Results 1,721-1,740 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: ——to bring down that rate from where it was at around 30% in 1997 to 12.5% today.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: He was criticised for doing that in some budgets.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: I will produce the scripts showing where he was criticised.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: The reality is that that is the corporate tax rate of today and it scores a first in any competitiveness analysis of Ireland in the overall story.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: That must be factored in in terms of all the other issues Deputy Perry referred to in his contribution but it is always ignored in terms of contributions from the other side of the House and the atmosphere that has been created by the Government in respect of employment creation, both indigenous and foreign direct.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: Over 440,000 jobs have been created since 1997——

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: ——because we had the right philosophy and the right approach across the taxation scene, whether capital gains, with which Deputy Howlin's party had difficulties, corporation tax or personal income tax, which again scored a first recently in the national competitiveness report's analysis of Ireland's competitiveness against our peers across the globe.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: I could go on and on——

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: He achieved a great deal more than some people on Deputy Howlin's side of the House.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: I do not think it is revisionism.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: Please, Deputy Howlin.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: I hope Deputy Howlin's picture will be back at his party's Ard-Fheiseanna.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Howlin should be the last to talk about Chairman Mao, in fairness.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: We believe in open and fair competition. It is one of the central keys to both a successful economy and a good deal for consumers. Our decision of last week to repeal the groceries order because it is anti-competitive and anti-consumer is another demonstration of that. The path of least resistance would have involved trying to fudge the issue but we felt the evidence was overwhelming and that...

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: Having spent a large amount of time and money telling everyone how they were willing to take tough decisions in favour of the consumer, Fine Gael's behaviour on the groceries order showed that the last thing it is willing to do is take a tough decision.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: This year alone it has managed the incredible feat of having three entirely different positions on the future of the groceries order.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: We even got an illustration of that this evening. Deputy Crawford's contribution is very clear and I am reading between the lines——

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: ——in terms of what he said about the situation.

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: The promotion of competition in the economy requires an effective legal framework. Strong competition legislation contributes to our competitiveness by penalising anti-competitive and anti-consumer behaviour, and by protecting the competitive process in all sectors of the economy. The positive effect competition has on consumers takes two forms. The most visible one is that companies that...

Reform of the Competition Act 2002: Motion. (15 Nov 2005)

Micheál Martin: No, it is an important point.