Results 20,741-20,760 of 26,953 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Deputy Doherty has made many of my points. Apart from the suffering and hardship the property tax will impose on people, particularly in its second year because the full amount will be payable, it will hit people very hard on top of the accumulation of all the austerity measures, income cuts and levies that have been imposed in recent years. Many people will be seriously affected. It is...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We disagree and there is no point in labouring the point. The area needs more tax because it is part of the architecture of casino capitalism. When we are dealing with an investment problem, which we all agree exists, the instinct is to deal with it through reducing the taxes on profits in the area of capital speculation, for want of a better word.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Okay, trading in stocks and shares, which is largely gambling. It involves people who have money trying to make money not by doing any work but by speculating on how they can make unearned profit. I fundamentally and philosophically do not agree with that. This area needs to be taxed more and it is a destabilising factor in the global economy. I oppose it.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: If we did not do this, would the Government have the problem I mentioned?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That stopped.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The EU rules relate to revenue producing monopolies so it does not matter. If somebody else wanted to get into the market, for example, does the Government have to give them the same exemption?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Let me ask my question in another way. If somebody else wanted to get into the market of supplying water, would the Government have to provide the same exemption for them under EU rules?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: With all due respect, I am not interested in-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We are in the EU and EU rules apply. If somebody were to enter, or wishes to enter into the market-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Would EU rules not require the Government to do so?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Is the Minister of State 100% sure of that?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will let the matter lie.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is not always. Watch this space.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will be brief because I am shuttling in and out of the petitions committee.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: As the Minister of State will know, I favour the financial transaction tax being imposed. The Government is resistant to the measure and often cites, when I make the point that the tax should imposed, that we do not need it because we have the 1% levy. I am not satisfied with the counter-argument but it gives the game away to some extent and reveals the Government's real attitude towards an...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I wish to make a point. I could not let that slip. If VAT is imposed on the-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It concerns the exemption currently applying to local authorities.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This is to fend off the possibility that there may not be a level playing field in the provision of water or concerns about EU rules about competition-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I get that point. The Minister of State may be aware of one of the points I made earlier-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: EU competition rules require a level playing field once a body begins to charge for a service. If VAT is applied on one service and not on another, it could be considered unfair competition, and consequently full market rules could start to apply. This would lead inevitably to privatisation. Do I take it that the provision aims to fend off the possibility as well as the Minister's...