply get over what has happened.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: In view of the urgent need to hold a general election, consensus was reached on the procedure relating to the adoption of the Finance Bill. Those on the opposite side of the House have sought such a consensus for some time. We are in something of a political vacuum because we do not know if the Dáil will pass Second Stage of the Bill. The urgent need for a change of Government cannot be...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: ——on the national monument at Moore Street and the 1916 Rising. The EU-IMF deal represents, on the part of the current Government, the biggest sell-out in this country's history. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have continually stated there can be no renegotiation of the terms of the bailout. We now know that a new Government, led by Fine Gael — in the best tradition of...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: A national monument, perhaps.

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: We have.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill 2010: Second Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: I welcome the new Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Deputy Smith, and thank him for his exposé on the Bill. As he indicated, it is a response to the High Court judgment in the Dillon v. DPP case of 2007, which itself very much relied on a New York city court judgment, Young v. New York City Transit Authority where it was found that to have a blanket ban on begging interfered with the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill 2010: Second Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: I apologise for interrupting the Senator, but we do not want the Minister to be late for the division in the Dáil.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) and Subsequent Stages (26 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: I thank the Minister for his elaboration on the Bill and comprehensive responses to all of the questions raised. This legislation ties in with the judgment in the Dillon case, in which Mr. Justice de Valera said nothing in the judgment should constrain or prevent legislation being passed to control the location, time, date, duration and manner in which begging may take place. The...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: Section 70 provides for the filing of tax returns in respect of capital acquisitions tax by 30 September each year in place of 31 October. The Minister of State will recall that a similar change was proposed for income tax generally but that was reversed in the Dáil deliberations on the Bill. It is an oversight and a flaw in the Bill that the provision was not similarly reversed for...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: The Minister of State gave an explanation of what is in the Bill, which is helpful, but it is no more than an explanation. He has given no argument as to why the correction I propose could not be accepted. A policy of consistency was instituted last year which provided that the filing of returns in respect of capital acquisitions tax be brought in line with other self-assessment taxes. The...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: The Minister of State has not offered any argument which is sufficient to justify the anomaly contained in the Bill. He referred to the original intention of the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, in bringing forward the dates relating to the self-employed and CAT is to enable better forecasting. The Minister reversed his position in that regard and it appears that either he or his Department...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: The mistake is self-evident.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: That is not the issue.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: Yes.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: I move recommendation No. 9: In page 214, lines 12 to 22, to delete paragraph (a). Section 1002 of the Taxes Consolidation Act gives many powers to the Revenue Commissioners to ensure taxes are paid and collected, but the proposal in this section is a step too far. I accept this Bill is a form of emergency legislation but this provision should not be slipped in like this. What we have here...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: The Minister of State refers to people who ignore the law, but that is why we have courts in this country. For the Revenue Commissioners to determine the law and its enforcement mechanism is entirely inappropriate in respect of what is provided for here. It is an offensive section of the Bill. It is unqualified. There are no safeguards. To suggest that an attachment notice would be...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: This is an afterthought.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: The Minister of State's defence of this measure is vacuous. It must be an afterthought to suggest that Revenue will draw up procedures as to how it will implement this measure. We are passing legislation. We should be drawing up the guidelines.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Eugene Regan: The Minister should be drawing up the guidelines as to how the law is to be applied and we should not be handing over such significant powers to Revenue. The current provision in section 1002 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 states, "Any amount of money due by the relevant person to the taxpayer as emoluments under a contract of service shall not be regarded as a debt due to the taxpayer",...