Results 22,921-22,940 of 26,960 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Government Audit Service (30 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the person who audits the accounts of local authorities; the reason that the Comptroller and Auditor General does not audit the accounts of local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4647/13]

National Lottery Bill 2012: Second Stage (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Leas-Cheann Comhairle should let it flow.

National Lottery Bill 2012: Second Stage (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Develops a gambling habit.

Topical Issue Debate: Hospitals Capital Programme (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: None of this would be happening were it not for the fact that the Government is committed to imposing unsustainable cuts on the health service under the troika agreement. Given that this is the decision made by the Government, it is vitally important that there is fairness, complete transparency and accountability when it comes to the allocation of scarce resources. What we discovered in...

Topical Issue Debate: Hospitals Capital Programme (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is the allegation being made which the Minister has not addressed yet again.

Topical Issue Debate: Hospitals Capital Programme (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Let us set aside the red herrings that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health might try to throw at us in raising these points. Everyone is delighted to see any hospitals or health care facilities upgraded for the people of Wexford, Kilkenny or anywhere else in the country. The point is that this has occurred against a background in which the Minister has closed 24-hour accident and...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she is planning to bring in a jobbridge type scheme to take thousands of unemployed persons into local authorities on internships; her views on this type of scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3916/13]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Benefit Rates (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: To ask the Minister for Social Protection in view of the cuts to child benefit, her views on the claim by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul that those who depend on social welfare supports must be protected from further cutbacks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56765/12]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Job Losses (29 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: To ask the Minister for Social Protection her views on the situation workers in the meat industry find themselves in where factories have had to close for indefinite duration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3366/13]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is fair enough. I ask Mr. Corrigan to do as proposed. NewERA has valued our forestry lands at €500 per acre. Even I, as one who does not know very much about land valuation, can work out that this is a gross undervaluation, particularly in light of the widespread geological survey demonstrating what is under the forests. We have not seen the results, but they could mean some...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is its hope, and it also indicates down-side risks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I know what the troika thinks and hopes but I am asking Mr. Corrigan what he thinks. Would it not be a better option for us at this stage not to pay €9.1 billion in interest and just deal with our primary deficit, which is €6 billion? Would it not put us in a far better position if we said we are not paying this, our economy has been beggared, our citizens are being devastated...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is exactly what I am talking about. It is somebody's debt, not our debt.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I want to ask Mr. Corrigan about the relationship between him and the Government. I do not want to personalise this but Mr. Corrigan is paid twice as much as the Taoiseach, and there are 47 people in the National Treasury Management Agency earning over €150,000 a year, in other words, more than most Ministers are earning. I wonder about the nature of this relationship. Who is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The people in the NTMA are the experts. Do they not advise the Government on how to deal with these matters?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have one more question but Mr. Corrigan might answer the question I asked about the Rothschild Group and other consultants and asset management companies the NTMA might be paying or enlisting for advice, support or assistance in the management of our debt, funds and so on. Does the NTMA have responsibility for Coillte about which negotiations are ongoing for the sale of its harvesting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Economy and Funding Requirements: Discussion with NTMA (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I thank the National Treasury Management Agency for attending before the committee. As we speak, the headlines are already appearing that the NTMA is saying we are going back to the bond markets. That is symptomatic of the superficiality of much of the media coverage of the debt crisis. It is assumed that it is a great step and that it should be our high aspiration and a cause for...

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: What about energy ratings?

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Hold on a second. The NTMA is charged with investing the National Pensions Reserve Fund in a safe way to protect that money and get some return for the State. What could be safer and better for the economy than investing some of that money in a major direct-build social housing programme or refurbishment of NAMA, houses to make them suitable? This would put people back to work and would be...

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I remind the Minister of State that in the 1950s, when Ireland was virtually a Third World country, 50% of the housing in the State was provided by the State.