Results 25,821-25,840 of 26,148 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: Will the Tánaiste review the matter?
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: It is nice to hear that.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: I support the amendment. Considering rent relief, a single person receives â¬400 per year or â¬33 per month. The increase amounted to just over â¬3 per month. For a married couple the relief is â¬800, which is â¬67 per month, and the increase was just short of â¬7 per month. Ireland is changing and more and more apartments are being built. The balance will probably shift towards...
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: That is a bit harsh.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: I want to make a very brief point. For many parents now, child care costs are equivalent to a second mortgage. The general thrust of what is being proposed is good, where people can have their children minded in someone else's home, in an environment with which they are familiar. It is a very simple measure, which seeks to ensure a greater take-up of the scheme and make child care...
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: It is not often that I agree with the Government but Deputy Mansergh made the point that I was about to make. The point was that tax legislation is very anti-family. People are caught in a trap. For some people, it is uneconomic to continue to work because the cost of child care is so severe. In the last budget, they received an increase of â¬3.30 per week between child benefit and the...
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: No one is making that suggestion.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: It is not a huge salary.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: The Minister said 80% of earners were paying tax at the standard rate. As regards young couples, in particular, both partners are being forced to work outside the home. In such a situation they will be able to avail of â¬26,400 extra in the standard rate band. We are talking about allowing people to stay at home to look after their children but under the current system, they cannot afford...
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: The Tánaiste, rather â the Taoiseach, sorry.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: It was not said in that way.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: It was a mistake.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: My second point concerned the falling birth rate.
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: I endorse what Deputy Bruton said with reference to the amendment. In the budget the Minister gave 2.25 times more, in terms of an increase in tax relief, to a two-earner family than to a single-earner family on the same income, which amounts to an extra tax credit of â¬164 per year. The difference between the two is approximately â¬4,600 a year. Deputy Bruton's point concerned the high...
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: I want to make two observations. First, Deputy Mansergh made the point that after two or three months it was too early to extrapolate what the overall position would be. If one was to look at the HSE's website, it held a board meeting at the end of February 2007 at which it was clearly indicated that there would be a deficit of â¬200 million or â¬300 million. However, no action was...
- Finance Bill 2008: Report Stage (5 Mar 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: I am looking at the section in the strategy which deals with helping customers to pay their right amounts and to get their entitlements. I have no complaint with Revenue in respect of Internet access for people who wish to get the correct entitlements. However, I have a problem in respect of pensioners and older people in particular. I made reference to a particular advertisement run on...
- Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (28 Feb 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: Question 20: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action he will take to close the 23% price gap between the cost of consumer goods and services here and the rest of the EU, as identified in a recent Forfás report on the single market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8491/08]
- Pharmaceutical Pricing: Statements (28 Feb 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: The Minister referred to â¬100 million being a large amount of money. That is much less than what has been wasted on PPARS or the â¬420 million on e-Government. Government is about choices. The Minister spoke about a fair deal for patients. This new scheme for pharmacies is not a fair deal for patients. In 1970, under the Health Act, pharmacists took over the dispensing of community...
- Pharmaceutical Pricing: Statements (28 Feb 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: I would like to see the backbenchers supporting us on this. If they feel so committed on the issue they should do so. Unfortunately, we have no vote today, but I feel strongly about this issue and I would like to hear the Minister's comments. Will she put in place an independent body that has no preconditions and will consider what is best for the welfare of patients? That is our primary...
- Pharmaceutical Pricing: Statements (28 Feb 2008)
Kieran O'Donnell: That is a totally different set of circumstances.