Results 6,121-6,140 of 6,728 for speaker:John Curran

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: It was on the backs of the vulnerable people in this country.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: It was on the backs of those people that Deputy Ring stood up tonight to boast about the budget surpluses. The Deputy's party walked away from them.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: It was the most miserable——

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: It was the most miserable increase in social welfare ever, but the Deputy boasted that his party produced a budget surplus.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: Fine Gael did not have a better economy by any stretch of the imagination.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: Deputy Ring is living in a dream world. To turn around and say that the economy of 1995, 1996 or 1997 was better than the economy we have now is a load of rubbish.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: Fine Gael had a budget surplus in one respect, but it abandoned the vulnerable people and its social welfare budget was a disgrace.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: Deputy Durkan spoke about Ireland being less competitive and jobs moving from Donegal and so forth. We heard Deputy Blaney refer to the workforce being reskilled and re-employed.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: It is worth noting that we have the highest ever number of people working, approximately 2.1 million. The Deputies should not talk us into a recession because that is not where we are going. It is important to remember——

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: The Deputy is correct in that we will not be competitive if it comes to making T-shirts, but we are creating jobs in products higher up the value chain, such as research and development, biotechnology and so forth, and adding value.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: The Deputy should not talk us into a recession.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: I acknowledge that we are not competitive when it comes to making T-shirts.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: A number of speakers stated that the good times are gone and we have squandered the money, but we have not. We have invested the money in a significant range of services and infrastructure. Less than a decade ago, special needs education did not exist in this country. Between resource teachers and special needs assistants, there are approximately 17,000 people employed today. When people...

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: In a range of services, we have looked after the most vulnerable, the poor and the elderly in ways that had not been done previously.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: There have been real increases in child benefit. We introduced the early child care supplement. This range of services would not have been possible one decade ago.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: To say this is a waste or squander is untrue. Those people who are the beneficiaries and recipients——

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: ——of the payments would not agree with the Deputy. How many minutes have I left?

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: On a serious note, I have listened to many contributions on the budget debate. During the Minister's pre-budget outlook, we discussed existing levels of service, ELS. I sit on the Committee of Public Accounts, which examines Department's outturns and was chaired by Deputy Noonan in recent years. It is not fair to suggest that changes do not take place because they do. In the five years I...

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: We must tackle and perform a major review of ELS across the public service.

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (11 Dec 2007)

John Curran: Were it a private company, we would expect and anticipate to——