Results 1,421-1,440 of 2,771 for speaker:Colm Brophy

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Application (7 Nov 2019)

Colm Brophy: 54. To ask the Minister for Finance if rules apply selectively under European Union VAT to a reduction on the rate of VAT to specific categories of house purchases, namely those bought by first-time buyers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45915/19]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Colm Brophy: It is just EY now, for some reason.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Departmental Transformation Programme: Department of Justice and Equality (6 Nov 2019)

Colm Brophy: There are a couple of things I would like to focus on. I am conscious upfront of our time requirement and the indications from the Chairman. First, I welcome the change and the fact that it really does set out to address a whole-of-Department willingness to change a structure, which I believe - and I do not say this to the Department or the staff therein in a disrespectful way - was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: There are a number of points that I wish to tackle in my questions to our witnesses today. First, to put my cards on the table and be very clear, I believe the principle under which the companies operate is wrong. I do not accept this made-up term of "intermediary". To me, the companies are publishers and should have the liabilities of publishers. As an industry, it has pulled off an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: Will Mr. Meade give me the figure that his company is currently spending on takedown activity?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: Will Mr. Meade give me a rough figure? Is it a billion?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: Is it half a billion? Does the company spend two billion?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: Did Mr. Meade not think this was worth finding out?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: I appreciate that but my time is limited. Mr. Meade said all that in his opening statement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: If Mr. Meade went to that much effort, I am just wondering why he does not know how much his company spends on its defence, which is that it takes the material down.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: I would appreciate that. I ask Facebook the same question. For the record, and I am open to correction, Facebook has a value of €40 billion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: Will Mr. Ó Broin confirm to me that Facebook is about €40 billion of a revenue business operation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: It was not important enough to find out how much Facebook spends on taking-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: To be clear, I do not have a problem with businesses making profit. Absolutely not. I believe businesses should make a profit. I am a business person. I do not ever advocate the idea of wholescale censorship or that we should live in a restrictive world. The Internet does good things. My problem with Internet companies is that the harm cannot just be discarded. Each of our witnesses...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: I ask our other guests to respond.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: I appreciate that Internet services providers are in a slightly different position but I would like to hear from Twitter and Facebook.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: I am sorry to interrupt and without meaning to be rude, I asked a very straightforward question. Does Twitter consider itself a publisher?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: Twitter would not want to be considered a publisher under any circumstances.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: That is what I do not understand because that is where Twitter blurs its own line every single time. The company makes editorial content judgments every time it makes one of these decisions in the same way that a newspaper or broadcast organisation makes editorial judgments when it transmits, yet it says it is not a publisher.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Colm Brophy: Those are editorial judgments.