Results 3,121-3,140 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I accept what the Minister has said.

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Had I known that was the case I would not have raised the issue because what it presented, as written, was a total control from the centre which is the exact opposite of what the Minister has said. I am glad that appears to have been settled and no doubt will be dealt with in the IPA diary next year. Part of the problem as I interpreted it, listening on the monitor to the Minister and other...

Seanad: Upward Only Rent (Clauses and Reviews) Bill 2013: First Stage (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I second the motion.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I compliment the Leader on his stand in respect of the future of this House. I point out in The Irish Times today that the Referendum Commission guide sent to every house in the country has a serious omission. It does not refer to the fact that if the referendum is passed, people in six counties of this island and overseas will be deprived of a vote which they have had since the foundation...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Hear, hear.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: The good transaction described by Professor Barry is the research and development tax credit, whereas the issue at which I look askance is tax avoidance. It is difficult to split the two. Listening to Professor Barry's reference to the number of people who had to be brought into the country to fill posts in certain companies, I noted that we do not have the relevant policies evaluated when...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: The question I had in mind was whether we need better economic evaluation of these policies. I presume Professor Barry agrees that we do.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank Professor Barry very much. We had a debate last week seeking kinder tax treatment of people who did not report their offshore accounts accurately. There is an industry working all the time against the kind of model that Professor Barry and I might have in mind.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: It never relaxes and seems to have easy access to the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners. The latter could stop it if they had less special pleading and lobbying.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank Professor Barry very much.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Joint Sub-Committee on Global Corporate Taxation: Base Erosion and Profit Sharing: Discussion with Trinity College (17 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome my colleague. It is always great to see him. The context of this discussion is that nearly all countries have unsustainable debts, the Vito Tanzi thesis and so on. The US economy cannot face up to even the slightest suggestion that fiscal stimulus might be removed. It is a Lance Armstrong economy. Tanzi used the phrase "fiscal termites". We do this all the time. In the last...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the witnesses, some of whom I know from Kenmare and others from the National Economic and Social Council. One of the observations I think we will agree on from the discussions of recent days is that we have a banking system and an accountancy sector that are not fit for purpose. They are at the core of the collapse of the economy five years ago. The submissions deal with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: Why has nobody sued the tobacco industry in Ireland, unlike in the United States? Would that be one way to put manners on tobacco companies, defeating them in court?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I welcome our guests. I particularly welcome former Senator Kathleen O'Meara to one of her old haunts.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (12 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I share Deputy Ó Ríordáin's concern. When I last looked at the numbers, I discovered that the horses and dogs subsidy costs approximately 20 times as much as the Seanad. As for tobacco, Senator Crown has made a proposal for a tobacco-free society, which I support. Moreover, I believe that as Minister, Deputy Micheál Martin did a lot as well. I am unsure whether tax was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (11 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: We turn the tax breaks on and turn them off again. We have had to reduce the number of civil servants and before that the Wright report pointed out that 7% of the staff in the Department of Finance had qualifications in economics. We cannot rely on it to switch things off. As we are not that subtle in the implementation of Keynesian economics, we have 80,000 empty houses throughout the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (11 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: What State agency does CCAB-I have in mind?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (11 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: The IAASA said nothing on the issues the chairman raised. Does anybody recall IAASA saying the accountants were good, bad or indifferent in these banks? It is a virtually invisible body, is it not?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of 2014 Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (11 Sep 2013)

Sean Barrett: I thank the Vice Chairman and welcome the visitors. I would be extremely cautious about suggesting tax reliefs. I believe that is what Deputy Sean Fleming was saying earlier. The tax reliefs are partly why the country went on the rocks. A much better solution is to have a single low rate of tax across the board, with no deductions or allowances and fewer tax lawyers and accountants. If...