Results 1,841-1,860 of 7,412 for speaker:Neasa Hourigan

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: I never suggested otherwise.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: The point I was making is that the undertaking of a project like this is usually based on some kind of evidence or reporting, and that this is not the case here. Therefore, I am wondering what exactly is going on.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: For clarity, before what I said becomes mischaracterised, not for one second did I say we should not be able to review any body, group or organisation that is receiving public funding. Nobody is suggesting that. However, I was outlining the fact that there was no significant wrongdoing found here. There are no questions raised by any of the many Departments asked about the matter; yet we...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: -----it is not a benign undertaking, if you are going to introduce those kind of terms into the conversation.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: I am not asking you to.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: Following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, members and witnesses will have the option of attending meetings within the relevant committee room. It is important to note that masks should continue to worn by those present when not addressing the committee. I will remind members of this as necessary. Before we begin, I wish to explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege in the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: I thank Dr. Keane. I now open the floor to members, each of whom has between nine and ten minutes. Deputy Doherty is our first speaker.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: We need to move on to the next speaker, but it is interesting that one could possibly course correct in that case. I call Deputy Moynihan.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: I will follow up with a question because Dr. Doorley has raised an interesting point. This is something I asked in last week's session and I believe the answer I received was very much based on economic data. I am very mindful that in Ireland we sometimes do not necessarily have access to the type of data we need to make these kinds of big public and civic decisions. I suspect part of that...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: I absolutely agree. In fairness, I have heard it mentioned at the disability matters committee that there are such hidden barriers to participation. I will return to the data while I have somebody who cares about this. Dr. Keane is a rarity in that respect. Are we not taking in that information or asking the right questions? What are the barriers? Are we not gathering the information...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: Okay.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: It may be surprising but people watch these committees. The public should know that what we are talking about for decision-making is largely anonymised data that is disaggregated and not in any way traceable to the person. It is more about understanding what life is really like in Ireland and being able to use those numbers to make decisions. I am nearly out of time but I have another...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: That is really helpful.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: The Deputy is at the end of his allocated session. He might ask one final question.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: Deputy, I must move on.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: Just for clarity, is that the simulating welfare and income tax changes, SWITCH, model?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: I call Deputy Healy-Rae.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: While I give Deputy Lahart an opportunity to consider whether he wants to contribute again, I might follow up on the SWITCH model. I assume that it is some kind of software. It was outlined in the 2019 paper. Will the witnesses explain it a little? I see that the database was set out in terms of households from 2015 but that there was a significant update in 2019. Are we still largely...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: That was a good overview. I thank Dr. Doorley. Did she say that five Departments had access to it and regularly used it?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Indexation of Taxation and Social Protection System: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2022)

Neasa Hourigan: That makes sense. I imagine that the pandemic will pose a statistical challenge in the coming years in terms of the anomalies that it has thrown up. Parsing those data into a system will be a considerable challenge. I do not see anyone's hand up for another question, so I suspect that we are at the end of this session. I thank Dr. Keane and Dr. Doorley for their attendance and for their...