Results 23,261-23,280 of 26,960 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Ombudsman Special Reports: Discussion with Ombudsman (6 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I am not sure I quite agree with that, although I would like some guidance from the Ombudsman on it. The report is about a culture that appears to be present in the Department of Health over many years. A series of things have happened which indicate a particular culture in the Department of Health. I would not agree with what Senator Ó Clochartaigh said about other Departments. That...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Ombudsman Special Reports: Discussion with Ombudsman (6 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I am absolutely gobsmacked. What Ms O'Reilly has described is shocking in the extreme. I was familiar with the scandal of medical card holders effectively being robbed by the State and the State then trying to retrospectively legalise it. It is shocking and outrageous but, oddly, not surprising that this is the culture in Departments. It gives new meaning to the expression that there is...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (6 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I feel like I am in a time warp. I agree with Senator Ó Clochartaigh. It is right and proper that the committee should inform people of the different avenues available to them. In this case they are the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, given its deliberations on the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill and how these may...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (6 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: This is an important issue. As I mentioned in private session, either I know this man or know others like him. It is a rather ridiculous anomaly whereby someone who has completed one year in third level education seeks to continue the course but because he is not unemployed for long enough, he is forced back into unemployment and cannot then continue his education in UCD. He is being...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: You could have taxed the rich.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: We did not. We proposed to reverse the cuts.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: We costed the reversal.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: It is in ours.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Having a roof over one's head is not an indication of one's ability to pay €300, €400 or €500.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Let us not be facile about this.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: All that being said, these measures are broadly progressive.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: It was the wrong kind of activity.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: None of us wants to drag out this process at this stage. Broadly speaking, these measures are reasonable.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister might be surprised to hear that I have said that now on three occasions tonight.
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Despite the attempts by certain people on the other side of the House to caricature this side, we take these issues seriously, considering the detail as much as possible in the short time available. I have a concern but I am unsure what to do about it given that, broadly speaking, these are progressive measures. Some of the increases do not distinguish between the small and big saver. I...
- Financial Resolution No. 14: Capital Acquisitions Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes. The response from the Minister for Finance was that the process was too complicated. On the issue of a wealth tax, the answer, as we stated explicitly, was that we need a comprehensive register of wealth and assets to identify how wealth is distributed. All we have, however, are Central Bank figures which show the overall quantum of wealth, how much of it is financial and how much is...
- Financial Resolution No. 9: Income Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: The establishment closes ranks.
- Financial Resolution No. 9: Income Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Fianna Fáil is a funny party.
- Financial Resolution No. 9: Income Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I have sympathy with the Government here. Whatever deficiencies there might be in the failure to address the issue of incomes in excess of €100,000, it is not a reason to vote against what is a progressive measure. There are genuine questions about the other two resolutions and I would appreciate explanations. I support this measure because to be hit with this extra level of...
- Financial Resolution No. 9: Income Tax (5 Dec 2012)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Similarly, it is also true to say that there would have to be some deep scrutiny of how much one would gain from corporation tax, etc., although one would certainly be talking about billions of euro if one enforced the effective 12.5% rate. On the issue of increasing income taxes for those earning €100,000 or more, there is no dispute about how much it could raise. It merely depends...