Results 681-700 of 1,182,509 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Denise Mitchell OR speaker:Patrick Costello OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Alan Dillon OR speaker:Carol Nolan OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:Joe Flaherty OR speaker:Jack Chambers OR speaker:Marc MacSharry OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Catherine Martin OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Martin Heydon OR speaker:Brendan Howlin OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Seán Sherlock OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Bernard Durkan OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Brendan Smith OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Claire Kerrane OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh)

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am happy enough to support this extra capital going towards the LDA, but I would rather that the LDA were something other than what it is. We have argued for some time it should be a fully fledged State construction company. That is the only way we will reach the level of output of social and affordable housing necessary to address the absolutely dire housing crisis we are facing. The...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Apologies for the vote. My first question refers to an endorsement IFAC provided for the economic projections which were released alongside budget 2025. In the letter of endorsement on the macroeconomic projections, IFAC stated that one of the three elements of the basis for its approach is a review of the Department's past forecasts to look for errors and systematic bias. Is it fair to...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Maybe IFAC could let us have that. How many times has it overestimated? It should be fairly easy to see in GNI*. It is important for us to see the patterns that are there. IFAC endorsed the macroeconomic projection we received on budget day. Apart from the element I outlined, it also looked at the comparisons on the benchmark projections and forecasts from other bodies. IFAC said that...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Okay. Do the witnesses think the inclusion of BEPS pillar 1 kicking in in 2026 is a credible expectation?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Why?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Does IFAC have any oversight of the multiplier that is used by the Department for current and capital expenditure?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I refer to the multiplier that is used which means that if we put X in, we get Y out.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Does IFAC have any impact on the multiplier that is used by the Department? It is difficult to tell. There are lots of moving parts.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It might be something worth looking into in terms of the transparency of future estimates. Does IFAC assess the level of public expenditure based on the share of the real economy, which is obviously GNI*? From my own estimates, when I compare either net expenditure or general Government expenditure, it shows we are spending less today than we were in 2019, the year before the current...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is also necessary, though, to look at inflation. We never signed up to the restrictive Fine Gael 5% spending rule. I believe we have been proven right in relation to inflation. Of the three examples that IFAC gave us in its submission, namely, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, the first two specifically take inflation into account and look at the increases in spending in real terms....

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is less today than it was in 2019 in terms of spending. It is a kind of contradiction in one sense. The concern is that all this highlights some of the risks associated with legislating for the spending rules.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: No, exactly. What we are trying to get at here, however, is to be fiscally responsible but still have enough flexibility to be able to adapt to and respond to external changes that occur. It is about the balance rather than about tying ourselves into something if we were to legislate for the rule.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank Dr. Casey for that. The EU fiscal rules state that the medium-term fiscal plans will commit member states to an agreed net expenditure path for a five-year period. The plan will subsequently be endorsed by the Council of the European Union. It is stated that once endorsed by the European Council, it is generally not possible to deviate from the agreed net expenditure path unless...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is trying to stop it.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Yes. I think this is crucially important because we are adding an additional national restriction to an economic decision of a democratically-elected government. I think this is extremely serious. IFAC's submission refers to it having an enforcement role in regard to the EU fiscal rules. Will the witnesses expand on this statement? I refer to what IFAC having an additional enforcement...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: What about the decision of the democratically elected Government? I really have concerns about this.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Five years is a long time in politics.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Health and Well-being for Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (23 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: I thank Mr. Dempsey for the presentation. It was very interesting and informative. I have three questions to ask. First, what proportion of public health clinics and hospitals meet national accessibility standards, including accessible buildings and environment and medical and health equipment? Second, as politicians we have had a lot of problems through the years with medical cards and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Health and Well-being for Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (23 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: With regard to people with disabilities, there seems to be a lot of picking and choosing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: Health and Well-being for Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (23 Oct 2024)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I thank everyone for coming in. In the opening statement, we heard the Department taking responsibility for ensuring good health and well-being for all individuals across their life course, including people with disabilities, very seriously and being acutely conscious of the obligations under the UNCRPD. We are in crisis. While out canvassing, I meet parents and we speak about the CDNT in...