Results 32,861-32,880 of 36,066 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Tourism Promotion (23 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he was consulted on and subsequently approved the spending by Tourism Ireland of €495,000 on the purchase of the domain name Ireland.com from the Irish Times; the date on which he was first consulted and the date on which he provided any approval. [45987/12]

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: Is this the last question to be posed on the Bill?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: It is not agreed.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: We have come from a decade where advice went unheard, unnoticed or basically dismissed, in particular by the previous Government. That has been well-documented in independent reports on the collapse of the Irish economy. One of the reports on the Department of Finance showed that advice was given to the previous Government to establish a fiscal advisory council, and I welcome the fact we...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I agree with the amendment. It provides that the Minister would be obliged to respond whether the Government agreed or disagreed with the assessment made under subsection (3). My amendment, No. 16, goes further than that. This is a weakness in the Bill and, although the formula of words could be re-examined on Report Stage, it is important that an amendment such as this is included. Under...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 11: In page 8, subsection (4), between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:"(a) provide an assessment of whether the fiscal and budgetary policy of the Government is contributing to economic growth, job creation, the delivery of high quality public services, greater income equality, social inclusion and poverty reduction,".I will not go on about this as we have...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I wish to make two brief points. As a number of amendments are grouped, I will focus on two and ask the Minister how they cause violence to the article. First, my amendment on equality and anti-poverty impact assessments reads: "All revenue and expenditure measures contained in the plan must be subject to equality and anti-poverty impact assessments the details of which will be published as...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister's answer may be clever, but there was no fiction about the person who telephoned "Liveline". Under the Minister's watch in 2012, a man stole so that his children could have breakfast in the morning.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: He existed. He exists today under the Minister's watch.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister may claim that such people did not exist under British rule at the time of the Famine. Of course they existed, and they still exist. They are very real today. That is the Minister's legacy. There is no equality or poverty proofing of these measures. The Minister must admit that a man who shoplifted so that his children could have the bare necessities was convicted for doing so.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 6: In page 7, subsection (2)(a), line 6, after "achieved" to insert the following:"in a manner consistent with paragraph (a)".

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 7: In page 7, subsection (2), between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following:"(e) outline how revenue and expenditure measures will contribute to the objectives of greater income equality, social inclusion and poverty reduction.".

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 8: In page 7, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following subsection:"(3) All revenue and expenditure measures contained in the plan must be subject to equality and anti-poverty impact assessments the details of which will be published as appendices to the plan.".

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 9: In page 7, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following subsection:"(3) The plan shall only be adopted following approval of the Oireachtas.".

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I have tabled a number of amendments and I will try to deal with them. The Minister mentioned an adjustment plan could most likely result in unpalatable choices. This would not be in line with the amendment I tabled, which is that the plan should prioritise economic growth, job creation and high-quality public services. Perhaps we should prioritise the plan we are in at present. As...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: Is it after 2015 in terms of the structural deficit because that is the key point? My understanding is that we have three years in which to reach the structural deficit target.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I have the information in my office.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 5: In page 7, subsection (2), between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: "(a) prioritise the generation of economic growth, job creation and delivery of high quality public services,".This amendment relates to the warning from the Commission and the requirement for the Government to lay before the Dáil within two months a plan specifying what it proposes to do...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: Amendment No. 6 specifies that the budget rule be achieved in a manner that is in compliance with economic growth, job creation and the delivery of high-quality public services. Amendment No. 7 stipulates that the plan shall outline how any revenue and expenditure measures will contribute to the objectives of greater income equality, social inclusion and poverty reduction. This echoes what...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2012)

Pearse Doherty: Section 4 does not include the condition in section 3 which allows the budgetary rule to be waived in exceptional circumstances. There is no such provision in respect of the debt rule. Even in the event of exceptional circumstances involving significant increases in debt, slow growth or contraction of the economy we would still have to comply with the one 20th rule. We all hope there will...