Results 18,421-18,440 of 26,924 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is a big jump. I hope it gets a result.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have just one quick question.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It will take less time than that. In the context of the deployment of staff and resources in the Revenue Commissioners, I am interested in how much resources are deployed in chasing after what one might call the big corporate avoiders, the big fish as against those who have not paid their property tax. Rather than go through all of that now, could the Minister provide a breakdown of the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: How long do I have?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Chairman is giving me licence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I thank the Minister. I wish to follow up on his understanding of neutrality. He has stated this is a foreign policy matter, but it has been put to him that he is part of the Cabinet and that, therefore, there is collective responsibility. In so far as he must adjudicate on the civil safety and security aspects of any application made for the use of civilian airports, in doing so he must...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Taoiseach uses them quite a lot.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Given what the Minister has just said, I will move on to specific issues with regard to the 19 applications he turned down. I want to burrow into this issue a little. The Minister must have had some suspicions. He states we do not search aeroplanes, but for some reason he refused these 19 applications. What he seems to be saying is that generally the reason applications are refused is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: If 2.3 million US troops passed through Shannon Airport, representing the bulk of those who went to Iraq and Afghanistan, because it was the easiest route for them to take, as the Minister rightly pointed out, does it not stretch credibility to believe their weapons and munitions took a longer route around Irish airspace?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We must ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade about that matter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Do the diplomatic notes to which the Minister refers apply to civil flights?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Regarding military aircraft, it is given by the Americans to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: To obtain clarity, as it is all rather confusing, what are the assurances? We do not have diplomatic note assurances in respect of civil aircraft, or do we?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: If I understand the situation correctly, we receive diplomatic notes in respect of military aircraft-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: -----with assurances that they are not breaking the rules and that tell us what is or is not on an aircraft. Are we receiving the same assurances and diplomatic notes in respect of civil aircraft?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Then what assurances are we receiving that we are being told the truth?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We are relying, not on a sovereign state, but on a private company to give us accurate information on whether there would be munitions or loaded weapons aboard.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: A private company.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Use of Irish Airspace and Landing Facilities: (Resumed) Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (18 Feb 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This seems to be important. It is being asserted that we are receiving solemn assurances from a sovereign state, namely, the United States. We should not be, but we do. It is a high level assurance. Now we are referring to assurances from private companies. Would we accept such assurances in any other arena without performing checks to ensure compliance?