Results 4,421-4,440 of 6,526 for speaker:John Lahart

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: That would be five or six times the current percentage.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: That does not tally with what the Minister said, namely that he would like to see the tax pay a more significant role. He did not say a more modestly significant role, which is an oxymoron. He spoke about enlarging its contribution as a proportion of the overall tax yield.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: I thank the Minister. I made this point the last time we spoke about this. People who in some cases have been exempt for five or six years will be living side by side with people who have been paying local property tax and paying for local services. Was there not even an opportunity to address that? Do the Minister's officials have an average figure for what the exemption of 60,000 to...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: There is some sympathy on both sides of the House for the idea of allowing small landlords to claim some property tax back in order to make their yield on their properties a little bit more attractive. How would the Minister see that applying to the cuckoo funds who are currently buying properties or the developers who are applying to build massive amounts of build-to-rent properties? How...

Development of Primary Care: Statements (29 May 2019)

John Lahart: I am delighted to be able to contribute to this debate. I know how earnestly Deputy Finian McGrath views this topic as the Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for disabilities. The Department has a budget and he has to try to shoehorn as many things as he can into that budget but our job as Opposition spokespeople is to hold him to account in this...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: I thank the Minister and his officials for their public service. In fairness, he always attends when we ask. I will ask questions from a budgetary oversight viewpoint. When the Minister talked about how the cost of this project will be covered in the future, the words that came into my head were "revenue buoyancy". He seemed to predicate one's ability to meet the gap or potential gap in...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: The Minister mentioned there is a risk involved.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: From a budgetary oversight point of view, there are at least two risks involved. I am concerned about the disparity between the view of the Secretary General and the Minister. Earlier the Minister stated, "No other projects will be delayed or rescheduled and no other changes will be made to the capital allocations for other projects, such as those set out in the [NDP]" and that "the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: If this project does not work out then this is not the committee to which the Minister will return. Rather, it will be the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment. We are the Committee on Budget Oversight and that is why I am focusing on the budgetary oversight aspect of the project.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: Did the Secretary General read the options? Did he have access to the paper with the same options as the Minister?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: The Minister mentioned costed alternatives. Can the costed alternatives be published? I wish to reinforce the following point. Obviously we want Ministers with independent minds who seek advice from all quarters. However, I refer to the points that were issued by the Secretary General, particularly the ones on reputational damage, the risks to the perception of economic competence and...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: I assume that the Secretary General has had access to the same options that were available to the Minister, yet still arrived at this advice to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Can the Minister explain the difference in the two outcomes and responses to the two options papers?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: It should have been published.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: That is what the Secretary General formed a view on.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: I will give Deputy Cowen 30 seconds of my time, if I can.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: It is the budgetary oversight competency that is of interest. Essentially, Mr. Robert Watt had a Sir Humphrey Appleby moment with his Minister. When the Minister for Finance told the Taoiseach of his decision and mentioned that the Secretary General had raised some issues, I assume the Taoiseach asked him to summarise what the issues were. They were affordability, the risks to the State...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: -----emerging technologies and future developments could render this investment obsolete, leading to an unprecedented risk for the State. Budgetary oversight is our responsibility. What led the Minister to overrule the overwhelming weight of advice of officials who I presume are at his side today?

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Definitions (21 May 2019)

John Lahart: 454. To ask the Minister for Health if he will instruct the HSE to acknowledge that ME can lead to disability from mild to profound; if the HSE will add ME to its list of disabilities (details supplied); his views on whether access to assessment for home support and personal assistance should be through disability services not older person’s services; and if he will make a statement on...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Definitions (21 May 2019)

John Lahart: 457. To ask the Minister for Health if the HSE will implement the international consensus criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis in order that persons with ME can get a clear diagnosis as soon as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22025/19]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disease Management (21 May 2019)

John Lahart: 455. To ask the Minister for Health the criteria used here to diagnose the neurological disease myalgic encephalomyelitis (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22023/19]