Results 8,121-8,140 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am also increasing the current allocation for emergency accommodation of homeless people, by an additional €17 million.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The increase will bring Exchequer support to €70 million, up 56% since 2014, and will help homeless families make the transition to long-term sustainable housing. Arts and heritage The year 2016 will be an historic year for our country. It is right that we mark the centenary of 1916 with commemorative events that everybody in the nation can be proud of.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Rising was the event that propelled our nation on the path to independent statehood.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: We need to mark it with respect, be aware of its complexities and appreciate its idealism. We are the beneficiaries of that legacy. In recognition of this, €50 million has been provided for an extensive range of events and initiatives under the commemorative programme we launched. It will also allow for the development of the GPO interpretative centre, the national monument on Moore...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The allocation for the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will also provide an additional €3 million for a new scheme of once-off grants to arts and cultural centres throughout the country. I would like briefly to outline some other measures. Justice I am providing €2.2 billion to the Department of Justice and Equality for current expenditure. Last year, the...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Resources have also recently been made available for improved ICT and for the new policing authority. The Government is committed to supporting An Garda Síochána.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The human tragedies in Carrickmines and Omeath over the weekend are a stark reminder of the fragility of life. In the aftermath of such terrible events, the moral support of the community and the professional help of our An Garda Síochána, fire crews, medical staff and social workers, marks out definitively what we are as a society and as a people. In the same way as we need to...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: It is about creating jobs, so that people can look forward to a better life. It is about using the results of our hard-earned stability to improve our lives, better our communities and plan ahead with confidence. I said last year that the budget marked a turning point - the end of the era of austerity budgets. Conclusion At the election in 2011, this Government made two key promises. We...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am particularly pleased to be able to announce over €15 million in new funding to facilitate the full participation of children with disabilities in this scheme. We are also introducing a range of quality measures for early education, including audits, inspections and training, and restoring capitation levels in the sector. To support parents in low-paid employment, we are going...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I remind Deputy Mattie McGrath that the only actual cut in pensions was voted for by him under Fianna Fáil. To help the thousands of men and women who take care of their loved ones with dignity and compassion, I am restoring the value of the respite care grant to €1,700.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am also pleased to announce that we are increasing the fuel allowance by €2.50 per week to €22.50. This increase will benefit people dependant on long-term social welfare payments and those unable to provide for their own heating needs. A shared prosperity is one where every person, regardless of income, feels the benefit of our new recovery. To complement the changes in the...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is obviously not focused on what is happening in the real world. Health I am providing €13.2 billion for the delivery of health services next year. I am happy to say that this quantum of money restores the resourcing of our health services to its pre-crisis level.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: This year, free GP care for the under-sixes and over-70s was put in place, one of the most innovative things to happen in the health service in recent years. This represented the first step in the phased introduction of a universal GP service and is already benefitting 300,000 senior citizens and children. Linked to this was the introduction of cycles of care for those with type-2 diabetes...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Today we are announcing this Government’s fifth budget. I am pleased to report that, due to our strong recovery and stable public finances, it is the second budget in succession in which we are able to increase support for our public services. The days of spending cuts are behind us. In April, in the spring economic statement, I said that there may be up to €750 million...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Next year, notwithstanding the increases I am announcing today, the forecast deficit will be 1.2% of GDP, one of the lowest in Europe. Only a few years ago, some commentators questioned the sustainability of our debt. As the Minister for Finance, has stated, from a peak of over 120%, next year our debt to GDP ratio is forecast to be 93%, that is below the European average. We have made...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: We have created over 130,000 jobs since 2012. We have the highest level of economic growth in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD. Our economy is now larger than it was at the pre-crisis peak. By any standards, we have witnessed in the past four and a half years a remarkable turnaround, a tribute to the resilience of the Irish people. Fairness I want to deal...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Let us hear the facts. There are some economic illiterates-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Members should listen to the facts. Our adjustment has been a difficult one, but it has been a fair one. Those with the most have given the most. Income inequality after taxes and social transfers has reduced during the crisis in Ireland. The progressivity of our income tax system means we have been one of the most effective countries in the OECD at reducing inequality. To ignore this...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: -----the unnecessary and cruel €1 per hour cut to the minimum wage introduced by our predecessors-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: -----a cut of over 11%. In July of this year, the Low Pay Commission recommended that the minimum wage be increased further, by 50 cent to over €9 per hour. The commission recognised that a recovery based on low wages was no recovery at all. Today, I am pleased to confirm that the Government will implement the commission’s proposal. From 1 January 2016, the statutory minimum...