Results 481-500 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: "So what?" somebody says. One would be talking about a cut of approximately â¬11 per week on jobseekers' payments instead of the proposed â¬8 per week, which would involve a â¬19 cut for a couple. Where else in the social welfare budget, over and above what we have done, would the Opposition make these cuts? The Government, in a hugely challenging budgetary environment, has done its...
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: Rightly so. We did it, and I am proud of the things we did during those years.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: I am proud of the fact that in regard to education in the disability sector we spent â¬1 billion of an â¬8 billion budget in mainstreaming people with disability into our education system. While some say I should be ashamed, I am proud of all of those progressive social policies. The situation, and what we need to say to the public, is this - despite the economic tsunami that hit this...
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: That is simply an incredible position to take 12 hours after one of the most important budgets in the history of the State being brought into this House and, thankfully, passed as a result of the democratic process here last night. The levels of income support provided by the State to those on welfare are still among the highest in Europe, of which we are all proud. People who live in Border...
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: Let us have our differences but let us not get into a stupid debate or descend into the foolishness of suggesting there is an alternative Government available to this country in the months ahead that will neither increase tax nor cut welfare during the course of the coming year. It is patent nonsense and it needs to be seen for what it is. As Taoiseach, I am deeply conscious that the...
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: If the Deputy wants to be patronising about it, that is his problem. The facts are that these decisions were taken by Government at a time of great economic difficulty.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: Everybody recognises we have to provide as much support as we can. I looked at some of the proposals from other parties in regard to this matter in their pre-budget submissions, and they are broadly in the same territory both in terms of scale and objective. We are extending the employer job incentive scheme to the end of 2011 and transforming the business expansion scheme to incentivise...
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: Total expenditure on capital programmes through commercial semi-State investment and the public investment programme will be â¬6.5 billion next year.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: That should not be regarded as something just to be sniffed at. It is important work building on all the investments we have made in the past. Unprecedented capital investment has changed the face of and transformed this country, much for the better.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: If the capacity was such, it happened in the private sector.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: Taxpayers' money was invested in schools in the Deputy's constituency and he has been trying to take credit for this for the past ten years. Taxpayers' money ensured serious investments were made. Why can the Deputy not simply acknowledge that and move on to the debate about the future?
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: The Deputy's problem is that he is not able to move on because he does not have a policy framework that stands up.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: I do not know whether the finance spokesperson heard his leader this morning.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: He suggested that Deputy Noonan would not have to raise any money in income tax to make a cut of â¬6 billion.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: Is that true? Could that be true? I refer to the man who was supposed to have brought some gravitas to the finance spokesmanship in recent months and who was ensuring the leader could step back a bit-----
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: -----that we might hear a bit of common sense.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: In the past 25 minutes, there has been a need to get an editor for him.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: He has really gone overboard this time.
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: Our five-year integrated plan for trade, tourism and investment will create 300,000 jobs and boost exports by one third. This is based on the figures of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland and on the spillover effect that can happen. We must be conveying to the public and investor community that we seek investment income for productive areas of the economy, not only at home but also abroad. If...
- Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)
Brian Cowen: We made changes yesterday.