Results 22,841-22,860 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Financial Resolutions 2014: No. 7: Income Tax (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: My question is on PRSI.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: It is one or the other. The Minister cannot have it both ways. The truth is that he has played a three-card trick. Since he announced the pension levy back in 2011, he reiterated time and again - he did so again in last year's Budget Statement - reassuring all those affected by it, that it was to end in 2014. He has now broken his word. As he knows, the levy has very significant...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: With regard to the VAT scheme the announcement of an increase in the threshold for cash receipts to €2 million is significant and it is to be welcomed. The Minister announced a number of measures with regard to construction. The message I want to convey today is the main issue to address in construction and property, if one wants to get the sector moving again, is the lack of credit...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: Let us see the detail. I will not play politics with corporation tax.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: The Minister stated it would be in the finance Bill so let us see what is in it. Tonight between 400,000 and 500,000 people will sleep in family homes where the mortgage is in some level of arrears. Alongside unemployment it is the single greatest economic and social challenge we face in the State. They received a cursory mention in the Minister's speech. The issue was glanced over, and...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: Today 143,000 family home mortgages are in arrears and there is no easy solution to the problem. No one suggests the banks can throw away the capital the taxpayers have given them and they must be prudent. One thing is certain; the problem will not be solved if banks are allowed to continue to run the show. Last March the Central Bank issued targets for the banks to offer sustainable...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: This is a shameful decision. If the Minister announced it was to be replaced with a radical new innovative policy to support those in mortgage arrears of course we would examine it and its merits.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: The one safety net people had, the one direct cash support from the Government to those in mortgage distress, has been pulled from under them. I cannot understand the logic behind it. It will only make the situation worse. The Minister announced a new levy in respect of banks operating in Ireland. It is fair to say nobody will chain themselves to the gates outside Kildare Street tonight...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett can speak for himself. Who will end up paying this levy? Will the banks simply be allowed pass it on to customers by way of increased fees, charges or higher variable interest rates? We know we do not have a properly functioning banking system and we must ask whether this measure will help. At a time when we are trying to attract more competition in the...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: They worry about ordinary things. They worry about putting food on the table, paying their mortgages and paying their electricity bills, and at this time of year they begin to worry about providing for Christmas. If they are lucky enough to have a job they worry about holding onto it, and if they have not got a job they worry about finding one. It is only when people see things getting a...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: He now estimates that over that period it will have grown - if we are lucky - by 0.4%. That is a prediction of 5.5% versus a reality of 0.4% growth in the economy. We have had little or no growth over the past two years and the forecast for next year has now been downgraded for the third time since the Minister came to office. The predicted growth rates of 2% and 3% are always for next...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: The letter goes on to give a detailed description of what the job in Canada would involve and states that if the person is interested, he should send his CV to an e-mail address within the Department of Social Protection.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: Just like the Tesco ad, the truth hurts here. So anxious was the Government to assist that person in applying for the job in Canada that it provided information on the CV format Canadian employers like to see. This is the truth - a letter from the Irish Government. The person was informed on the back of the letter of a whole range of vacancies in Canada which could be applied for -...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: It over-promises and under-delivers. When one strips away all of the PR we have seen in recent days, this budget targets the elderly, medical card holders and young mothers. It abandons people who are struggling to keep their homes and, yet again, incredibly, the Government has gone out of its way to insulate the better-off from the worst effects of it. The way pensioners have been...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: In a famous quip a few years ago the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, asked the then Minister for Finance, the late Brian Lenihan, what he had against the third child. What does the Minister have against young mothers? Only three months ago he introduced tax at the marginal rate on maternity benefit, taking up to €108 a week out of their pockets. Today the Government is...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: Unfortunately, when the reality sinks in, many people will be left bitterly disappointed when it becomes clear what this budget means for them and their families.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: The tone of self-congratulation coming from Government Buildings will ring hollow tonight when people realise its full extent. In many ways Opposition spokespersons are responding to a budget we have not yet seen. We have the Government's speeches and the booklets that have been distributed, but shortly individual Ministers will attend press conferences in their offices to explain what the...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: Only then will we find out the full extent of the cuts and increases buried in the detail of the budget. That detail is often carefully drip-fed in the hope it will hardly be noticed. A full assessment of the budget can be made only when we have all of the facts at hand. My colleague, Deputy Sean Fleming, will highlight some of the cuts the Ministers have not mentioned in their statements...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: With the agreement of the House, I will share 30 minutes of my time with Deputy Sean Fleming. As we all know, the last five years have been incredibly difficult for the majority of people in this country, to varying degrees. People’s incomes have come under sustained attack, their living standards have worsened and their future plans have had to be changed. Above all else, people...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (15 Oct 2013)

Michael McGrath: 61. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the current home tuition being given to a child (details supplied) in County Cork which expires on 15 November; and if it may be extended into the future. [43247/13]