Results 20,961-20,980 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

European Stability Mechanism (Amendment) Bill 2014: Report Stage (16 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: I wish to speak in support of Deputy Pearse Doherty's amendment. On Committee Stage, we engaged in a lengthy discussion on this issue. Realistically, I am of the view that the prospect of achieving a retroactive deal on bank debt is becoming less and less likely. That is an observation which the Minister may dispute. His position seems to be that he is going to hold in reserve the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (16 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: 218. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to detail the Exchequer funding of social housing in each year from 2009 to 2013, inclusive, across the headings of local authority housing, voluntary and co-op housing, shared ownership, house purchase and improvement loans, private housing grants and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Financial Resolution No. 1: Tobacco Products Tax (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: We will support the financial resolution. I have sympathy for the hard-pressed smoker who is addicted to tobacco and who has been hit time and again with excise increases. I support the objective of working towards a smoke-free Ireland and we commend the Government on adopting the strategy and implementing the policies designed to bring it about. We accept the increase will hit people in...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: It is because small businesses cannot survive. The SMEs the Minister says are the lifeblood of the economy cannot survive as they are under immense pressure. Small businesses are closing, young people are leaving rural areas and job opportunities are few and far between. We are developing a very lop-sided country with population and employment being pulled into the Dublin area with each...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: The Minister seems to believe the banking system in Ireland has been repaired, but I beg to differ. I use a very simple measure. Today, a young couple seeking to take out a mortgage for the first time will invariably pay an interest rate of 4.25% to 4.5%. A similar couple in the eurozone will typically pay a rate of approximately 2.5% for that mortgage. The same story applies to SMEs...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: When they asked what the Government's policy was, its response was to put its hand into that pension fund and take more money out. The Government has taken €2.2 billion out of the private pensions savings of citizens, which is a scandal. It was legal theft and should never have happened. I am glad that the Minister is finally coming to his senses and will end it.

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: The budget is motivated by electoral strategy. It is introduced by a Government hoping people will forget the way it targeted low and middle income families and how the most vulnerable bore the brunt of the budget adjustment in recent years. It is a budget from a Government that spoke about a democratic revolution and promised ambitious political reform but which has, instead, been the...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: "They had learned nothing and forgotten nothing." Now, we hand it over to the people to pass their judgment.

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: When they are trying to balance the books on their household budgets, it is an issue which they have to take into account. The Minister established Irish Water and approved expenditure of €180 million in setting it up, as well as a further €500 million for installing meters before a pipe is fixed around the country. He gave the Commission for Energy Regulation its instructions...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: A fundamental pillar of the budget was rubber stamped, with no scope for changes, by the Cabinet on the very day of the budget.

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: I would not put up with that if I was the Minister's Cabinet colleague. Never has so much power been concentrated in the hands of so few. It makes a mockery of the constitutional principle of collective Cabinet responsibility. This is not a mature way of framing the budget, whereby even those who are meant to be making the decision are kept in the dark until the last minute. I have...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: I know it is a touchy subject and that he is nervous about this announcement. In respect of our offerings to those who are looking to invest in Ireland, corporation tax is a vital tool. He stood over the 12.5% rate, which our party has long supported, and we welcome his statement in that regard. However, this is not some theoretical debate about tax planning or the morality of...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: That is a mistake. We should do it in step with other countries but the Minister has chosen otherwise. The improvement in the employment situation is very welcome. I agree with the Minister that the people who suffered the most in the economic collapse were those who lost their jobs. We all want to see further jobs created in the economy. While progress has been made, the real issue now...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: I know that the Government does not like what I am saying, which is why Government Deputies are heckling and trying to drown out what I am saying. Both Ministers were afforded a lot of respect by the Opposition, but Government Deputies are not affording us the same respect. The economic upturn has happened very quickly. Last year there was hardly any economic growth and the situation...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: That is part of the problem we have, a Cheann Comhairle, in that the Government of the day does not respect the Opposition. This budget is all about using borrowed money to buy votes.

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: The headline element of the Minister's budget today is his income tax proposals. Having decided to go down the road of changing income tax, I honestly believe he has made a mess of it. Let me give the Minister a number of examples. We have heard all the rhetoric that this would be the budget to reduce the burden on low- and middle-income families. An individual working full-time and...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: The same individual will of course now be facing water charges of €200, €300 or €400 - who knows?

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: That individual is certainly worse off as a result of this budget.

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: This is part of the problem we have, a Cheann Comhairle. The Government is completely intolerant of any criticism, of any debate about its measures. Its members believe it is invincible. I can tell them this much - it is not invincible. I am standing here on this side of the House with a mandate to represent people and to question the Government's budget. I will do so based on facts and...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael McGrath: The headline package in the Minister's budget is his income tax proposal. I have already mentioned that an individual earning €32,000 is better off to the tune of €174 per annum, before we even talk about water charges. In contrast, an individual earning €70,000 a year will benefit to the tune of €746 a year, which is four times greater. Take the example of a...