Results 3,421-3,440 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Written Answers — Tax Collection: Tax Collection (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I propose to take Questions Nos. 234 and 235 together. It is assumed that the Deputy is referring to the challenge for businesses in meeting their tax obligations in a timely fashion and the requirement on individuals and companies to ensure that at least the minimum amounts of preliminary tax, whether in regard to corporation tax or income tax, are paid. This is a matter in the first...

Written Answers — Ministerial Travel: Ministerial Travel (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I did not travel abroad in an official capacity for Saint Patrick's Day 2010. Minister of State Martin Mansergh visited the Netherlands and Belgium from Monday 15th March and returned Thursday morning 18th March. He was accompanied by his Private Secretary for the duration of the trip and by the Office of Public Works Chief Engineer for his visit to the Netherlands. All costs have not been...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that a person who has overpaid income levy can apply for a refund in one of two ways as described below. In making an application a person should use the figures from the Income Levy Certificates which he/she will have received from his/her employer in respect of each employment held in 2009. The person should either: (i) Complete an Income Levy...

Written Answers — Financial Services Regulation: Financial Services Regulation (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As Minister for Finance I am responsible for the legislative and policy framework for the regulation of financial services. Under this framework I cannot become involved in disputes between individual financial institutions and their customers. If the person referred to in the Deputy's question, feels that he has been unfairly treated by the financial institution concerned, he can make a...

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I congratulate the new officeholders. They will make a valuable contribution to the Government and I wish them well. I look forward to working with them. We all know that the task of being a Minister in the current circumstances is a difficult one. It is one that is necessary and essential and it has to be performed in the national and public interest, and that is what has to come first....

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----where they cannot see beyond their comfort zone where Fianna Fáil is always the bogeyman and they are always the good guys.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In this particular insular political world, they are entirely untouched by the growing international confidence in this country. The contrast between the views expressed by some speakers opposite and the regular, consistent and persistent commentary made overseas about this country could not be starker. I begin with the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet. He stated...

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----whose party in the Federal Republic is in coalition with the Deputy Durkan's party in Europe. He said: "I think there is a deeply rooted trust and confidence in this country's ability to sort out its problems ... There is a fundamental belief that the Irish are going to solve it ..." They are political views; they are not manufactured views. These are reactions to visible decisions...

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: He said we are the only country in this position that does. He said the Irish policy makers have dealt with this issue more seriously and more reasonably than any other euro member.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Many of these commentators and Ministers are in countries that have faced exactly the same challenges we have faced but have encountered far greater difficulties-----

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----in the implementation of policies and in the resolution of their difficulties. Deputy Gilmore spoke earlier about the will of the people and the mandate of the people. The people gave a mandate on 24 May 2007 to this Parliament, Dáil Éireann, to elect a Government. That is the mandate we are implementing.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: That is the mandate we have.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The people are perfectly free to comment on the exercise of that mandate at the expiration of the appropriate constitutional terms. That is the position. We live in a representative democracy. The leader of the Labour Party suggested today that we do not, that we should have a Government by opinion poll, that mandates expire on the basis of opinion polls and that the will of the people is...

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There is a major onus on the Opposition parties to give people a valid alternative. On the basis of this afternoon's debate, there is little sign of one being offered.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We have in place a plan which will put the country on the path to economic growth.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Unemployment will not be as high as previously forecast, consumer confidence is reviving, export figures are the healthiest in Europe and we are regaining our competitiveness. Speakers on the opposite side suggest the Government should resign and appeal to the people but where is the alternative Government? The Fine Gael Party supported public sector pay cuts; the Labour Party rejects them....

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Let us be clear, the Fine Gael Party supports a bank guarantee and rejects nationalisation, while the Labour Party rejects a bank guarantee and supports nationalisation.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Irish people are being invited to believe that an immediate general election is in their best interests and will bring these parties to Government without any programme as to how the country can advance. I heard Deputy Burton describe the current economic problems as the most serious since the 1920s and 1930s.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I remind Deputy Burton that this country had very severe economic countries in the 1950s and 1980s, one of the major root causes of which was the inability of the Fine Gael Party and Labour Party to agree on a coherent economic policy platform.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (Resumed) (23 Mar 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Irish people face the same historic danger if the Opposition does not get its act together and start offering them an intellectually coherent alternative to a policy which this Government has put forward to international acclaim.