Results 401-420 of 2,017 for speaker:Anthony Lawlor

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I agree with Senator Kieran O'Donnell about upskilling people who are returning to work. Training programmes are designed for people who are unemployed, but there is now virtually full employment. As such, the regime needs to be flipped around and we need to start training people who are in work for a changing economy. I welcome the GAA's decision to fulfil the fixture between Kildare and...

Seanad: Summer Economic Statement: Statements (27 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and will try to be as brief as possible. We are at a crossroads in our economy. People have major expectations, in particular after the past number of years where we went through difficult times. We are now coming out of the difficulties and people can see ahead. They expect what they got during the boom times. It is crucially important that...

Seanad: Order of Business (26 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: Like other speakers, I wish the new Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, all the best. It is a difficult task to fulfil. I know he has come from a difficult area. I welcome the decision to take someone from outside this jurisdiction to head up An Garda Síochána. I wish to raise an issue relating to the sports capital programme. I am delighted that €40 million will be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Electronic Identification of Sheep: Discussion (19 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I thank the Chairman for allowing me to contribute. I followed the debate earlier and I welcome the Department officials and the representatives from Meat Industry Ireland. I will make a couple of points. I have to agree with Senator Paul Daly on the issue of the Department accepting readouts. The witnesses state it will save on cross-compliance and administration for farmers. Will the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Electronic Identification of Sheep: Discussion (19 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: If a farmer must provide traceability for an individual animal, why can consumers not be able to trace a product back to an individual animal?

Seanad: Small and Medium Enterprises: Statements (19 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I was a member of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in the previous Dáil. In 2011, we were staring over a precipice. Senator Ned O'Sullivan's contribution was like an election speech. I hope he did not mean it and that the things he promised do not happen. In 2011, small businesses were failing rapidly. The then Government changed the bankruptcy laws reducing...

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Statements (12 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: They were yours as well, I suppose.

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Statements (12 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: Is the Senator suggesting we tag tourists?

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Statements (12 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: It is my pleasure to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Griffin. I am sure he was thrilled when he was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for tourism and sport.

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Statements (12 Jun 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: Having been a former five-a-side player in the past, I am sure he has enjoyed the sport side of it. I want to focus on a couple of points. To start with employment, the worry for me is that while we have 235,000 employed in the tourism sector and we are constantly looking for growth there, it is a question of how we will recruit going forward. It is not about the specialist parts.It is...

Seanad: Community Banking System: Statements (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I will take 30 seconds because I have just one quick point to make.

Seanad: Community Banking System: Statements (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: We are here discussing the future of An Post and whether we can get community banking into the country. One idea in Ballymore Eustace, County Kildare, is that the post office offers the services of an online doctor. These kinds of ideas should be brought forward to the post offices. We already have community banks here that need to be looked at. They are the credit unions. There is a...

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I second the Fine Gael amendment. It is interesting to listen to the debate. I am always concerned when Fianna Fáil talks about property tax and what it might or might not do. This seems to be the start of a debate relating to a future election promise in which Fianna Fáil will remove property tax. We all know what it did in 1977 when local authorities were funded by rates from...

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I have no doubt but that this attempt to remove it will be before the electorate before the next election. As for Sinn Féin, it is talking about removing the property tax down here when someone in Newry has to pay two property taxes, one a local tax and the other a district tax, which it increases on a regular basis.

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: Sinn Féin down here shouts for the removal of the property tax -----

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: -----and then in Northern Ireland, call for it to be increased. I do not know what to make of that.

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: They are facts.

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: They are facts. The Senator cannot deal with facts. She should deal with the truth.

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: I supported the last Government which introduced the property tax. It was there to broaden the tax base which had been decimated by the previous Fianna Fáil Administration when everything was based around taxes associated with building houses, and for developers. That property tax was difficult to bring in and was introduced reluctantly. What are we to do for the future? Three parts...

Seanad: Local Property Tax: Motion (30 May 2018)

Anthony Lawlor: The thing that can be done for the future was what was done in the mid-19th century when Griffith's valuation was undertaken. That valuation applied until recently when there was a review of all commercial properties. Local authorities decided on what they would charge in the pound. In their own general meetings, they decided whether to raise or lower the rate. That is what should be...