Results 18,641-18,660 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I have noted what the Deputies have said. To answer Deputy Boyle's point, it is not just a question of portraying it in the context of being vibrant economic and social actors. It is really a function of social change in this country, with a higher participation rate by women in the workforce. It is more in line with continental trends than was the case in the past. People are pursuing...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: Those are the Deputy's words, not mine.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The review does not terminate the relief schemes. We are reviewing them this year and we will make decisions for the future. They continue to operate as heretofore until that review is completed. That is the way the system works. It would be wrong to suggest that we have a situation which is outside a regulatory framework. There is the Health (Nursing Homes) Act 1990. Where we have a private...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: It is not a question of decreasing the number of them. There may be some nursing homes in the private sector which could and should be criticised in terms of their location or for some other reason, but we should remember that people have lived in the public nursing home sector for years in facilities which predate any private nursing home the Deputy might mention. Some of them date from the...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: It will be concluded this year.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: It is being completed in preparation for the budget.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: Amendments Nos. 3 and 10 essentially propose indexation. It would appear that Deputy Burton's amendment aims to increase the tax bands, exemption limits and tax credits by the projected increase in the consumer price index for 2005 over 2003, that is, by an estimated4.75%. It seems that Deputy Paul McGrath's amendment proposes that certain tax credits should be index-linked to inflation...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: If I did, I plead guilty. If the former Minister, Niamh Breathnach, was the Minister, perhaps I took part in the decision. Even if I did not agree with the decision, it is fair to say that I was collectively responsible for it. While there may have been some political motive for the decision, it was not socially progressive in terms of what I have done. My decision is socially progressive. It...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: No, it would not guarantee that. If I accepted Deputy Burton's amendment, it would take 460,000 out of the tax bracket right across the board at all levels of income. One has a choice, and I will stand over my choices which I believe met with a fair degree of approval. I was very gratified with the level of approval they received. We may argue about them here today and people may vote for and...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: They have not eroded the gains. That is precisely the point. Clearly, when the model is changed and personal tax rates and tax on labour are reduced so that work and risk are promoted, other things change. There is nothing for nothing. The Deputy mentioned local authority charges. Many local authorities, some of which do not have a Fianna Fáil majority, are introducing pay by weight schemes....

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: To suggest that factoring it in wipes away the benefit is not winning the argument——

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I am making the point that if one takes the €12,000 example in 1995-96, which is now €20,000, the reduction in the average rate for PAYE and PRSI is down from 25.8% to 17.3%. To bring it down to brass tacks, it is additional disposable income. There is an additional €3,500 in that person's pocket today if he or she was earning €12,000 then and got an inflationary increase in wages in...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: Even in the budgets where there have been no increases in the bands, PAYE credit was increased and reduced the tax paid by PAYE workers. It is also the case that there were no major changes in the VAT rate in recent years.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I listened in silence to the Deputy.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I will do the best I can but I am a Member only 21 years. We have a zero rate on food and a reduced rate applies to many services. It is like everything, one cannot compare apples with oranges all the time, although sometimes we all do so to exaggerate the point. The Deputy will find nobody in Monaghan on that wage who has to pay that rate to the local authority. Even an authority with seven...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The indexation issue would be a strait-jacket for any Minister or Government and would take from their democratic responsibility to make choices for the good of the community, such as targeting those on the minimum wage in the last budget. It is about choices. I do not agree with the idea that the use of the CPI is almost like a formula across the board, following which one can do what one...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: Corporation tax is there for a purpose to bring about the inward investment that has transformed this country. That is one of the few mechanisms we had available to us. We do not have a great deal of natural resources, a large population or a large capital base although, thankfully, it is increasing. We did not have an entrepreneurial spirit or solid capital formations.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I will defend this model. The Green Party, of which the Deputy is a member, has a different model and I wish it the best of luck. The Deputy will argue in its favour. When he has 84 Members to back the party he can come into this House and implement it. In the meantime I am defending this model and the way it works. There may be criticisms of aspects of it but on any objective analysis — be...

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: I did not. I said it has its costs.

Finance Bill 2005: Report Stage (Resumed). (9 Mar 2005)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy should not misrepresent my constituents.