Results 1,541-1,560 of 1,799 for speaker:Luke Flanagan

Private Members' Business. School Guidance Counsellors: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2012)

Luke Flanagan: Deputy Lawlor has managed to get the people to applaud Fianna Fáil. Well done.

Tourism Industry (12 Jan 2012)

Luke Flanagan: Question 5: To ask the Minister for Transport; Tourism and Sport his plans to reverse the decline in tourism numbers visiting the west of Ireland, which are down by 37% in the years 2007 to 2010. [1638/12]

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (14 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: The Minister of State believes this charge will result in greater accountability in county councils. That is the opposite of what will happen, however, because rather than introduce the exemptions suggested by my colleagues he holds out the possibility that discretion will be allowed in county councils. From my experience, I expect that will mean councillors who do not point out their local...

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (14 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: That is what I am worried about.

Rural Areas: Motion (Resumed) (14 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: I agree with the motion, but I would also have to say that the current Government does not have a monopoly on destroying rural Ireland. I come from Castlerea in County Roscommon. As the years go by, bit by bit we become smaller and smaller. There is a road - they call it the Ballymoe Road - out of Castlerea on the way to Roscommon and there is a shop there called Mannion's. I always...

Rural Areas: Motion (Resumed) (14 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: We should preserve it and we should see it as the precious thing that it is. From the point of view of tourism,-----

Rural Areas: Motion (Resumed) (14 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: -----in years to come people will not come to this country to see empty towns. The Government will kill that as well unless it does something about it rapidly.

Local Government (Household Charge) Bill 2011 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: The whole concept of local taxation for local services and local people is a good idea, but the whole concept of local taxation to pay bondholders is a bad idea. Even if this money was going to the local authorities rather than to the bondholders - we know the Government is taking away the equivalent amount of money - there would be no accountability when the money arrived at local authority...

Social Welfare Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Only 420,000 to go.

European Summit: Motion (8 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: And the ECB.

European Summit: Motion (8 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: I propose to share time with Deputy Stephen Donnelly. For centuries the Irish people have strived for freedom. Some 90 years ago this week, an Irish delegation led by Arthur Griffith, Robert Barton and Michael Collins negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty in London. For the Twenty-six Counties at any rate, we had achieved freedom and the right to self-determination. To many in the British...

European Summit: Motion (8 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: How can the Government stand by and watch while the leaders of Germany and France decide our future down to the last detail? Flawed as the European institutions are, surely if they have any future, the "Merkozy" duo cannot be allowed to continue on as if they are the only two countries affected by this crisis. The European banking crisis has, in a sense, done us a favour. It has shown us...

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Is it not ten minutes?

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Fair enough. I hope no one minds if I disagree with the budget because if I have a problem with some of its provisions, that is what the Opposition is meant to do. While Fianna Fáil undoubtedly destroyed this country and has made life hell for people, another thing that destroyed the country was a lack of a decent Opposition in the last Dáil. The present Administration's dislike of an...

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: The Government has made choices, although it has reversed some of them because they did not sound too good. Nevertheless, it made those decisions and Members now know what it feels about certain matters. The Government had a choice between increases in VAT or in income tax. It is undeniable that people on low income spend a far greater proportion of their money on VAT-rated items than do...

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: That was very fair. The Government also had a choice in respect of rent allowance. Just as much money could have been saved by making the landlord take 100% of this cut. Instead, the Government has made the financially weak bear equal pain. Rents in rural Ireland are being kept artificially high because of rent allowance and this issue must be tackled. In another version of this...

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: I propose getting rid of it and replacing it in another way by placing the tax directly on the fuel. This would effect savings in two ways. First, it would lead to savings in the paper-pushing associated with operating the current scheme. In addition, it would mean that tourists would be able to contribute to the cost of our roads, as they also buy petrol when visiting. For anyone who...

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: I asked a question in the Dáil as to the reason this could not be done. I was given the lazy answer that if they got a job, they would have the money and one would never get it back from them. However, if the Government really wanted to do it, it would work out a way to do it. This budget was meant to be about reform but where is it? I spent six years on Roscommon County Council and while...

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: Approximately 450,000 people are unemployed and although the Minister, Deputy Burton, talks about forcing people off the dole, one does not need to do this. Perhaps one needs to do it to a certain extent, but I note one would force people into taking jobs ahead of other people who want them. Moreover, they probably would not do a good job. One does not need to force people off the dole....

Financial Resolution No. 13: General (Resumed) (7 Dec 2011)

Luke Flanagan: How does the reduction in grants to insulate houses help employment? It is the only remaining opportunity for the few people left in the building industry. The issue of mental health supposedly was the good news story of the budget, in that the promise of €35 million was met. I am delighted by this but one should consider the causes of mental illness and depression. One major cause is...