Results 48,461-48,480 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Functions (9 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: 311. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she has prepared for an increase in demand for services from her Department as a result of upcoming developments such as the Central Bank's updated CCMA, the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill, the targets that have been set for the banks regarding sustainable solutions, or any other developments; the steps that have been taken to deal with...

Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I wish to share time with Deputies Joan Collins, Boyd Barrett and Mattie McGrath.

Equal Status (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I support the Bill before the House, which aims to put equality budgeting on a statutory footing and is a welcome proposal. This means that in preparing Bills relevant to the budget and other operations of public sector bodies, the authority can give advice to those public sector bodies on how they should approach and ensure equality in their operations and planning. It ensures the public...

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I take the Minister's points on board but I support Deputy Collins' amendment. I would disagree with the Minister's economic analysis. He may be right but I do not think he is for two reasons. Last year, the IMF conducted a 100 year review of the way countries have successfully got out of mortgage crises and it concluded that the only two countries where it ever worked were Iceland and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Review of ECOFIN Matters under Irish EU Presidency: Discussion (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Will SMEs and normal depositors with amounts over €100,000 have preference over senior bondholders or will they still rank the same as senior bondholders?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Review of ECOFIN Matters under Irish EU Presidency: Discussion (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Perhaps with a worked out example to show how it works

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister for his reply and for leaving open the door that people who are renting and renting may have the protections afforded to them under section 2. The Minister referred to my Family Home Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill from 2011 and I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Minister's good faith in this regard. During the debate in 2011, the Minister...

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I will conclude on this point. I do not refer to those who have bought a new home and are renting. I am talking only about people who bought a home, have moved out of it, who still nominally only own one home and are renting and renting. I ask the Minister to keep this under review because I consider this group of people to be just as deserving of the protections afforded under section 2...

Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I have two quick questions. The first relates to the definition of a principal private residence. The question probably applies to the entire Bill. Will the Minister clarify one point? When we use the term principal private residence most of us believe it refers to the home a person is living in. However, there is a group of people who, due to the mortgage crisis, are in a somewhat...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Review of ECOFIN Matters under Irish EU Presidency: Discussion (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Chairman and Deputy Michael McGrath for allowing me to speak first. As a member of the Opposition, I am either detached or semi-detached from the Irish Presidency, but it appears the Minister and his officials did an excellent job during the Presidency, even if one or two things did not go exactly as they may have hoped. The Minister, in particular, has been operating in a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Terms of Reference of Sub-Committee on Global Taxation: Motions (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I will be brief, but I want to respond because some strong language is being thrown around. There are suggestions that people are trying to protect multinationals and that members of this committee are afraid of questioning them. As someone who wrote to the Chairman and asked for this sub-committee to be established, I am certainly not afraid of asking questions of any multinational...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Terms of Reference of Sub-Committee on Global Taxation: Motions (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I would like to support Deputy Dara Murphy's amendment. It has been suggested that the sub-committee does not want to bring in multinational corporations and is blocking that in some way. I wrote to the Chairman recently to request the establishment of this sub-committee. My attempts to gain a position on my own committee were unsuccessful, but I will be there for all of the hearings....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Terms of Reference of Sub-Committee on Global Taxation: Motions (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: One is legal and the other is illegal. We are talking here about tax avoidance. Deputy Murphy's proposal was agreed by this committee in private session. It is regrettable that we are back discussing it in public session. It was very clearly agreed - this is laid out in Deputy Murphy's amendment - that this would be a multi-phase piece of work. We agreed that the first thing we would do...

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: No doubt we will continue to debate this matter. However, it is a bit like coming to a meeting of the flat earth society. One comes in here and everybody says, "No, it has to be done this way, it couldn't possibly happen any other way". When one says that it happens successfully in this "impossible" way in other parliaments, we are told: "No, it couldn't possibly work. There'd be chaos....

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Or you know, Minister.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I think not.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I do.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 6:In page 23, to delete lines 5 to 9 and substitute the following:“(a) subject to subsection (3), the one quarter of the members of the House have, in accordance with the rules and standing orders made by the House pursuant to subsection (2), voted to pass the resolution in respect of the inquiry (in this section referred to as “the terms of reference...

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I move amendment No. 7:In page 23, to delete lines 21 to 23 and substitute the following:"(b) if the committee is a joint committee, one quarter of the members of each House vote to pass the resolution with identical terms passed in each House.”.

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (3 Jul 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Only when the committee asks for a committee of inquiry to be established.