Results 1-10 of 10 for construction industry council speaker:Sean Barrett

Seanad: Finance Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Dec 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...economy is growing at 6%. I am wary of such measures. Another of the Minister's predecessors, Mr. Alan Dukes, stated in his evidence to the banking inquiry that a prosperous economy made for a prosperous construction sector, but that it was not necessarily the other way around. We might bear that in mind as a principle. Section 11 on vouchers from employers for rewarding staff is...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Oct 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome the statement by Professor John McHale of the National University of Ireland Galway, who is also chairman of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, in which he expressed caution about the budget. The very large increase in corporation tax revenues this year may not recur. The problem in the past was that non-recurring revenues mostly associated with the construction industry became...

Seanad: Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements (30 Sep 2015)

Sean Barrett: ...some service compared with the situation the public finances were in. I am glad they are operating within the European Union guidelines, as well as the guidelines of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, that we have lessons to learn from what happened before which are being learned and that we are not in the business of buying votes, which probably does not work in any case. As Members...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Annual Growth Survey 2015, Alert Mechanism Report 2015 and An Investment Plan for Europe: Discussion (21 Jan 2015)

Sean Barrett: I welcome our visitors. I have misgivings about what the Commission is up to. The fiscal council has shown that, in terms of gains being made in a small, open economy, there is no multiplier. On Senator Thomas Byrne's point, we had to cut capital spending because of the debt burden, partly due to the bank guarantee. Prior to that happening, however, we did not run too many Government...

Seanad: Tourism Industry: Statements (26 Nov 2014)

Sean Barrett: ...into people in this country that tourism becomes exceedingly bad value once it begins to revive. It is difficult to sell a product abroad if it is bad value. During the three years the tourism industry was falling apart, we spent €162 million promoting it in 2007, €179 million in 2008 and €150 million in 2009, but because of overcharging and it represented bad value...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Jul 2013)

Sean Barrett: ...for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, is having a meeting about it at 1.30 p.m. How did the cost double in such a short amount of time? Is it a try-on by the construction industry? How did it reach a situation where it looks like the estimate is double the original one? It will be stalled until we find out what went wrong. The only solution, of which...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2013 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (20 Mar 2013)

Sean Barrett: ...found itself and from which the Government, with the support of the House, has been trying to extricate it, there was a certain amount of groupthink involved. It was groupthink in favour of construction. On reading through the Bill, I became concerned by the fact that a certain level of groupthink continued to obtain. There are certain sections which we will discuss in detail on...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: .... Otherwise, one is charged too much and overall economic competitiveness is reduced. I have cited some examples - I will send them to the Minister via the internal mail - of companies in our construction industry that were hopelessly uncompetitive when bidding for tenders at Enniskillen Airport. According to the National Competitiveness Council, NCC, problems are posed by excessive...

Seanad: Action Plan for Jobs 2012: Statements, Questions and Answers (6 Mar 2012)

Sean Barrett: ...the support of the House for that because this is a problem which is deep-seated. The 300,000 plus unemployed to whom the Minister referred includes 23,000 gone from agriculture and 65,000 from industry, which peaked in 2007 at 299,000 and is down to 233,000. We all know that construction is down by 164,000. The retail trade is minus 42,000 and accommodation and food, due to the decline...

Seanad: Infrastructure and Capital Investment: Statements, Questions and Answers (22 Nov 2011)

Sean Barrett: ...in April to the spending Ministers, the Minister suggested they carry out such an evaluation quickly before they are captured. The capture of so much of the public capital programme by the construction industry and the capture of all of Government by the banking industry three years ago did not serve this country well. Capital is wealth set aside for the production of future wealth. It...