Results 13,141-13,160 of 27,073 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett
- Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Motion (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Why did the Government not tell us?
- Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Motion (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I was not referring to the Minister of State personally. I am very suspicious of his Government.
- Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Motion (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: It is a matter for the Government representative.
- Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Motion (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: How would the Business Committee know if the Government is going to bring something forward?
- Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Motion (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: The fact that we were going to have a vote this Thursday was not on the Order Paper.
- Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation: Motion (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: It was the Government which was pushing for a vote.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Following directly on from that, is that not an argument for addressing the current housing crisis to a far greater extent than we are through direct public housing provision because that does not distort the tax base, as well as the fact that it provides cheaper and affordable housing for people? Even from a fiscal sustainability point of view is it not preferable?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Mr. Coffey expressed concern about stamp duty but that would not come into play in public housing provision.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: My point is that they do not come into play in direct public housing provision.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: So that anxiety would be significantly limited if the big shortfall in affordable housing provision was done directly by the State.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: Except that public housing is self-financing.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I ask Mr. Coffey to consider this premise because I think it is very important. One of the biggest factors likely to contribute to overheating is the chronic under-provision of affordable housing. What happened previously is that we had an enormous property boom and the housing crisis was getting worse during that period, even before the crash. We were having record levels of output but it...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: That is exactly my point. Currently, prices are already nearly back to peak levels whereas incomes are certainly not in terms of purchasing power so there is a problem. In many cases, people cannot buy at these prices and if they are going to buy, they are going to have to take on a lot of debt. That is a fiscal risk. It is not just a housing problem. It is also a fiscal risk surely if...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I would just-----
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: There are a couple of other issues I wanted to raise. However, I would suggest that Mr. Coffey should look very closely at this issue from a fiscal point of view. Long before the housing crisis was publicly acknowledged, I warned Dr. John McHale that it was coming. He said he would look at it, but did not recognise it as a danger. A year later, everybody on this committee and the...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: No.
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I agree with Mr. Coffey. His point is absolutely right. Housing associations are involved in the rest of Europe. That is not what is happening in the Rebuilding Ireland plan. They have slightly changed the balance, essentially because of people protesting over the last year. However, the change is only very slight. Looking at the Rebuilding Ireland proposals, we see that the majority of...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I clearly think they are a risk. Am I out of time, Chair?
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I clearly think they are a risk. However, is it not part of the IFAC's job to identify those risks? The witnesses have identified some risks. They say Brexit is a risk and they note the over-reliance on MNCs. Is it not the logical follow-on that we must diversify away from those areas? To diversify, we must invest and do so strategically, I would have thought. Why emphasise the rainy...
- Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (6 Dec 2017)
Richard Boyd Barrett: I forgot to thank Mr. Coffey in my initial contribution. If I was being rapid with the questions, it was only because I was up against the clock.