Results 5,241-5,260 of 7,975 for speaker:Joe Higgins
- Northern Ireland Issues (29 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: Is the Taoiseach aware that 80,000 public sector workers are taking strike action in Northern Ireland tomorrow? It is part of a 3 million strong strike in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales in response to serious attacks on living standards and the policy of the British Government. Again, like in this country, it is the working class that must pay for the crisis. Is the...
- Order of Business (29 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: That is the third proposal. This is the second proposal.
- Order of Business (29 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: We can be helpful to the Taoiseach. Until yesterday, the draft schedule included the Local Government (Household Charges) Bill 2011 for Thursday and had approximately five hours of debating time set aside for it, too little time in any case. Despite the Tánaiste promising me on Thursday that legislation would be with us at the weekend and that it would be debated on Thursday, we have not...
- Order of Business (29 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: Therefore, the Government has five extra hours available and, therefore, there is no excuse for insisting on this guillotine. Since the matter is somewhat related, will the Taoiseach explain to us now why the Local Government (Household Charges) Bill has not appeared and what is going on?
- Order of Business (29 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: What questions are they?
- Order of Business (29 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: Which aspects?
- Constitutional Amendments (29 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: I wish to express our condolences to the Taoiseach on the passing of his mother at the weekend. On the constitutional convention, the Taoiseach referred to one or two matters, such as that relating to the Seanad, which he will progress outside of it. In the context of the reform of the presidency, during one of its periods in opposition Fine Gael introduced a Bill which would have changed...
- Order of Business (24 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: Next Thursday the local government household charges Bill is scheduled. However, the draft schedule indicates that only five hours is allocated for not just the Second Stage, but all Stages of that Bill. Given that this has profound implications and represents the thin end of the wedge providing for two new taxes on property and water, which could amount to â¬1,300 for each household...
- Order of Business (24 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: It will be introduced on 6 December.
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: That is dishonesty. On social welfare cuts, the programme for Government - not the Labour Party - indicates social welfare rates will be maintained. On the pensions issue, it is not a fallacy. The reality is that pensioners, men and women who slaved all their lives and are now on modest pensions, are having this burden placed on their shoulders, as the Tara Mines workers outside the gates...
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: The Taoiseach's results are: test one - fail; test two - fail; test three, on social welfare - clarify please, given that it is a question of the programme for Government, not the Labour Party; and test four - fail.
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: Zero-----
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: The Deputy did not say anything about the little elves in the Labour Party so I will leave its members to answer to themselves over the next while.
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: We want clarification on the social welfare issue to determine whether the Taoiseach could possibly pass one out of four, which would still be a failure overall.
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: After his nomination on 9 March the Taoiseach said in the Dáil, "Honesty is not alone our best policy but our only policy." What is honest about the cynical kite flying by half of the Cabinet in the last week, in manipulating the media and the people with stories of horror cuts and charges in order that when they are a little less when they bring them in, the hope is the people might accept...
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: The Minister for Finance announced a 0.6% levy on pensions for four years to fund the so-called jobs initiative. Tara miners have exposed the truth; this translates into a savage 10% levy on their modest pensions of â¬10,000 each year for four years. Will the Taoiseach restore honesty? I want a simple yes or no answer; as I am not asking for the budget, the Taoiseach should not say I am....
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: Will the Taoiseach make honest little elves of the Labour Party backbenchers who are busy mining for votes in repeating all the pledges made by their leaders? We hear from journalists that they have been hiding in the woods for the last few days. I would like a straight answer to this question.
- Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: The Taoiseach obviously has an extraordinary concept of honesty and truth. "We will reverse rises in student fees" is clear in its meaning. Just because the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, and the Taoiseach later had a chat and agreed they would not reverse the increase does not change the position. The Taoiseach is, in fact, endorsing dishonesty. The Labour Party stated it would not tolerate...
- Order of Business (22 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: I have three questions. The Taoiseach did not answer the question raised by my colleague, Deputy Clare Daly, regarding when the animal health and welfare Bill will be brought before the Dáil and whether it will include a ban on fur farming. With two weeks to go to the budget, will the local government charges Bill, which provides for a household tax, be introduced, debated and passed in...
- Order of Business (22 Nov 2011)
Joe Higgins: That was No. 1. Tá an Rialtas ag iarraidh cÃos a chur ar tithe. Dúradh liom cheana féin go dtiocfadh an cÃos isteach sa seisiún seo. NÃl ach coicÃs fágtha roimh an mbuiséad. Cathain go cruinn a thiocfaidh sé os comhair na Dála? When the Minister for Finance introduced the pension levy, was he aware it would take out 10% of the annual wages of Tara miners for the next four years?