Results 20,761-20,780 of 33,049 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Unclaimed Pensions (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 and 147 together. As the Deputy will appreciate, a number of State bodies have a role in relation to the broad area of pensions policy. As Minister for Finance, my role has been primarily in relation to the use of tax policy to incentivise pension savings. My colleague, Deputy Regina Doherty, as Minister for Employment Affairs and Social...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Unclaimed Pensions (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Firstly, I must point out that the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman is independent in the performance of his statutory functions.  I have no role in the day to day workings of his office. Under the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017, the function of the Ombudsman in relation to pension schemes is to investigate allegations of financial loss occasioned to a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Negative Equity Mortgages (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: From a financial perspective the overall Government approach to the issue of mortgage difficulty has been to provide supports and measures to assist borrowers experiencing most difficulty in meeting their mortgage payments. For example, the Government has reformed personal insolvency, introduced the Abhaile Scheme which provides support via the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS),...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Yield (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that where goods are imported from a non-EU country, VAT and Customs Duty are chargeable at the point of importation based on the value, origin and the classification of the good. The amount of VAT and Customs Duty collected from all goods coming from outside the EU is provided in the following table. These figures are provisional and may be...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bond Markets (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Schuldschein are a German instrument of loans issued against borrowers’ notes. As such they are not securities quoted on an exchange but are private placements, issued under German law and are usually held to maturity. The NTMA has advised me that it does not purchase Schuldschein but does issue Schuldschein on occasion. At present there is €602...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Contracts (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The public procurement process for all public sector bodies is facilitated through the national eProcurement platform eTenders which is managed by the Office of Government Procurement. The eTenders platform processes both national and the European level contract award notices required to be published in the Official Journal of the EU. The accuracy of the data is dependent on that entered on...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 262 on 16 January 2018.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not aware of the provenance of the figure referred to in the Deputy's question.  As the Deputy is aware, my Department is currently finalising a 10-year capital plan for the period 2018 to 2027.  The fundamental objective of the capital plan is to support the implementation of the objectives detailed in the forthcoming National Planning Framework...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has not been consulted by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in relation to pensions issues facing CIE and no request for funding from the Exchequer has been made.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The information sought in this request would require detailed data on the position of staff on each salary scale across the public service and details of the standard working hours per week for each individual grade. This data is not available to the Department.  Pay band data available to the Department indicates that some 94% of all public service staff are on salary points in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The rationale for the EU public procurement regime is to open up the public procurement market and to ensure the free movement of goods, services and works within the EU. This is reflected in primary EU Law where the EU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union promotes the fundamental principles of non-discrimination, free movement of goods and services and freedom of establishment....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Following the announcement of the Estimates for 2018 last October, my Department published "Exchequer Capital Envelopes 2018 - 2021, Outcomes of the Mid-Term Review of the Capital Plan - New Projects and Programmes".  This document which is available at the www.budgetgov.ie website sets out the amount of additional capital allocated to each Ministerial Vote Group for the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Civil Service Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Report of the Independent Panel on Strengthening Civil Service Accountability and Performance was published in June 2014 and its recommendations were considered by the then Minister and Government in the context of determining actions for a programme of civil service renewal. The Panel made 10 key recommendations all of which have been included in the Civil Service Renewal...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (8 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the qualifying provisions for disabled passengers are contained in Statutory Instrument No. 353 of 1994 (Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994.  Under Regulation 10, which provides for reliefs for disabled passengers, eligibility is restricted to the qualifying disabled passenger or a family member of such a disabled...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Claims Agency Data (8 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The State Claims Agency manages personal injury claims, including fatality claims, on behalf of 146 State Authorities as delegated to it by the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2000 and subsequent delegation orders. In fatal injuries cases, damages may be awarded under 3 headings: (1) loss of pecuniary benefits which could have been reasonably expected but for the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Primary Medical Certificates Provision (8 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have no function in relation to the issuing of primary medical certificates. A Senior Medical Officer for the relevant local Health Service Executive administrative area makes a professional clinical determination as to whether an applicant satisfies the medical criteria necessary to qualify for a primary medical certificate. I would advise any person who considers they may qualify...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Data (8 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been advised by the Central Bank that it does not collect information on mortgage arrears by each bank using the debt for equity solution. The Central Bank of Ireland publishes mortgage arrears statistics on a quarterly basis, see: , which provides a breakdown of restructures by a number of different categories. These categories represent the level of granularity that the CBI...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (8 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: There are no specific legislative or regulatory requirements relating to penny bank saving clubs (also commonly referred to as savings clubs). Any such group savings scheme with a credit union would be required to comply with the same regulatory requirements that apply to an individual member’s savings account with a credit union. I am informed by the Central Bank that it does...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (8 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised, that due to the nature of the technology underpinning bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it remains challenging to measure the number, and value of transactions that take place in any one country or jurisdiction. Cryptocurrencies possess capabilities that allow for individuals to transact anonymously if they so wish. This makes it difficult for regulators and authorities to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (8 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that 386 of the disclosures received under the Foreign Income and Assets Disclosure initiative concerned offshore matters relating to the United States of America and had a declared value, in terms of tax, interest and penalties, of some €10.5 million. 32 of those disclosures concerned bank accounts, with a declared liability of €740,079. Because of...