Results 22,501-22,520 of 26,960 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Those of us on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform deal in billions.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This is an issue in which I have a big interest. It is absolutely right that there should be a review of it. I do not agree with Deputy Michael McGrath's view that we should be cautious about this. We need to uncover what exactly is going on with the corporation tax rate in this country. As I have made clear to the Minister in numerous questions I have put forward and as I have made clear...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Deputy more or less said that in saying that we should be careful about producing papers on it. Let us take it that the gap in the rates between us and comparable countries in Europe, indeed the majority of countries in Europe, including Britain with an effective rate of 24% or 26%, is as is suggested in the EUROSTAT figures. Britain is our nearest neighbour and probably our biggest...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It might be helpful if the six main questions asked by recipients of the schemes that are to be abolished were answered. I have some specific questions in addition but would it be possible to read those questions into the record?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Mobility and Motorised Transport Allowances: Discussion (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Some of those affected by this asked me to convey how urgently this must be resolved. One person said that if it is cut, he will have to go to St. Vincent de Paul and it would be devastating for him. He pointed out that the funds allow for those with disabilities to enjoy real autonomy and that minibuses and so on will seriously degrade their quality of life if that is the alternative that...

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: As Deputy Durkan suggested and, I suspect, most people would agree, few institutions need a fundamental re-organisation of how they operate as badly as the HSE. It has no credibility in the eyes of the wider public or the health service's users. However, it is important to qualify this statement. There is an almost universal phenomenon in which everyone who engages with the health service...

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I apologise, as I do not know how to turn off mobile telephones. Mine is dysfunctional as well. Re-organising the structure is a positive move if, as the Bill suggests, that re-organisation is a transition towards a better structure that is more responsive to the needs of the service's users, for example, patients, delivers services better and ends the unacceptable scenario of some...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Per year.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Let us go all the way up to fourth level.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister could simplify this difficult problem by adopting the Cuban model of education.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: If we do not sell our forests off to a Swiss bank, we will be able to grow some more money for the State. On a serious note, the Minister's last point is a telling one. It relates to the earlier discussion on the need for joined-up thinking. The Minister is absolutely right at some level. His argument that this amount of money is not much would be acceptable if we could have this...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is €600.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: An increase of €150 per year for four years of education.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister asked a question and I am telling him the answer.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I apologise for leaving the meeting but I have caught up with the main train of the discussion. The Minister has not taken seriously the issue of the public good is served by ensuring people go to third level education and the damaging effect this measure may have in disincentivising people from entering education. The Minister is cutting off his nose to spite his face with short-term...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I take the point that this has been championed by the Department of Education and Skills and the Minister, Deputy Quinn, but there should be joined-up thinking when it comes to the impact of all measures, particularly education. The Government's constantly stated commitment to education, reskilling and retraining as a key part of getting people back to work, preparing the economy for...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: A lot of points have been made but the central one is that the Minister is failing to recognise that having and rearing children, which women do, is work. The Minister has referred to it as being "out of work" and that it is anomalous to be out of work and getting as much or more as one would get if one was in work. Having a baby and bringing up a child is work. It is perhaps the most...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I, too, am opposed to this section. When others and I referred to this measure on Second Stage, the Minister's clinching argument for justifying it was that some would end up better off than if they were in employment. As has been pointed out, many may not be paid by their employer, but even if they are, I do not see this as a problem. It comes down to whether we give full recognition to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I thank the Chairman. We are all sympathetic to not disadvantaging small and medium-sized enterprises and people engaged in research and development in those areas. There is a concern about the potential abuse of the research and development tax allowances in general. What if there are disadvantaged small and medium-sized enterprises? Could the provision be more specifically directed at...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I take that point and that was the understanding under which we were all operating. Maybe that is something we could change. Will somebody explain what the motion was yesterday because we were labouring under the illusion that it had something to do with this process?