Results 1,721-1,740 of 26,465 for speaker:John McGuinness

Small and Medium Enterprise. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: I understand that but I must explain to the Deputy that when Revenue comes before the Committee of Public Accounts, one will not meet a better organisation for explaining itself. It has been explained many times to me as a businessman, to the Committee of Public Accounts and to everybody else in business, that if a person has difficulty with paying taxes, the Revenue does not just drop on...

Small and Medium Enterprise. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: I am not lecturing the Deputy. He has given his side of the story which is not completely accurate. If people engage with Revenue they can actually work their way out of the problem. I have found Revenue to be flexible within the framework when dealing with these situations. On the question of attachment orders, a whole process leads up to the application of an attachment order. The...

Small and Medium Enterprise. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: We explained our understandings. I understand the Deputy's point. I met the Small Firms Association last week and this issue was not raised. I am not saying it is not an issue because I have had similar queries to my constituency office. I met the convenience store and newsagents association and this issue was not raised. However, I understand that it is an issue out there. I do not...

Small and Medium Enterprise. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: We will be meeting the banks shortly and I will undertake to raise the issue with them.

Small and Medium Enterprise. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: The Deputy would be well able for us.

Departmental Bodies. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: The Deputy will appreciate that I have no role or function in the day to day operations of Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development. My Department has responsibility for ensuring that corporate governance procedures, systems of financial control and reporting relationships are in place within those organisations. Both Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development have confirmed that they...

Departmental Bodies. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: With regard to Shannon Development the same applies. We receive reports and it is monitored. Enterprise Ireland has 31 offices throughout the world so its activities must be taken into account with regard to its cost base and what value we get for it. With regard to missions abroad and what they achieve for business in Ireland I believe they give value for money in this context and I have...

Departmental Bodies. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: I do not accept what the Deputy states. These organisations and Departments come before the Committee of Public Accounts and every year their accounts are examined.

Departmental Bodies. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: It did not take that for this to happen. It has been happening and is happening in every State agency. Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development have the same controls within their systems and have reported to my Department. I am answering the question before me on these organisations. I gave a reply on Shannon Development and Enterprise Ireland.

Departmental Bodies. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: Enterprise Ireland has 1,151 activities abroad in more than 30 offices.

Departmental Bodies. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: Whether there are controls within the organisations is reflected in the context of their annual reports and the audit procedure within the Committee of Public Accounts and the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Departmental Bodies. (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: I am satisfied that I have received reports that they are working well.

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: We already had a debate like this a short time ago. We certainly had it again during the course——

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: We had the debate earlier, in a different form, but with the same issues. Today during Question Time we dealt with some of the issues that were raised here. Although Deputy Penrose may disagree with my views on the public sector, nonetheless there is commentary within the OECD report which suggests certain changes should be made and that certain reforms are necessary. All I ask is that the...

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: ——and how short of policies we are.

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: I reminded Deputy Costello during the course of that debate that it depends on how one looks at one's glass. Nobody in the House recognises that these difficult——-

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: ——times are not experienced only by Ireland. They are worldwide. Every country has experience of that at one stage or another. I explained this. The Government is measured by how it manages the economy, how it puts in place the policies and the funding to deal with the issue, and by the confidence it has in different sectors. In the sector for which I am responsible, namely, the...

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: The question is what we do now. In my view, small and medium enterprises, county enterprise boards and Enterprise Ireland are central to what we must do as we move into better times. To do that we must restore confidence within those companies. We must ensure credit is made available. It is no harm in the course of this debate, whether it comes from this side of the House or the other, to...

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: We should criticise them in particular for inviting in companies which, after meeting with their bank managers, go away with much less than they brought. That is unforgivable in the economic situation we are experiencing. It shows that we must understand we are all in this together. It is not just Government policy that will take us out of this and it is not just the banks on their own...

Consumer Issues: Motion (Resumed) (10 Dec 2008)

John McGuinness: They are doing just that. We must not only talk about this here but must have a policy concerning it. We must do this in conjunction with the European Investment Bank and with the banks in this country. That is central to the county enterprise boards. If that encouragement comes from us, confidence can be built. We have made choices in the course of this situation. Deputy Costello...