Results 1-20 of 7,141 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: As a newly elected Deputy, I want to thank each and every person who has helped me here today. We have been thrown into the frying pan. Parts of this budget are welcome, but other parts are not. I welcome the retention of the VAT rate of 9% for tourism, because any measure that can boost tourism is good. The Minister spoke about water and promised a tax rebate for people paying water...

Financial Resolution No. 2: Refunds of Appropriate Tax to First Time Buyers (14 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Like the other Deputies, I welcome the proposal, but I think that as a nation we need to look at the entire housing scenario. First of all, we have a dysfunctional banking system. So many people have come to me who might have a certain amount for a deposit but have gone to two or three banks and have been refused. One then looks at local credit unions. They were not the ones who took down...

Seanad Reform: Motion [Private Members] (16 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Everybody in the country knows that politics is in difficulty. There is a great deal of apathy among the public and regardless of whether one is a party member or otherwise, when one knocks on doors one encounters a feeling of frustration. Politics must be done in a new way. The first opportunity for that is in the Seanad. In the past ten or 15 years we have seen a large amount of EU...

Irish Water: Motion [Private Members] (21 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am not going to harp on about Irish Water. We know that its public relations set-up and everything else about it has been in trouble from its very concept. It is really a farce. As I listened to the debate all night, I heard everybody talking about water. We have got to realise that if we talk about water as a commodity, we are going down a dangerous road. The service of water is what...

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 10. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on relocation sites here; the way she proposes to resolve the debacle that is going on for 17 years regarding the 53 so-called special areas of conservation complexes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40149/14]

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Will the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht provide an accurate update on relocation in respect of turf cutting? The Minister knows that I make the assertion that no issue in respect of turf cutting and relocation has been resolved in 17 years. The Minister is not long in her new job and I wish her luck, but I do not want the same stuff as I have listened to down through the...

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It is a dismal record that after 17 years under various Governments, 48 people of the 9,000 cutting turf in these bogs have been accommodated by the Department. This is the Department's achievement. Governments love to look at parts of what Mr. Justice Quirke stated in his report. He stated new faces were needed, as was a new way of resolving matters. There are no new faces. I do not...

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I blame the National Parks and Wildlife Service which, for the past 17 years, has given bad information to Ministers and tried to terrorise the people of rural Ireland.

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I agree that talking can resolve issues, but if only 48 people have been accommodated over the past 17 years, where will we be after the next 17 years? The people who want to cut turf do not want the money and the people in the Department must get this into their heads. People have cut turf and will continue to do so if the people in the Department keeps burying their heads in the sand. I...

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: -----as efficiently as possible. Will the Minister address this situation-----

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: -----because it is taxpayers' money going down the drain?

Other Questions: Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Relocation Options (22 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Tell me where the SACs are.

Leaders' Questions (23 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: That would want to happen.

Order of Business (23 Oct 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: With the cuts affecting primary schools over the past few years, and in light of an election which meant the minor works grants were paid last year, will those grants, which are issued in November and December and which are the heartbeat of the primary schools right around the country, be included in the budget this year? If they are not, it will basically leave schools around the country silent.

Leaders' Questions (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It is a black hole.

Mortgage Arrears: Motion [Private Members] (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I welcome the motion and the debate. There is a major problem nationally of people having difficulties with mortgages and banks failing to address the situation. We see it right around the country even when people make an effort to go to the bank and resolve things. Even if there is a middle person, there is real pressure on the homeowner trying to resolve the issue, but the banks go in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Offices (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 437. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to close the district veterinary office in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41578/14]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Minor Works Scheme Expenditure (4 Nov 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 888. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will confirm that there is provision in the 2015 budget for minor works grants for primary schools, as such a provision existed in previous budgets; the way schools are expected to carry out necessary minor repairs without this funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41481/14]

Finance Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Nov 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Several weeks ago I spoke about the Budget Statement. In the past 24 hours problems with the Finance Bill for the farming community have been brought to my attention. The mothers and fathers of many young people in the farming community want them to take over the land, continue the tradition of farming and carry the baton to drive the agriculture industry forward as set down in Harvest...

Report of Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Motion (7 Nov 2014)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I concur with what other Members said about referendums, especially the Seanad referendum. I remember that when I walked out of the booth that day I was not sure whether I had put the tick in the right box. Something that should have been straightforward was very complicated. When one fills out the forms to run as an Independent candidate in an election, one is categorised as non-party....