Results 32,401-32,420 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Fiscal Policy. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: May I ask the Minister——

Fiscal Policy. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: The Minister is trying to attack a straw man. Does he agree it was the Comptroller and Auditor General who reported that the increase in administrative staff at a rate of 90% dwarfed the increase in frontline staff medical staff which was only 20%? He has drawn the attention of the Oireachtas to this imbalance. Does the Minister agree significant new layers of bureaucracy have been created in...

Fiscal Policy. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: The Minister ought to at least brief himself before he speaks. He should read the audit he has done and not pretend the problems do not exist.

Fiscal Policy. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: It is for the Minister to answer them. It is for me to state the problems——

Fiscal Policy. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: No, the Minister is distorting the facts.

Fiscal Policy. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: That is not what the Comptroller and Auditor General said and it is not what I said. The Minister is deliberately misinterpreting what I said.

Fiscal Policy. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: The increase in the number of administrative staff——

Tax Collection. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: Would the Minister consider going part of the distance along this route? I have in mind particularly the family income supplement. Family income supplement has a very low take-up, not because there are not many people in the income categories that are eligible but because they must apply for it. Would the Minister consider making administrative arrangements to pay family income supplement...

Tax Collection. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: That is not what I asked.

Tax Collection. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: The problem is that we are time limited.

Tax Collection. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: As we are time limited, we do not have the luxury of waiting for answers.

Tax Collection. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: What about the family income supplement?

Decentralisation Programme. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: The Minister was probably in the House some three weeks ago when the Tánaiste indicated that an announcement on decentralisation was due within a day or two days at most. What has happened to that announcement? Is it being held back for the budget, as would appear to be the case? What is the Minister saying about the multi-annual envelope? The Minister of State kindly told the Joint...

Decentralisation Programme. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: Are they built into the 2005 Estimates?

Tax Code. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: This matter arose from the recent visit by the Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners to the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service. I was staggered to note how low the take-up was in medical relief, for example. Most people would spend at least €125 annually on medicine, and a family would spend at least €250, yet only 105,000 people out of a population of 4 million claimed the...

Tax Code. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: Will the Department add a note to people's tax credit notification asking if they have claimed tax reliefs to which they are entitled if they spend more than a certain amount on medicines or on private rental?

Tax Code. (23 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: Would it help if the Department put the information in bright lights on the tax certificates sent to people in March each year?

Written Answers — Currency Fluctuations: Currency Fluctuations (16 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: Question 97: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the impact which the continued strength of the euro against the US dollar and the pound sterling has had on Irish exports; if he has adopted a strategy to assist the export sector as a result of this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28389/04]

Written Answers — Workplace Absenteeism: Workplace Absenteeism (16 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: Question 135: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he concurs with IBEC's assessment that absenteeism in the workplace costs business here €1.5 billion per year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28388/04]

Written Answers — Departmental Properties: Departmental Properties (16 Nov 2004)

Richard Bruton: Question 177: To ask the Minister for Finance the total space occupied in Dublin by the Civil Service which is leased; the total which is owned; and the breakdown in respect of the units proposed for relocation from Dublin under the decentralisation programme. [28516/04]