Results 341-360 of 1,760 for speaker:Aideen Hayden

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: I support the comments made by Senator Healy Eames when she identified some of the measures taken by the previous Government with regard to carers in a previous budgets. The previous Government made cuts in the budget with respect to carers.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: According to budget 2013, the Government will pay ¤775 million on care in the State. I made the point on the Order of Business that, later, we will examine the legislation on property tax in this country. The property tax will raise ¤200 million in half a year and ¤500 million in a full year. It will be levied on every home in the country and will raise less money than the Government...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: It is very easy for Members to say that Members on this side do not care about the situation. Of course we do.

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: I can cite my circumstances and the circumstances of other Members on this side of the House. I am sure the Minister has her personal story. The commitment given by the Minister to review the respite care situation is important. I have had representations made by constituents and they did not focus on the loss of ¤324 but on the lack of respite care available. The Minister has agreed to...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: If it is the case that carers are being forced to use-----

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: The point I am making is that I have every confidence in the Minister for Social Protection. If it is the case that the grant must be used to pay for basic necessities, there is no better person in this room than the Minister to ensure a decent review that will result in affected people being looked after.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: I welcome the Minister. One of the matters with which I wish to deal is whether this is a local property tax or just a property tax. To provide some background and as most Senators are aware, there were property taxes in this country in the 1970s. From the 1960s onward, however, there was a trend towards sucking all responsibility at local level into what over the years has become...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: Since when is it "we"?

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Second Stage (19 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: Since when is it "we"?

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: As one of those who made that accusation against Fianna Fáil yesterday in regard to the carers, I would like them to tell me how many of them protested with the carers when, in the Fianna Fáil budget of 2010, they cut the carer's grant by ¤16.50. I will leave it at that, Senator O'Brien.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: Incidentally, I do not agree with the Senator that he has not called into question the motivation of members of the Labour Party.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: If anything has been absolutely clear, it has been the consistent accusations from Fianna Fáil about the motivations and bona fides of members of the Labour Party.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: I will leave it at that. I am very much aware this is the last day of the sitting of this House for 2012 and there are a number of matters I wanted to bring to the attention of the House with regard to positive measures the House has engaged in over the past 12 months. I particularly sought measures that had achieved, in the main, all-party support. First, I want to mention the Electoral...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: I look forward to the year ahead. While there are challenges facing this country and the Government, I believe this country goes into the Presidency of the European Union with a clear agenda, which is to deal with the bank debt and deal with unemployment. The Government has made its position clear. As the Leader of the Labour Party, the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore said, "Tús maith,...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: On behalf of the Labour Seanad group, I would like to wish all of our colleagues, the members of the Seanad staff in particular, a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year. I look forward to more robust engagements with the Opposition in the new year.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: I will be brief. First, in terms of legalities, it cannot be called a family home tax because it encompasses property that is not the family home. For the sake of argument, it encompasses rental properties and a number of other forms of property. Second, yesterday I posed a question as to whether this was genuinely a local property tax, but following a conversation with the Minister's...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: On Second Stage I raised the plight of people in the private rented sector. A significant number of people in Ireland face serious arrears and negative equity on buy-to-let mortgages. There are comprehensive statistics on this issue which show that the vast majority of landlords own one or two properties. Many of them were advised by their banking institutions to purchase their properties...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: Many of the people who purchased properties during the Celtic tiger years are now experiencing difficulties.

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: On Second Stage I raised the plight of people in the private rented sector. A significant number of people in Ireland face serious arrears and negative equity on buy-to-let mortgages. There are comprehensive statistics on this issue which show that the vast majority of landlords own one or two properties. Many of them were advised by their banking institutions to purchase their properties...

Seanad: Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (20 Dec 2012)

Aideen Hayden: Many of the people who purchased properties during the Celtic tiger years are now experiencing difficulties. Yesterday I mentioned the significant potential undermining effects for this sector and the overall housing market. I am at a bit of a loss as to why a full NPPR charge for the year would be levied on what is for many people a very distressed area of the market.