Results 4,221-4,240 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: If the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, were-----

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: I do not know whether the Minister of State is a small farmer-----

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: -----but if he were, and a bunch of foxes broke into his henhouse and created mayhem and havoc, would he round up the same foxes to go back to repair the damage they did? It is quite ludicrous. The question is who will pay for the pyrite scandal and the remediation of the homes affected. I say all those who had their snouts in the property bubble trough must pay. These are the big...

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: I pay tribute to the home owners enduring the nightmare of pyrite affected homes and all the suffering that entails, some of whom have come together as Pyrite Action to campaign for justice for themselves and all others experiencing this problem. The local authorities and successive Governments have been slow to respond and keen to wash their hands of any responsibility for the remediation...

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: No.

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: There is no time limit on this debate.

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: I may speak for ten minutes.

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: No. This is the first I heard of it.

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: I want everyone who wishes to speak to have an opportunity to do so. As there is no time limit on this debate I can speak for ten minutes and other Deputies who offer will be given time to speak, as per Standing Orders.

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: There were warnings in civil engineering literature in Britain 30 years ago with regard to pyrite. Some 25 years ago, there was also a detailed paper entitled "Cause and Significance of Heave at Llandough Hospital, Cardiff - A Case History of Ground Floor Heave due to Gypsum Growth". In 1992, there was an international conference of the construction industry and civil engineers in Bristol...

Report of the Pyrite Panel: Statements (18 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: That is shameful. It has been known for 20 years. The Minister should read the literature.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure and Reform Vote: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: The opposite is the case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure and Reform Vote: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: With regard to the constitutional problems associated with pensions, there is anxiety over the expected turnout in the referendum on the rights of children. I support the proposed constitutional change, despite its limitations. The Minister would have a 95% turnout on the day if he was to propose an amendment to deal with the considerable pension issues. Everybody would come out to vote in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure and Reform Vote: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: They were privatised and the same will happen with water. Once one modifies a service, as proposed with Irish Water, it is turned into a commodity, after which it is ready to be handed over to the privateers or private companies which are now bleeding the people dry. That is the record.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure and Reform Vote: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: I will be succinct. The only thing the Minister said that I can agree with is when he defended low and middle income public sector workers, but I point to the fact that his Government and its predecessors have hammered them significantly already. In a previous era Croke Park conjured up the excitement of Gaelic football and hurling. Croke Park is now a term of abuse of public sector...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure and Reform Vote: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: -----as well as the €10.5 million a year that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party get each year from the public sector. That still did not stop Deputy Fleming having the audacity to say that the Socialists got more public funding from the Exchequer than anyone else in this country.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Office of Public Works: Discussion with Minister of State (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: It is impossible to work close to others if people are on the telephones. It is too much of a distraction and less productive.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: It is extraordinary that people will not know-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: -----until three weeks before the end of the year whether the Government will be seeking a household tax on 1 January 2013.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: 2013 Allocations for Public Expenditure - Finance Vote Group: Discussion with Minister for Finance (17 Oct 2012)

Joe Higgins: I will be succinct. The Minister said that inward investment, which is at record heights, compensates for the removal of demand from the domestic economy. I put it to him that that is manifestly not the case. Inward investment by multinational corporations is highly specialised and highly capital-intensive. While the jobs created are of course welcome, such investment is highly...