Results 581-600 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----is a cosy club between the Government, the development and construction industries and the banking sector. That message is grossly untrue. I will move on to other areas. Clearly, economic, social and political cohesion are crucial ingredients in regrowing the economy. No matter what anyone says about savings, the achievement of which is important, we have a pay and pensions bill and a...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: There is no point in the Opposition dancing on a pinhead to avoid the reality of what must be challenged. As the Taoiseach stated in the House today, we have taken more than €8 billion out of the economy. No other European government has faced up to its responsibility like the Irish Government, a fact that has been acknowledged internationally. In the December budget, we need to face the...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: We have invested more than 80% of our resources in health, education and welfare. What is the issue with the so-called waste that we have brought into the equation?

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: We have employed 3,500 extra gardaí. Do Fine Gael and Labour claim that we must reduce those numbers? We have employed 10,000 extra nurses and doctors in hospitals. Are Fine Gael and Labour claiming that we must reduce their numbers?

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: We have 7,000 more teachers in our school. Are Fine Gael and Labour claiming that we must get rid of those?

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: Our schools have 10,000 special needs assistants, who deal with people with disabilities-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----and have made a significant difference.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: They have made a considerable difference to people with disabilities. We have built more schools than ever before.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: Is the Opposition claiming that we should not have done that? Next year, we will roll out a new motorway system, thanks to Transport 21.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: We have the lowest direct taxation rates in the OECD area. We have protected the most vulnerable with the world's most generous social welfare system. We were right to do so for the elderly. It may be argued that-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----we give people more than they might get elsewhere, but we are right to do so. I would like the Opposition, Fine Gael and Labour in particular, to identify from where in the resources that have been spent well and that have raised the quality of life in recent years to heights never achieved previously-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: Yes, we have stepped back from that position and lowered living standards. I must accept that fact. However, this has been done to allow the economy to grow again. One cannot sustain social services and massive investments in health, education and welfare-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----if one's economy is not functioning. One must restore job numbers in a sustainable way. None of the policies advocated by Fine Gael and the Labour Party in the House has posed a cohesive and substantive plan.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: Instead, we have had a series of cliches, soundbites,-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----lies and misinformation that was continued-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----by both parties. I do not want to mention Sinn Féin because-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----it has nothing to contribute to the country's development. It can take its left-wing politics back to where it got them because it has no role to play in the types of policy that I have espoused. Its policies offer nothing to Irish men, women or children in terms of the country's development. The parties opposite purport to want to govern this country-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: -----and to stand where I am standing.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: They must earn the right to do it.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Martin Cullen: Two years ago, they did not get a mandate,