Results 2,901-2,920 of 4,810 for speaker:Liam Twomey

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I agree with Senator Doherty's comment on the availability of palliative care services, which are abysmal. It is shocking that many areas of the country do not have proper hospice care facilities to care for people with specific and special palliative care needs. In my county I believe there are two dedicated beds in an ordinary nursing home that were handed over for the provision of...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I am sure we can indulge Senator Burke if he wishes to ask a number of questions. We do not need to prolong this session any more than necessary. I ask that a little leeway be shown to the Senator and my party will also show leeway to try to speed up the process.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I move recommendation No. 4b: In page 63, subsection (1)(a)(i), line 10, to delete "23 per cent" and substitute "22 per cent". The recommendation proposes that the DIRT tax rate would be 22% rather than 23%.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I move recommendation No. 4c: In page 76, subsection (1)(a), to delete lines 6 to 20 and substitute the following: " 'Threshold amount' means a baseline of zero spending on research and development as and from the start of the tax year 2009;",". We would like to see all money invested in research allowed as tax deductible. The current situation is that the baseline is only the difference...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I would like the Minister of State to explain a matter to me. We said we would like all research and development allowable for tax reductions. He has stated this will happen after 2013 and that 2003 is the baseline level on which the entire amount will be accounted for in 2013 and beyond, but he does not want to see top loading in the system at this time. Research is becoming incredibly...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: If we left out this section and focused on research and development and the amendment we proposed, we would prevent it from being all about buildings. The tax concessions given on buildings should go directly to research and development. This would allow what will happen after 2013 to happen sooner. There is a mind block on what research and development is about and we should focus tax...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: Some of the approaches to taxing income are a bit of a mess. With the income levy a person can change from paying nothing to paying a significant amount on the flip of a euro, which is discriminatory. This is why we propose a graded increase for people who are required to pay the levy, which would be fairer than the proposal in the Bill. The Government may need to review all such payments....

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: Someone on standard income is paying PRSI, the income levy, income tax and a health levy. They all have different minimum thresholds and exemption limits. Would it not be appropriate to tidy up them all?

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I move recommendation No. 2b: In page 38, line 18, after "year" to insert the following: "except in the case of persons aged 70 years or over, when it means the highest rate at which they paid tax".

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: The last couple of sections of the Bill were approved by the House. I will point out to the Minister of State that Government Mercedes cars do not come under the heading of benefits-in-kind, BIK, nor are they liable for the parking levy. The only thing the ordinary person gets out of those sections of the Bill is a bicycle. We are making a special case for ourselves and separating...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I move recommendation No. 2c: In page 38, after line 45, to insert the following subsection: "(2) The Minister shall ask the Commission on Taxation to produce a report within 3 months on the impact of this Act on dental costs for families with children under 16 years of age.". Recommendation 2c relates to what we discussed on Recommendation 2b. The Government is taking away the opportunity...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: Orthodontics have a lifelong impact on a young person if there is a failure to complete proper orthodontic work on him or her. The availability of orthodontic work in the public system in this country is abysmal. Most families must do this on their own. It is not just a question of how a child's teeth are from a functional point of view. There is also the psychological aspect of young...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I move recommendation No. 2d: In page 47, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: "(c) are derived from innovative activities meaning the development of a new technological, telecommunication, scientific or business process,". The Minister has put forward his version of this. He does not want to be limited to the expertise to which this section can be offered. It is too broad at...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I move recommendation No. 2e: In page 50, before section 16, to insert the following new section: "16.—Part 30 of the Principal Act shall be amended by inserting a new section: "(785) A person who reaches retirement under a Defined Contribution Pension Scheme shall from 1 March 2009 not be required to purchase an annuity unless they do not have an income equivalent to the Non-Contributory...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: We should examine the issue of private hospitals. A new tax is being introduced on young families whereby they must pay a levy on their private health insurance. We face increasing unemployment and an additional burden will be placed on young families which may mean they will fail to pay for private health insurance. This in itself is wrong when we consider the savage cutbacks in the...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: Does the Minister of State's gratitude extend to Senator Boyle whose party is also in Government?

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I move recommendation No. 1: In page 9, before section 1, to insert the following new section: "PART 1 Commission on Taxation. 1.—The Minister shall ask the Commission on Taxation to produce a report within 6 months of the commencement of the Act to address the following matters: (a) private hospital and nursing home tax exemptions, (b) property based tax breaks, (c) the impact of the value...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, what was the gratuitous insult to which the Senator referred? I was here at the time and I do not remember anything more than a misinterpretation of the historical facts being put before the House.

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: I welcome the Minister to the House. When we discuss such a serious issue as our economy we need to be far more straightforward in what we state to the Irish people. The public finances have gone rapidly from boom to bust and we need to restore order to them. The first thing that someone of the Minister's calibre should do, if he is taking the issue seriously, is to stop playing a charade...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2008 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (19 Dec 2008)

Liam Twomey: We might win over the people of Ireland and they will stop referring to him as the Castle's man. The Minister's announcement yesterday, Building Ireland's Smart Economy — A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal, has been dismissed to some degree as aspirational. The innovation fund was probably the only new aspect about which he spoke. One aspect that makes the people and ourselves...