Results 2,341-2,360 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: Senator Dardis will have to convince his party of that.
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: I am pleased to have the opportunity to say a few words and I thank my colleague, Senator Quinn, for sharing time with me. I do not fully agree with his opening comments on inflation. I was pleased it was the first matter the Minister mentioned. I thought it was important that he explained to us that it would be reduced, even by 0.1%. Senator Quinn and I would look to see such a trend....
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: Luxembourg is probably the only one below us at the moment. That aspect is a huge element. I agree with Senator Quinn that this is an election budget. The Minister is like a mobile ATM machine spitting out billions here and there.
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: Another one. Some years ago, an American politician was doing an interview on RTE and said, "You put a billion here and a billion there and shortly you're talking about serious money". We all fell around laughing because we did not understand what a billion was. Nobody was laughing today, however, even though billions were going in all directions. This is a good budget and I welcome its...
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: It was obvious that the old age pension would feature in the budget but, nonetheless, it is welcome to see the increase hitting the â¬200 mark. While the non-contributory pension has been kept on the bare â¬200, I thought the Minister could have raised it a bit more. I do not know why the contributory old age pension contains an odd figure of 79 cent, but that is the way they work in the...
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: The Government seems to have held together despite the fact that there is â¬3 billion to come back to us. The cap on mortgage relief for first-time buyers does not need to be that low. The amount of money involved is tiny and while I do not think it should be unlimited, it should be more or less based on the average house price. It would have been a welcome step if the Minister had taken...
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: Talking of spending a billion of one's own, that leads me almost to my next point. The "something borrowed" element is probably the worst aspect of the budget. I wish to remind the House of what I said here three weeks ago. I said that "something borrowed" is the money we are spending to buy carbon credits and allowances. It is disgraceful. Whereas I welcome the grants for solar panels...
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: He had a habit of giving people a great bargain.
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: He always had the prices written down, like Flynn's in Banagher, in code. Customers did not know how much items cost but he knew. He would always say, "Look at that. It's £100 but sure I'll give it to you for £80". The budget was a bit like that â the Minister was pumping it up to give it back. He collected too much in the course of the year, so he could give some of it back next...
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: It was "hard rearing" down there.
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: The Senator should just get straight into the slagging.
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: Where is the â¬3 billion?
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: That is true.
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: Stamp duty excepted.
- Seanad: Budget Statement 2006: Motion (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: That is a fair point.
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: During a discussion on a related matter here a few weeks ago Senator Brian Hayes raised the question of mandatory sentencing. I agree it would be helpful to have a debate on the area of sentences from the courts. People have all sorts of views on the matter. Some suggest locking people up and throwing away the key and others ask whether there is rehabilitation in prison. We need...
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: I suggest we should be more creative and relaxed about our budget debate.
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: Would the Leader accept an amendment to the Order of Business to have our budget debate at 1 p.m. with a proposal from the Government side congratulating it on reducing tax and on mortgage reliefââ
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: I am trying to be helpful. I recall a Minister of State once having to resign because somebody knew something about the budget in advance.
- Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2006)
Joe O'Toole: We could have the debate, the congratulations on the one side and an amendment from the other side with regard to the profligacy of the Government and the waste of money. Will the Cathaoirleach consider it?