Results 25,381-25,400 of 26,986 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

European Summit: Motion (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is important that we have this discussion. Despite the fact that I disagree with much of what was said on the other side of the House, I welcome the seriousness with which some of the contributors on the Government side have engaged with the debate, which we badly need to have. Some of the comments were glib and off the point, although that was not true of any Deputies in the Chamber at...

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is not agreed.

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I also object strongly to the proposal. We have spent days, sometimes two weeks, debating Bills that had less significance than the Social Welfare Bill, which contains measures that will seriously hurt some of the most vulnerable sectors in society. It is outrageous in that context that the Bill should be rammed through in such a short period. The Tánaiste has rightly backed off on the...

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Just a moment, a Cheann Comhairle. It is about the reason-----

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is about the reason for the arrangements.

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is about the arrangements, a Cheann Comhairle. The Tánaiste did that because he considered the wider implications of the attack.

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Could I also ask the Tánaiste to consider the request-----

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: -----to extend the time for debating the Bill on the grounds that the drastic reduction in the income disregard for lone parents, which is a direct disincentive to work for young women, makes a mockery of his commitment to jobs in the programme for national government?

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Tánaiste should reconsider that and allow us proper time to debate the issue.

Order of Business (8 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No, we are not arguing for that. That is rubbish.

Financial Resolution No. 3: Carbon Charge on Mineral Oils (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Deputies Seamus Healy and Catherine Murphy have made the point that this measure will lead to more winter deaths. Delaying it until next May does not make it any more palatable. It is a vicious attack on the most vulnerable sector of society. There is a double whammy on petrol, which will be economically damaging because VAT is also being increased. All these cuts will disproportionately...

Financial Resolution No. 4: Value Added Tax (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: There has been a lot of smoke and mirrors to try to deflect from the real meat of this budget. It is when we reach a proposal such as this that we see how completely retrograde and bankrupt this budget is. This is a make the poor poorer tax. There is no question about it. Loading this tax on things needed by people who have already been savaged with cuts and who barely have enough to keep...

Financial Resolution No. 7: Stamp Duties (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I would like to know a little more about this resolution. Turning property into a commodity for speculation, trade and profiteering is the reason we are in the mess we are in now. Property-based tax reliefs particularly directed at developers fuelled the property bubble that has crashed our economy. I find it worrying that the Government's approach to trying to restart economic activity in...

Financial Resolution No. 12: Life Assurance Policies and Investment Funds (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is wrong that these measures are grouped together.

Financial Resolution No. 12: Life Assurance Policies and Investment Funds (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The resolutions contain measures that I would broadly support, although I would have questions about them even where I support the principle. In so far as we are talking about increasing taxes on capital gains, when one is talking about people who have lots of capital and assets to hand on, then people should be taxed to a significant extent. It is an inadequate measure in the direction of...

Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: As is traditional in the worst of Irish politics, the Government tried to be clever with the budget. There may have been a few smug smiles as the Minister announced tokens to make the budget look as if it was fairer, but they were just tokens, or tricks of the eye. The budget, as announced yesterday and today, is cruel and stupid. The Government made a cold and calculated decision to attack...

Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Some €16 per month-----

Budget Statement 2012 (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Is this the new scapegoat?

Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: They are not putting people to work.

Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2011)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Where is the evidence that they are putting people to work?