Results 16,021-16,040 of 27,251 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I think I have made all my points but I have one last question which is more generally on withholding tax on things other than property. Are there other areas in financial services generally where we should be imposing withholding tax or where similar situations could arise? We have discovered how some entities ended up paying no tax at all. Now, this has been identified in the area of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Or Cyprus.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (15 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 72. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the details of all companies involved in contracts for direct provision, including moneys paid to these companies each year over the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34854/16]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (15 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 94. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans for changing the system of direct provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34853/16]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (15 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 276. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he plans a referendum on the issue of equal access to schools. [28714/16]

Social Welfare Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am done.

Social Welfare Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That will do me. I apologise that I have not had a lot of time to listen to the discussion because I have been tied up at the finance committee. I will raise a number of issues which may or may not have been raised already. Some of them will certainly have been raised but two of them may not have been. On an issue that probably has been raised, I want to add my voice to the chorus of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Ordinary workers do not have that right.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This is an example of there being one law for the rich - in this case, big business - and another for ordinary workers. An ordinary person cannot claim that because he or she had large debts in one year that cost him or her a fortune, the amount of tax paid the following year should be reduced.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is exactly the point I am making. It is not acceptable that there is one law for workers and another for business. It is even less acceptable that it applies to bailed out banks, over policies of which we do not exercise any control. The Minister might have an argument if he exercised some control over their lending and investment policies and their treatment of distressed mortgage...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have made the main point but I add to it the wider question of the various deductions and allowances that a bank or any other corporate entity is allowed to avail of to write down its taxable income. It is a scandal that is waiting to be uncovered when we dig into the detail. We need a forensic analysis of every single one of these headings under which a bank or any other corporate entity...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: They are doing it under section 110.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I move amendment No. 70:In page 23, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:"14. The Minister for Finance is to order a study to be carried out on the operation of Relevant Contracts Tax, particularly in relation to rise in self-employment in the construction industry, and is to report to the Dáil within six months of the enactment of this Bill on the findings of the study."....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: A what industry?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes. I am glad to hear the Minister acknowledge that there is some problem. By the way, I have raised specifics. I cannot spend my days and weeks wandering around building sites conducting spot checks, so I am dependent on calls from construction workers. I have raised specific cases in the Dáil when I have been tipped off by construction workers about particular sites. For example,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have made most of my points. There is enough opinion even in this committee, never mind the various people who have raised it beyond this committee such as ICTU, unions and construction workers, to merit the review we are asking for, regardless of people's opinions. The Minister said that construction is reporting growth in all areas and has grown consistently for the past three years....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will consider what the Minister has said and reserve the right to bring the amendment back on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We oppose several sections of this Bill that amount to incentives for landlords. We are not happy with the thrust of the Government's policy on increasing the availability of affordable rental property under whatever guise, publicly or privately provided. Tax incentives for landlords and developers are not the right approach. It has not succeeded, and rather than continue to forgo taxes in...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I know the Minister thinks it is not true but I think it is.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

Richard Boyd Barrett: That is possible but the problem is we are not growing the economy. We have leprechaun growth. There is a student in Trinity College Dublin who is researching a PhD on corporate tax. He gave a presentation at the weekend which was quite stunning even for someone who has been as critical of the corporate tax regime as I have. I was pretty amazed. He showed a graph that stripped out growth...