Results 6,701-6,720 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I would like to answer the question. The Deputy made certain charges against me and I would like to respond to them.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy may feel he is entitled to make a series of assertions before asking a question but that I should only answer the question and leave the assertions unanswered. I am entitled to respond to his assertions. He decided to ask a long-winded question and I will answer it as succinctly as I can within the Orders of the House. He decried the fact that credit was not being made...

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: We have a credit problem which is worldwide and which remains to be fixed by the international financial system. If we had gone the Labour Party road, there would be no credit available to anybody because there was a real prospect that financial institutions of systemic importance would collapse without the support of this House. This support was available from some parts of the House but...

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: It is true. I am in mid-sentence.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: Not if one is Deputy Stagg.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: To respond to some of the points made by Deputy Gilmore in his multifaceted question, he likes to portray recapitalisation as money that has been given to institutions without a return for the taxpayer. The taxpayer is getting a return on those investments.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I am sorry, Deputy Sherlock.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: Leaders' Questions provide for Deputy Gilmore to speak on this occasion.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: We are getting a good deal in terms of the warrants and the returns on that money but this was never the contention of Labour Party Members, who like to suggest that it was simply handed over without protection for the taxpayer. That is not the truth.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I do not interrupt when I am asked questions.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I ask for respect in return. I respect his leader and perhaps he could pay some of the same to me.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: It is true that demand for credit is down because of the recession. It is also true that people are finding it difficult to obtain credit for viable but vulnerable businesses which are still trying to contend with the current situation. The Minister for Finance is seeking to ensure, on an ongoing basis, that good business ideas are not denied access to some level of credit, even if not the...

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I am not in the business of hurling political charges. I want to address the seriousness of the question.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy still makes the assertions and the populist image he wants to portray today is the tax increases relate to the recapitalisation of the banks.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The tax increases we have brought forward are about the fact we have to redesign out taxation base because we do not have as much money coming in under other tax heads as in the past and not the banks.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: Unless we broaden the base of our taxation system, including increasing income taxes and looking at other forms of taxation in the future, we will not be able to provide sustainable public services at the level the people expect. That is the reason we are involved in a change in taxation systems. For obvious reasons, the Deputy likes to popularly portray that the reason we are doing that is...

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The reason we are increasing taxation is we need to increase revenue from sources like income tax and other taxes in the future to meet the expenditure needs even where the Government has made expenditure savings this year for €4.3 billion. Let us leave that aside because that is just another way of the Deputy getting his message out to the doors on that issue. I refer to the issue he...

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy does not agree with that either.

Leaders' Questions (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: He does not agree with State guarantees or even recapitalisation. What credit would have been available to banks if they were not recapitalised? Not alone would credit be a problem, the solvency issue would have been a problem. This is my response to the argument the Deputy is making. In other words, he does not agree with any measure that seeks to correct the issues but he continues to...

Social Partnership. (6 May 2009)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. Following my invitation on 24 March, the Government and social partners have had further engagement within the context of the Framework for a Pact for Stabilisation, Social Solidarity and Economic Renewal agreed in January, and the subsequent report of the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, which emphasises the importance...