Results 481-500 of 1,928 for speaker:Pat Casey

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Pat Casey: I am not much wiser after that. What are the consequences for the Secretary General if the service is not provided or there is a failure to come within budget? The procedure in place muddies the waters all over the place and there is no real accountability. I am equally anxious to move on to the second part of the meeting so I will leave it at that.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I will start with the Christmas message. It might calm me down a bit before I get into the substance of what I want to say today. It has been a difficult year for everybody. With regard to the House, I take this opportunity to wish a happy Christmas to the cleaning staff who knock quietly on our doors and clean the handles and all the surfaces we use, the catering staff, the ushers, the...

Seanad: Appropriation Bill 2020: Second Stage (18 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I welcome this Bill. I do not think anyone has a problem with it. It has been an exceptional year with levels of expenditure that we have probably never seen before, and which we will hopefully never need to see again, around Covid-19. Following the news last night about hospitality, I take this opportunity to ask for certainty about what is happening in the coming week or ten days. We...

Seanad: Appropriation Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I also wish to speak about councillors' pay, which has already been mentioned by three Senators. I agree that the time for talking is over. A decision must be made and it should be made sooner rather than later. This has been a protracted process. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has been mentioned twice during this debate but he has only held that brief for the last six...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I have spoken to the Minister of State about the insurance industry on a number of occasions. I wish him well in his role and I know that he is committed to it. More than 25 years ago, a gentleman walked into my premises and fell and broke his hip. He was an English gentleman and claimed through the English system, to the relief of the Irish insurance company, because the claim was capped....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: Actual claims made could drag on for ten years. One has to pay a premium for a ten-year period and the claim might not add up to anything. It is a matter of transparency. If one can clearly see a potential claim as a policyholder, one should see what the claim costs in a premium, and if there is an actual claim, one should see the cost of the premium for that. It drags on and takes a long...

Seanad: Central Mental Hospital (Relocation) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: When is it proposed to take the next Stage?

Seanad: Central Mental Hospital (Relocation) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Central Mental Hospital (Relocation) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: When is it proposed to take the next Stage?

Seanad: Central Mental Hospital (Relocation) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: Is that agreed? Agreed.

Seanad: Central Mental Hospital (Relocation) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I thank the Minister of State for her commitment to this House. She has always made herself available. I congratulate her on her success in bringing her first Bill through the House. The sitting is now suspended for 15 minutes, in accordance with the order of the House of 9 December.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I speak on a point of clarification which the Minister of State may be able to confirm. Everybody wants taxation applied fairly across the board and everybody should be treated equally. My understanding is we all receive tax credits and how we use them is up to ourselves. If I was on the PUP from March until August which I was not able to use the tax credits for, they are accumulated into...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I do not intend to say too much, though I probably will end up doing so. Having been on the housing committee during the previous Dáil, I have a fair and deep understanding of this issue. The same cases were made when the initial scheme was brought in and they were proved incorrect. In the absence of affordability, the State needs to intervene to give young couples who aspire to own...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: Without the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, many businesses would have gone to the wall. We have engaged on this matter previously. I welcome the CRSS, but I have an ongoing concern. Businesses are relying on the CRSS, tax warehousing and many other measures that will collectively add to their problems down the road. The CRSS is allowing us to stay viable and keep our doors open...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: When I asked the Minister of State a question earlier in the week or last week, I was not expecting that figure to come back. It is quite staggering and goes back to my fundamental concern about what businesses will do in September when they are faced with this bill. It is all tied in together because what is happening in businesses such as my own is that we are using the CRSS to pay...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: Would it be possible to extend it until 2023?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I agree with many of the sentiments expressed by Senator Higgins regarding the operation of REITs. The problem with the Finance Bill is that it leads one on to other issues of principle. At one time, REITs played a role in the market and were considered to be part of the housing solution but it has evolved into something bigger and is actually causing more problems than it is providing...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Second Stage (8 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I welcome the Minister of State back to the House, and I promise I will not mention the VAT refund scheme today. I will leave him alone on that issue. The economy is going through a turbulent time, with the two most dramatic impacts which none of us probably ever believed we would be dealing with, namely, Brexit and Covid-19. These impacts have disproportionate effects on different...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: I wish to raise the issue of the hospitality and tourism sector. I am disappointed to have to do so. The whole sector has been treated very badly this week. I have always called for any decisions made by governments to be based on the evidence. No evidence has been presented to our sector for the strategy the Government has taken. While I accept that public health has to be front and...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (3 Dec 2020)

Pat Casey: Do I move amendment No. 7 now? It is grouped with this amendment.