Results 27,621-27,640 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: We are discussing two sections together because we are grouping these amendments. I want to be clear on the Minister's understanding of the delivery of a service. He stated that the Minister for Health and Children cannot be included under section 10 but presumably a number of people who provide analogous services to home help services in other Departments could come within the ambit of...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: I am asking you to explain. Do not stand up in righteous indignation. You are not explaining the matter properly.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: It sounds like righteous indignation.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: I am not disputing that at all.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: I do not want to delay our discussion but I would have thought that if the Minister is taking onto himself a power to reduce by fiat the income of certain categories, he needs clear authority in regard to the categories to which he will apply that power. His is a broad definition which has not offered certainty as to which categories would be subject to the power. Does he not need, in order...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: Perhaps I am wrong. I am not a lawyer and do not pretend to be one but I would have thought the Oireachtas needs to be clear not only in respect of whom we are giving this power to, but also against whom the power can be exercised. I do not think we have that clarity. This provision appears rather poorly defined, although I am not opposing it. I just think that in order to make it robust...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: The Attorney General.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: They are not listed in the Bill.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: Will the Minister indicate what issues a Minister or Attorney General might consider in making his or her determination? I note that according to sections 9(5)(d) and 9(5)(e) the Minister must examine the expenses and commitments of the people providing services and the impact on the State's ability to continue to provide whatever services the Department is providing. It would seem,...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: Should the Minister not have some test of reasonable value?

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: A chiropodist looks after toes.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: What is the nature of the review? Will it encompass some sort of evaluation against criteria or will we simply hear what happened as a financial report?

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: I mean subsection (13).

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: Not being the Minister for Health and Children.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: Has the Attorney General been asked to comment on the robustness of these sections? Can the Minister assure us that they are robust?

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: Does their robustness depend on the sort of citations at the beginning to establish public interest?

Banking System: Motion (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: I wish to thank all of those who contributed to this important and timely debate. Since this motion was tabled there has been a growing realisation that we are fighting for our economic independence. I wish the Government well in confronting the economic and banking problems. However, wishing it well does not mean that I must suspend my critical faculties and pretend, as the Taoiseach and...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: On section 7, the Minister has indicated that gross receipts from the levy will be €1.4 billion. We have not yet been provided with a statement on the impact the collection of these moneys will have on tax buoyancy. The usual format is to provide a table setting out the gross receipts and the impact of a measure on taxation. We are informed that the Department of Finance anticipated...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: Section 8 is an unusual provision in that it gives the Minister powers to modify the obligation under section 2 in any manner he sees fit. It is an arbitrary power and we have not yet seen how the Minister may intend to use it. According to the section, a group may be exempted from deductions or deductions may be modified in the event that, in the Minister's opinion, some particular aspect...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2009)

Richard Bruton: My amendment is similar. .According to the Minister's own statistics, there are not many people earning under €25,000. I think it is only about 20,000 in total. Therefore, the cost of making this concession would be extremely small. It goes to the heart of the matter. My original amendment which was ruled out of order provided that it be compensated for further up the levy structure...