Results 8,461-8,480 of 27,071 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I was not talking about either of those two amendments. There is another amendment that deals directly with section 21 and the knowledge development box. I do not understand why it is not being taken now.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is exactly it. Could somebody clarify why it is not being taken when we are dealing with the relevant section?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Okay.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I just have to be careful. One never knows.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: May I speak briefly to the section?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This is a point that I have made to the Minister before and it is a serious one. We all want to expand knowledge, see innovation and research to improve our society, develop technology and advance enterprise and industry that is beneficial to society. That is a no-brainer and a noble objective. However, I put it to the Minister that the mechanisms by which we do that, including the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I move amendment No. 8: In page 11, after line 34, to insert the following: “Report on abolition and replacement of Universal Social Charge 11. The Minister shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, produce a report on abolishing the Universal Social Charge for all those earning less than €70,000 per year and replacing it with an emergency Covid-19 Solidarity...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am aware that over the four-year period and for the reasons set out by the Minister present, the tax liability of the people who availed of the PUP is probably not huge, as he has described it but I still think it is unfair. Frankly, it is meanspirited because the Minister has not taken into account that the people who were on PUP are the people largely who have economically suffered the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will comment first on the point about not looking back. The comparison Deputy Doherty makes is right. Let us consider Seamus Coffey's proposal relating to 80% or 100% tax relief on intangible assets. He said the companies should not have got 100% tax relief. He was referring to those big multinationals which benefited greatly from the reduction of 100% rather than 80%. The Minister...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Between 70% and 80% of working people cannot afford the average house price on their incomes. That is a damning indictment of the Government's failure to solve society's most basic need, namely, to provide an affordable roof over someone's head, particularly for those who would expect that the fact they work hard and earn a living would give them an income sufficient to buy a home. The vast...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The central point is that the problem we have is house prices are, in general, way beyond the affordability of the vast majority of working people. The fact that some people load themselves up with debt and take on mortgages that need an excessive proportion of their income to pay for accommodation does not mean that the system is good or working; it just means that people are desperate and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I broadly echo the points made by Deputy O'Doherty. One further thing is that it is not just about supply. That is a point I have made repeatedly over recent years. I remind the committee, because this is a very important point, that even when we had record levels of supply in this country, when we were delivering 70,000 to 90,000 houses a year, they were unaffordable. They landed the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I move amendment No. 3: In page 10, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: 8. The Minister shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the Help to Buy scheme which shall cover the following areas: (a) the impact on overall house prices of the scheme; (b) the impact on the profits in construction, banking,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: If I press the amendment, may I resubmit it on Report Stage?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will do that to save time.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Why is that changed?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Just to be strictly accurate, we had not concluded the discussion on the amendments to section 10.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Just so it is clear-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: -----that discussion is not concluded.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Hold on.