Results 20,941-20,960 of 33,049 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: European Central Bank (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: At the Eurogroup meeting of Eurozone Finance Ministers on 22 January, the Eurogroup President initiated the procedure for the appointment of a new Vice-President of the European Central Bank with a call for candidacies. The term of the incumbent, Vítor Constâncio, ends on 31 May 2018.  Other board member appointment do not arise until 2019. With regard to the position of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance Costs (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82, 93 and 108 together. The Cost of Insurance Working Group’s Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017 and makes 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out in agreed timeframes, which are set out in an Action Plan.  In line with the commitment to publish quarterly update reports on the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Aid Investigations (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Notwithstanding the appeal that the Government has lodged in the Apple State Aid case, Ireland is required to comply with the binding articles of the Commission’s Final Decision and to recover the alleged aid from Apple. Irish officials are continuing this work to ensure that the State complies with all our recovery obligations as soon as possible.  The Commission has...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Aid Investigations (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 84 and 94 together. In late 2015, a complaint was submitted to the Competition Directorate of the European Commission (DG Comp) by a small number of property developers - including some former NAMA debtors - alleging that there may be State aid implications to NAMA's providing financing for the development of commercially viable residential...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Legal Proceedings (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: A plenary summons in the proceedings entitled "David Hall v Minister for Finance, Ireland and the Attorney General" dated 8 December 2017 was received by the Department of Finance on 11 December.  The Chief State Solicitor's Office entered an Appearance for the respondents on 14 December, and has instructed counsel.  The plaintiff's Statement of Claim has not yet been...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Budget Contribution (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the EU negotiating directives have provided for a clear structure and a united EU approach to Brexit negotiations. In practice, there have been six negotiation rounds between the EU and the UK, between June and November 2017. Sufficient progress was made at the European Council meeting held on 15 December 2017, allowing negotiations to proceed to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Budget Measures (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In line with my Budget 2018 announcement, a VAT compensation scheme for charities will be introduced in 2019 in respect of VAT expenses incurred in 2018. Charities will be entitled to a refund of a proportion of their VAT costs based on the level of non-public funding they receive, up to a total capped fund of €5m. Work on the introduction of this scheme has been commenced by...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pension Provisions (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 89 together. The levy on pension schemes was introduced in the wake of the financial crash and at a time when the economy was in very serious difficulties. Something had to be done to preserve and boost jobs and it is an unavoidable fact that difficult economic situations require hard and very often unpopular decisions. All sectors of the economy...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a long held principle of capital acquisitions tax (CAT) that transfers of property between spouses are exempt. All inheritances taken by a spouse from his or her spouse since January 1985 are exempt from tax and are not to be taken into account in computing tax. A similar exemption for gifts between spouses is also in place since January 1990. The spousal exemption from gift and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Rental Sector (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department continually monitors developments in both the residential and commercial property sectors. This includes tracking investment, transactions, prices and the profile of property ownership. In relation to the residential rental market, ownership is diverse, fragmented and remains dominated by small-scale landlords. According to the Residential Tenancies Board almost 70 per cent...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland Investigations (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Bank of Ireland regulates more than 10,000 firms providing financial services in Ireland and overseas. This regulation is undertaken through risk-based supervision, underpinned by a credible threat of enforcement with the objective of ensuring financial stability, consumer protection and market integrity. The types of firms regulated include Brokers/Retail...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Claims Agency Data (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The NTMA have informed me from 2010 to 2017 personal injury claim legal costs paid out on by the State Claims Agency (SCA) on behalf of state authorities and healthcare enterprises delegated to them was a little under €350 million for the Healthcare sector both Clinical and General and a little over €40 million outside of Healthcare for general claims only. ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Wealth Audit (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the Oxfam report, entitled “Reward Work, Not Wealth”, which was published on 22 January 2018. This report takes a global perspective in examining inequality. At the outset, I want to outline Ireland’s position regarding the distribution of wealth. In 2013, the Central Statistics Office conducted the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), which...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tracker Mortgage Examination (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Owing to the seriousness of the tracker mortgage examination and the unacceptable behaviour of the banks, I have taken a number of actions with the interests of consumers in mind.  Subsequent to the Central Bank's October progress update report on the tracker examination I mandated the Central Bank, under section 6A of the Central Bank Act 1942, to prepare a report on: - the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The ‘Review of Ireland's Corporation Tax Code’, undertaken by Mr Seamus Coffey, was published in September 2017. The Review states that the increase in Ireland’s corporation tax receipts can be expected to be sustainable up to 2020.  It also acknowledges that Ireland has reached the highest standards with regard to tax transparency and makes a number of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Personal Contract Plans (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 100 together. Personal Contract Plans (PCP) are a form of Hire Purchase and both the Central Bank and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) have certain functions and legal powers in relation to the provision of hire-purchase agreements. The CCPC is responsible under the Consumer Credit Act 1995, for the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Coverage (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101 and 107 together. As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation.  Neither I nor the Central Bank of Ireland can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products, as these matters are of a commercial nature, and are determined by insurance companies based on an assessment...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Consumer Protection (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 (“the 2015 Act”) was introduced in July 2015 to fill the consumer protection gap where loans are sold by the original lender to an unregulated firm. The legislation ensures that relevant borrowers whose loans are sold to unregulated third parties maintain the regulatory protections they had prior to the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Housing Provision (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In view of the housing supply challenge I introduced a Stamp Duty refund scheme in Finance Act 2017 which is intended to stimulate the provision of residential accommodation by providing for a partial refund of stamp duty paid on the acquisition of land where that land is used for the development of housing. The refund scheme has a number of conditions that are designed to ensure that only...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Aid Investigations (30 Jan 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 167 together. I am assuming the Deputy is referring to the alleged State Aid in the Apple Decision. Ireland has never accepted the Commission’s analysis in the Apple State aid Decision. However, we have always been clear that the Government is fully committed to ensuring that recovery of the alleged Apple State aid takes place without delay and...