Results 31,261-31,280 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Public Expenditure. (13 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: I welcome the initiative and I want to ask the Minister a few specific questions about the proposal. The idea of having specific individuals who will take responsibility for the success or failure of projects is very welcome. Have those individuals been appointed, with matching contracts for projects, so that we may know who are the individuals responsible for the different initiatives? I...

Public Expenditure. (13 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: That is not my proposal.

Public Expenditure. (13 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: It is not mine either.

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (8 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Question 68: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her plans to address concerns regarding the implementation of the nitrates directive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37727/05]

Written Answers — Food Industry: Food Industry (8 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Question 51: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of meetings of the Food Agency Co-Operation Council in 2004 and to date in 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37726/05]

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: ——this Government has been screwing families who find it hard to get by because of the tax take and we do not need Eddie Hobbs to tell us the reality. The Government's tax take on an ordinary house costing €300,000 is almost €100,000. The Government's tax take on a car that costs €22,000 is €8,500 and its take from €40 of petrol is €25.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: There is no suggestion of abolishing them but why has the Government asked every household in the country to pay €4,000 extra in taxation? Why has the Government only been able to give €20 a week to people who have had to pay such money in extra tax? The Government has become soft and comfortable, it does not heed waste or value for money in public spending and that is why people have to...

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Too little attention has been paid to saving money and using it prudently. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has been guilty of waste, with the price he is willing to pay for land.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: He wasted €300 million, a drop in the ocean in Government terms, but it could have funded medical cards for children under five, subsidised 20,000 new child care places, put in place 5 million extra home help hours or carried out 20,000 extra inpatient operations.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Instead the money is wasted on e-voting machines, Media Lab Europe, paying top prices for land; the list goes on and on.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: The Minister announced a concession of €19.20 a week to parents who need child care. To pay for child care in Dublin, a working mother must earn €300 a week, €15,500 per year, even after the Minister's concession in today's budget. How does she have a second child when she needs €30,000 a year in pre-tax income before she gets a penny for herself? That is the reality facing parents....

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Every Deputy was canvassed by Barnardos to deal with child poverty and there was a legitimate expectation this budget would address the issue. I am alarmed that nothing has been done to get to grips with child poverty. Over 100,000 live in consistent poverty but nothing has been done to increase the child dependant allowance, the lowest rate of payment for people in serious hardship on...

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Where is the justice for older people, who have served this country so well for so many years, when the Government treats them in this despicable way? There has been nothing but disappointment for the old in this country. I wish the Tánaiste well in attempting to address this. She told us some years ago that all of the saving on the SSIAs —€600 million — would go towards the...

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: The Minister has not rolled back the tide. I am disappointed that at a time householders and businesses have doubled their borrowings and are exposed to significant pressure from increasing interest rates, more has not been done to address the serious financial issues against which the State must protect. The SSIAs should have been used to copperfasten the financial soundness of ordinary...

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Like the Ceann Comhairle, I am long enough in this House to recognise the nervous enthusiasm and giddy laughter that has greeted this budget. It is a bit like the gobbling of turkeys as Christmas approaches because the last time I heard this sort of enthusiasm was when the Minister's predecessor announced decentralisation.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: That was to be a great new innovation. This budget throws open the door on the bulging fridge of revenue that the Government has enjoyed. Let us not forget, however, that the money the Minister is dishing out today is money that has been paid by the hard-pressed taxpayers, families and businesses throughout the country.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: The test for this Government, as for every Government, is what it delivers with that money. A popular philosopher whom Deputy McDowell follows with a lot of interest is Homer Simpson. He said, and I am sure the Deputy knows the quote, "making promises makes me a good father". The worldly wise Lisa replied, however, "keeping promises is what would make you a good father". That is the test.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Today's budget undoubtedly passes the Homer Simpson test of being a good budget but the Irish people have grown sceptical, like Lisa Simpson. They want to see their money deliver results and the main result that this budget has an eye to, unfortunately, is the outcome of the next general election. That is the glittering prize that this budget, as we saw in 2001 and 2002 before the last...

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Roche is interrupting me but perhaps he should go and look after the e-voting machines in his warehouse.

Budget Statement 2005. (7 Dec 2005)

Richard Bruton: The Irish people have lost their trust in this Government and giving them back their own money is not going to change things. Families are fed up with being treated as a soft touch by this Government, to paper over every crack and to fund vanity projects of different Ministers.