Results 41-60 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I move amendment No. 97: In page 213, before section 76, to insert the following new section: 76.—(1) Schedule 24A to the Principal Act is amended— (a) in Part 1 by inserting the following before paragraph 1: "1A. The Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Republic of Albania) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 16 of 2011).", (b) in Part 1 by substituting the following for paragraph 2: "2. The...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: We had an exchange.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I did not have an opportunity to speak after Deputy Liz McManus, who made a rather valedictory speech on the previous section. I pay tribute to her service to the House-----

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: -----and to Irish politics. She made a particular contribution to the development of Labour Party health policy. One of the things I will be interested to observe in the future - Fine Gael has a similar policy - is how such a system can be successfully superimposed on the present structure and what sort of vested interests will be encountered along the way. While I am on the subject, I...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I will not go on too long. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle need not worry.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: Six months should be adequate to enable any instrument to be executed. By reference to experience when stamp duty was changed in the past, the six-month period may be considered generous. Six months is an adequate period in which to formalise conveyances. Deputy Ciarán Lynch talked about the affordable homes initiative and the rise in house prices. There were efforts in the late 1990s,...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: -----and nearly all of us were highly indignant at his interference in our sovereign affairs. This may have contributed to the loss of the first Nice referendum. However, I am afraid the Commissioner was right and the Minister and most of the rest of us were wrong. Deputy Hayes made an oblique reference to a former Deputy, and Minister, Mr. Michael McDowell, on the subject of stamp duty....

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: To return to the practical point, the problem is that if one makes a radical change to stamp duty - in this case, reducing the rate to 1%, or 2% above a high threshold - one can always say that it creates some inequities, looking back. Is that an argument that one can never change anything? Any reduction in tax will feel inequitable to those who paid more previously. It is a difficult...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: The imposition of taxation is always prospective. Likewise, reliefs and concessions should be prospective as special circumstances dictate. Otherwise, if a concession were to be granted, it would serve as a precedent every time stamp duty or any other event or transaction tax such as capital gains tax or capital acquisitions tax were to be changed. That is the reason why there would be...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: We do not have any information on that at the moment.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I move amendment No. 91: In page 201, before section 61, to insert the following new section: 61.—(1) The Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for section 106B: "106B.—(1) In this section 'housing authority' means— (a) a housing authority, within the meaning of the Housing Acts 1966 to 2009, in connection with any of its functions under those Acts, or (b) the...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I do not propose to accept this amendment. Section 53 of the Bill amends section 17 of the VAT Consolidation Act 2010 to extend the notification requirements on foreign-based mobile traders, namely persons not established in the State supplying goods for consideration in the State. Section 17 provides that where a premises provider allows a foreign-based mobile trader to supply goods for...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I gave some examples and referred to boat races, fairs and Christmas markets. We can all imagine events around the country that have many stalls. Such events occur fairly frequently in towns and parts of cities. I do not know what examples are required beyond those I have listed.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: The Revenue Commissioners. As the Deputy would expect, the Revenue Commissioners have a part to play in respect of most anti-tax-evasion measures. There are also traders entering the country through Northern Ireland.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: This section amends section 95 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act, which deals with transitional arrangements relating to deductibility for housing and burial plots sold by public bodies that have been subject to VAT from 1 July 2010. The amendment provides for a deductibility adjustment, which is to be no greater than the amount of VAT due on the sale, for housing and burial plots...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: It is a logical conclusion of that.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I endorse everything Deputy Burton said, especially on the value of the postal service. As she pointed out, the service is particularly valuable in rural areas, where on weekdays one can predict within an hour the time of arrival of a postman. Despite the discussions, debates and rationalisation attempts of the past 20 years, the service to the door continues in the majority of cases. Long...

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: If Fine Gael is in Government in 2026, perhaps it will approve a centenary stamp.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: It is normal for a Taoiseach on the centenary of his birth. No exception would or should be made for Mr. Haughey.

Finance Bill 2011: Committee Stage (26 Jan 2011)

Martin Mansergh: I needed to resign when I became a Minister of State. Like Deputy Burton, I welcome the clarification regarding cultural services. As we know, all of the principal cultural institutions and many of the buildings run by the Office of Public Works are free of entry charges. Some places have an entry charge where it acts as a rationing mechanism or there is a high level of foreign visits....