Results 781-800 of 1,092,212 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Michael McNamara OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Maurice Quinlivan OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Bernard Durkan OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:James O'Connor) in 'Committee meetings'

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Cathal Berry: I welcome the opportunity to make some brief comments on this Finance Bill and budget 2025 in general. I will focus on primary care and the tax treatment of GPs working in it. It is fortuitous that the Ceann Comhairle is in the Chair and the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, is on the ministerial podium. I think they are familiar with the case I am about to raise. Deputy Shortall raised...

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Noel Grealish: My colleagues and I in the Regional Group have consistently supported the reduced rate of VAT for businesses in the food and hospitality sector because of the huge importance of this sector to the fabric of our communities. Tourism is a vital contributor to the economy of Ireland, particularly the west and Galway, but also to the survival of some communities in areas where there is little or...

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

John McGuinness: I continue from where the previous speaker left the argument. There is a huge case to be made for small businesses. They are under enormous pressure. That is not a whinge; it is a fact. We have failed to understand the challenges that face small cafés, restaurants, retailers, food outlets and clothing outlets. We do not seem to understand what it takes for them to make a profit in...

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Peadar Tóibín: I have never seen a Finance Bill in the history of the State that seeks to buy the votes of citizens so brazenly. It is incredible. Even the one-off payments are designed to happen just before and after the election. This is not the Government’s money it is using to buy votes, but the citizens’, which it is leveraging to put itself back into government. Fine Gael has been in...

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: Four years.

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Peadar Tóibín: It has been eight years. Fianna Fáil was in a confidence and supply arrangement with the then Government, which meant the latter only existed because of Fianna Fáil’s support. It is like this Government is trying to hypnotise the people of Ireland with shiny coins to make them forget what has happened over the past ten years. That is wrong. The Finance Bill should have...

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Canney: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. First, I will speak about a situation that is pertinent to what we are talking about and has arisen in my town, Tuam. The Pieta service has operated there for the past ten years in a purpose built unit, but due to a lack of funding it is now pulling out of its facility that was purpose built with the sweat and tears of local people. The...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: The Minister of State is very welcome. I congratulate him and his officials on all their great work in the past four and a half years. The national broadband plan has been a major success, certainly where I live in Sligo, Leitrim, south Donegal and north Roscommon. The plan has certainly accommodated many talented people moving to rural areas certainly since the arrival of Covid and since...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: I am not sure if this is the Minister of State's area but I think we need to do much more about solar energy. I know there are incentives and many more houses are changing. We are in a much better place, and I congratulate the Minister of State. I must travel down to the Black Valley to have a look. The national broadband plan has made an enormous difference in my constituency and in...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: Returning to the issue of solar, I am a TD. TDs are well paid. We get the same pay as principal officers in the public service. People, particularly if they have a young family will always be trying to find out where they can get that €9,000 or €10,000 for solar panels. It would be great if there was some zero-interest loan that people could get. Many people would like to...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: That is a question I was going to ask the Minister of State. Is the second tranche being rolled out next month?

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: What counties are included in the second tranche? Are Leitrim and Sligo included? Perhaps Sligo has already been covered.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: Is Cavan in the second tranche?

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: We love good news in here.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2024
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Frank Feighan: Could we introduce that for solar panels?

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: It is another year, another budget, and another finance Bill, and we have a continuity of unfairness. We have not had the levelling-out with the huge resources we have with regard to those who have and those who do not. This is the Government's final budget. We are talking about the same two-tier income tax package we have come to expect. The cost-of-living crisis is obviously not over...

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: The Deputy might try tabling an amendment to the Bill to address those interesting matters.

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

James Lawless: That is what parliamentary questions are for.

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: They would have to go through six months or more. He would be happy enough if he could do the test now but he said there was a possibility of a digicard with the New Zealand licence, and even if there was, there is the timeline anomaly with regard to it. However, there is an overall solution that needs to be implemented, such as a bilateral agreement. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his...

Finance Bill 2024: Second Stage (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. He is a man of great versatility. Deputy Boyd Barrett is next.