Results 35,001-35,020 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Written Answers — Public Service Contracts: Public Service Contracts (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: Question 157: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of limited companies, established as sole trader ventures, with agreements for the provision of services on a full-time basis and a part-time basis to him, his Department or to a public body under the aegis of his Department, indicating the nature of the services; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Written Answers — Public Service Contracts: Public Service Contracts (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: Question 258: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of limited companies, established as sole trader ventures, with agreements for the provision of services on a full-time basis and a part-time basis to her, her Department or to a public body under the aegis of her Department, indicating the nature of the services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14280/09]

Written Answers — Public Service Contracts: Public Service Contracts (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: Question 298: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of limited companies, established as sole trader ventures, with agreements for the provision of services on a full-time basis and a part-time basis to him, his Department or to a public body under the aegis of his Department, indicating the nature of the services; and if he will make a statement...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: This is the budget from hell, particularly for families in the middle income bracket who have two or three children. I want to summarise, particularly for families who may be listening in, what the Minister is expecting them to pay for the banks and all the other mistakes of 12 years of Fianna Fáil misrule. The tables at the back of the Budget Statement include one relating to a couple...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: They can tell the Minister, Deputy Lenihan, it was one of the worst designed bribes ever given to young families. It did absolutely nothing except drive up crèche fees. He is now adopting a Labour Party proposal, which is that we should have an early child care system. Fianna Fáil had 12 good years when threw it all away and spent it on electoral bribes such as those we saw when the...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: One lesson which should be learned is that there is a misguided obsession with the budget deficit that can compound the very disease it wishes to control. Deficits can melt away like the snow when the economic spring comes and this can happen remarkably fast. The core issue is to combine prudent budgeting with economic stimulus so the actions we take to get the books to balance do not...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: -----or school building projects? I am not a fan of public private partnerships but I recognise that they offer some advantages in securing finance for the capital budget. Why is the use of this mechanism limited this year to four schools in the Taoiseach's constituency? We need more outside-the-box ideas to keep the capital programme ticking over. By this I mean projects that are fully...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: He can close this loophole tonight if he so wishes. The overhang of the banking crisis affects our nation's international creditworthiness as much as the budget deficit. Of the adjustment of €3.2 billion announced today by the Minister, I reckon at least €500 million - but possibly up to €1 billion - will be used to meet the higher interest charges that must be paid by Ireland on the...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: The reply states: Yes, land and development loans outside of Ireland will be eligible for transfer to NAMA, subject to consideration of the legal issues involved. This is essential to ensure that the banks are completely cleansed of their exposure to their identified riskiest loan category. UK exposure is a significant part of the bank's total land and development portfolios and therefore...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: It is truly scandalous and outrageous that we should be presented with a scheme such as this without being offered any costings. I understand the development in Dubai to which I referred relates to the purchase of the island of Ireland in the world of islands complex. We are not just paying for speculation in places such as the fringe around the M50. We are not just paying for unsold...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: Both Deputy Gilmore and I have asked whether the Bacon report will be published in full. A short report has been published by the European Commission outlining the reasons for the success of the Swedish banking bail-out. There are six or seven critical reasons the Swedish scheme worked, the first of which is transparency in terms of the amounts involved. The Minister used the word "tough"...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: This would have shown leadership in an international sense. One of the big talking points internationally is how we can afford to pay our Taoiseach and Ministers so much money. There are many cartoons of Ireland depicting the Taoiseach being paid the same amount of money as leaders of some of the largest, most populated and wealthy countries in the world. The Labour Party supports the...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: -----most of whom are supporting the Government? Is it because the Independent Members threatened to walk if their allowance was hit in the budget? If we are to clean up the legacy of the Ahern years, this payment, a tax free, unaccountable, unvouched special arrangement for Independent Members, must go. It is wrong and has been always wrong. It was a sweetener introduced by that master...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: I will conclude with some general observations. The financial deficit is important. I am, as much as anybody else, a deficit hawk. We must establish our credit worthiness as a country. The Government should not underestimate the Labour Party's commitment and willingness to implement sound public finances and to meet agreed targets on time. However, this must be done in a planned way that...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: In a few weeks, Allied Irish Banks will also receive a cheque for €3.5 billion. Will that cheque be photographed? I suggest we obtain a photograph of it for posterity. It is quite possible other financial institutions will want the same sum and that they may get it because they are guaranteed, which is one of the worst measures ever introduced by Government. The Bank of Ireland has...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: This is the crazy economics of Fianna Fáil. I want to return to the comparison I set out at the beginning of my contribution in regard to the First World War. I am sure the Minister of State is aware of the Siegfried Sassoon poem of a cheery general meeting two soldiers on their way to battle who states: "But he did for them both by his plan of attack." General Lenihan has well and truly...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: We are saving landbanks in Dubai and London but are not able to save the cream of technological skill at Dublin Airport. Half of the 1,100 to 1,200 men employed at SR Technics received their notice last Friday. Members may have heard read out on the "Today with Pat Kenny" programme a sad letter from the wife of one of those workers. She spoke of her husband retching over his breakfast as...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: They should either by in school or in training. They should not be on the dole. Simply conceding that one can save money not by educating or training them-----

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: They are not many places they can go. Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels said a long time ago to people with the slash and burn mindset: "...whoever could make...or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind...than the whole race of politicians put together." This is where this budget has failed. There are no two blades...

Supplementary Budget Statement 2009 (7 Apr 2009)

Joan Burton: It wanted to hang tough. The Government did not do anything at the time, which was before the bank crisis. The amount that would have been involved in the Waterford Crystal guarantee was approximately €40 million. An iconic Irish industry has pretty much gone down the tubes. The people of Waterford are happy that it will be restarted in a small way with a tourism facility. They...