Results 16,421-16,440 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There is always someone else who must pay.

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It allows Senator Alex White to go to the doorstep and state to the occupant that he or she is a poor man or woman who is being mercilessly treated by the last Government, that his party accepts all that it did and will not change the measures even though the party opposed them, but there is someone else who can pay in the future. There is not-----

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----and that will not work as an economic policy for this country.

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: First, all taxation involves an element of injustice in that it removes someone's income from him or her. I pointed out in respect of this-----

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I will not answer yes or no because-----

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----Seanad Éireann does not consider legislation in a reflective way by simply answering yes or no to questions.

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This House is not conducted like an opinion poll, as it is a deliberative assembly. My point is that, as far as there is an injustice, this income is already taxed by the income levy and the question is whether the imposition of the increased amount reflective of the health levy amounts to an injustice. We must raise this money and the question is whether - all must learn this lesson -...

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Irrespective of-----

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----who is in power or the personalities involved, it would have been better for the country had it been permitted for the first three months under the EU-IMF arrangement to provide for a continuity of government. In late November the Green Party decided on what was constitutionally an extraordinary position, whereby it, effectively, withdrew confidence from the Government but decided to...

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

Brian Lenihan Jnr: My party certainly was prepared to ensure such stability.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The effect of the recommendation would be to reverse the income tax and universal social charge measures taken in the budget. Were the recommendation to be accepted by Dáil Éireann, its impact would be that the social charge would not be in operation and there would be a substantial loss of revenue to the Exchequer. This country would not be able to fund itself and it would not be...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We do not know yet whether this is part of "The Late Late Show" doctrine and whether the Labour Party would change the measure if elected to office. We know it will not reverse anything that has happened to date, despite all the many eloquent-----

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It has been confirmed by Senator Bacik's party on a television programme that there will be no changes to any of the expenditure reductions or tax impositions of the Government. The jury is out on this issue. Judging by what Senator Bacik says, the Labour Party will be repealing the measure, thereby causing a substantial loss of revenue to the State. I wait to see the Labour Party do that.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This recommendation will not work.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not here as a lawyer. I am here as the Minister for Finance.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is a complex matter which still would have been difficult to rectify even if we had agreed to sit for another week.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I welcome the spirit in which Senator Norris tabled this recommendation. I understand why the Senator tabled it. However, Senator O'Malley raised a very relevant point at the outset of the debate on this recommendation of which sight has been lost in the subsequent discussion. She inquired as to whether the recommendation achieves the purpose for which it is intended and whether it is...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: To be clear, the Green Party agreed to the Saturday sitting. Seanad Éireann's revising function is its most important function because issues of principle are decided upon in Dáil Éireann, by and large, and if the Seanad disagrees on a principle with the Dáil, the Dáil has the power to reverse the principle after 90 days in the case of a Bill other than a money Bill, and if the Seanad...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am giving notice of that now. By doing so, I am giving power to the Legislature in some weeks time to use those dates. As Members know, when the Minister uses certain words in a formula like this, it creates the capacity to legislate retrospectively. I am saying this now, on the record of the House, in order that the Senator's recommendation has not been in vain. He has given me the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Report and Final Stages (29 Jan 2011)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Which recommendation is the Senator discussing?