Noonan, MichaelTuesday, 7 December 2010 |
Dáil Éireann Debate
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Budget Statement 2011
This is the budget of a puppet Government, which is doing what it has been told to do by the IMF, the EU Commission and the European Central Bank. It is doing so in order that the State can draw down...
Consequently, its slash and burn policies were counter-productive and it failed to include measures to grow the economy and to protect and create jobs. The Minister has fallen into the same trap toda...
On fiscal correction, the intentions of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, were sound but his policies were woefully misguided, so the more he did the worse it got. Then some months ago ...
Think of the fatal ignoring of the principle of moral hazard, so that although shareholders were wiped out and those who borrowed recklessly were punished, those who lent recklessly were not punished ...
The current budget deficit has shot up to 32% of GDP and the Government can no longer borrow. That is why it is out of the bond market because if it went to it, it could not borrow any longer. Irela...
In case anybody on the Front Benches or the backbenches thinks that this happened by accident, it did not; it is a direct result of the Minister’s banking policies, which we pointed out to him, when h...
I felt ashamed when I read the obsequious letters of the Minister for Finance when applying for assistance to Messrs. Juncker, Reynders, Rehn, and Trichet and separately to Mr. Strauss-Kahn of the IMF...
If it was not so serious, it would be funny. When one reads the letters, they sound like confessions beaten out of him, as if one were reading a thriller. It is as if they water-boarded the Minister...
Is this a hit me now with the child in my arms intervention?
The third and biggest mistake of the Government is to think that the purpose of all the pain and suffering is to restore Ireland to where it was in Bertie Ahern’s time. The dream of restoring a lost ...
The flipping of property in the fashionable pubs of Dublin after work on Friday will not happen again. The bubble cannot be reinflated and the Government policy designed to restore lost times cannot ...
We need a reformed political system and a talented, fit-for-purpose public service needs to be developed once more. We need new policies to support growth and jobs. A fatal flaw in this budget is th...
More importantly, there were no policy decisions taken to underpin the expenditure cuts.
The Taoiseach will be in here tomorrow and I want him to state clearly the policy decisions that will underpin the expenditure cuts registered in the tables at the back of the circulated document. I ...
He made no reference to a reduction in capital spending today but a quick look at the tables at the back of the document suggests the Government is taking approximately €1.8 billion out in capital spe...
Where will be the heavy hits? The Deputy will be walking home and will have no metro. He will be walking to Swords.
As two thirds of the adjustment to get to €6 billion derives from public expenditure cuts, there is an onus on the Government to explain the figures. As the Minister for Finance did not do so, the Ta...
The income tax adjustments are equally puzzling. The Minister stated he would cut the tax credit by 10%, which is fairly obvious, although the universal social charge is still a mystery. This charge...
The Department of Finance was of the view that the tax neutral position is now in excess of 9%, and if one wanted to collect extra income one would have to go beyond that. Curiously, the Minister men...
It is in the small print.
As Deputy Gogarty pointed out, the rate is detailed in the appendix. Is the intent to be revenue-neutral or is the intent to collect extra revenue from the universal social charge?
That is a very important policy pronouncement which the Minister should have made in his speech but did not. There are many issues not clear in this budget.
The Minister does not have a high regard for carers with his income tax provision, as the tax credit for carers has decreased from €900 to €810. On top of that, he has cut the carer’s allowance and d...
Carers have it tough and it is a vulnerable area that should have been protected. The Minister did not do so.
I am glad the Minister exempted the contributory and non-contributory old-age pensions from the social welfare cuts but he did not exempt widows.
Why would the Minister distinguish between old-age pensions and widows’ pensions? What kind of social compass suggests that widows can afford the cut and old-age pensioners cannot?
Why would he do this? Why would he cut blind persons’ and invalidity pensions, as well as carers’ pensions? The only exemption forced on him is the old-age pension. I do not understand why a Govern...
The Minister has cut jobseeker’s allowance by €8 and made no increase in the child dependant allowance in social welfare; it remains the same as last year. Child benefit is down by €10 per child for ...
Did some third child beat up the Minister coming home from school when he was a young fellow? What is the conspiracy against third children?
I have no vested interest as I am a fourth child.
Some of the changes in stamp duty are welcome as somebody has to act to get the property market going again. NAMA has destroyed the property market as it has taken everything out but put nothing back...
A tranche of assets should be sold, even if they must be sold cheaply, to get the process started again. The 1% universal levy on all property, with 2% on properties worth more than €1 million, is on...
Overall, the budget is incoherent, soft on the rich and hard on the poor. The times ahead will be hard. The Government has sought to tie the hands of its successors with a series of very specific com...
There is a flaw in Ireland’s approach to Europe, one which arises from the hubris of the Celtic tiger years. Since we joined the European Union the Department of Foreign Affairs has taken the lead ro...
Despite everything that has happened, I do not believe our country is ruined beyond repair. If it were not for the banks, our problems would be manageable. With the recently announced initiatives to...
At times of crisis we tend to turn to the heroes of the past for inspiration — to Collins and Griffith, de Valera and Lemass. I know Members on all sides of the House do that and therefore I shall fi...
Financial Resolutions 2011
Question put: “That Financial Resolutions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, be agreed to.”
Voted No
Written Answers - Debt Card Charges
Asked the minister: if his attention has been drawn to concerns by retailers regarding the proposed increased fee for the use of debit cards which are to be introduced from next year (details supplied); if this arrangem...
Written Answers - Fisheries Protection
Asked the minister: if he will make arrangements to allow the Coonagh licensed fishermen at Coonagh, Limerick to fish for small quantities of salmon; if he will make arrangements with the Shannon Regional Fisheries Boa...
| Last Updated: 31/03/2011 17:17:34 |
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