Results 21,581-21,600 of 33,049 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I would be eager to launch it internally if possible because a sizeable amount of work has gone into it. I hope this will happen before the end of the year. Maybe I can come before the committee in January to highlight some of the good work that is under way. It is understandable, particularly after the week we have had, that we all hear about the difficulties. I would welcome an...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Chair for recognising that I have to take questions to the Minister for Finance in the Chamber at 10.30 a.m. I agree with almost everything Deputy Burton has said. The first point she made related to the status of public service pensions that are currently being paid. As the Deputy will acknowledge, this is an immensely complicated environment.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The reason for this complexity is simple, but the consequences of it are hugely complicated and multilayered. Broadly, three different pension schemes are in operation for those who joined the public service up to 1995, those who joined between 1995 and the end of 2012 and those who have joined since the start of 2013. The number of people retiring from the public service hit a particular...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: While I have explained what will happen by the end of 2020, of course the kind of amelioration a pensioner will get will depend on when he or she retired. That is where the complication kicks in. Broadly, by the end of 2020, anybody who has a pension of between €50,000 and €53,000 will have the public service pension reduction eliminated. By the time we get to next year,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Is the Deputy asking how many of them there are?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: There are approximately 15,000 such people. They do pay the USC.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary) (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No, I do not have any plans to change the way in which we structure pension payments beyond the changes we have already made. "No" is the short answer to that question. To address the two other points which the Deputy put to me, in respect of mobility I made the point earlier that I think it is improving. It is not that I think that. It is improving. There must be a trade-off however....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax Regime (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland's tax rate has not been discussed at recent ECOFIN meetings, and will not be discussed at upcoming meetings.  Corporation tax rates are a matter of national sovereignty and therefore entirely up to each Member State to decide the appropriate level of its own rate.  Ireland has a stable and competitive corporation tax system, which is internationally recognised as one of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, now the Department of Community and Rural Development, are tasked with fulfilling the Programme for Government Commitment to "thoroughly investigate the German Sparkassen model for the development of local public banks that operate within well-defined regions". Local public banking is where a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: US Tax Reform (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The international aspects of the US tax code are of course very relevant to Ireland and to any US business with operations here and those many Irish businesses that trade with the US.   The full implications of US tax reform for Ireland, and the rest of the world, will depend on the exact nature of any changes which are ultimately agreed by both Houses of Congress and President...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance Costs (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Following the publication of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance in January 2017, the Cost of Insurance Working Group, chaired by minister of State Michael D'Arcy, T.D., commenced its examination of the cost of business insurance, in particular employer liability (EL) and public liability (PL). This work is being done in parallel with the implementation of the motor report. As part...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Staff Data (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As outlined in my response to Dáil Question No. 199 of 20 September 2017, the NAMA voluntary redundancy scheme, which includes a retention element, was established to help safeguard NAMA’s performance, aid the Agency in retaining its operational capabilities through the retention of key staff during the course of its disposal strategy, and allow NAMA to fulfil its objective...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Administration (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department will consider issues relating to the implementation of the outstanding recommendations in the 2015 Thornhill Review of LPT in due course in line with the 2019 timeline. The position of the Government will be made clear so that households will know well advance what its plans are for LPT. I consider it very important that the principle that formed a central part of the terms of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax Regime (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 23 together. Under the Irish corporate tax regime, losses incurred in the course of a business are allowed to be taken into account in calculating the appropriate amount of tax due by companies.  Loss relief recognises the fact that business cycles run over a longer period than just a single year and that it would be inequitable to tax profits...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Universal Social Charge Application (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Universal Social Charge (USC) was introduced in Budget 2011 to replace the Income Levy and Health Levy.  It was a necessary measure to widen the tax base, remove poverty traps and maintain revenue to reduce the budget deficit.  It is a more sustainable charge than those it replaced and is applied at a low rate on a wide base. However, the base for USC does not include payments...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Legal Proceedings (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government profoundly disagrees with the European Commission’s analysis in the Apple State Aid case. An appeal is therefore being brought before the European Courts. Such an appeal takes the form of an application to the General Court of the European Union (GCEU), asking it to annul the Commission’s Final Decision. The Attorney General prepared the legal grounds in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Data (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Recent economic indicators have generally been positive, indicating that the recovery is continuing in a sustainable manner.   Real GDP grew by 5.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year on an annual basis. This follows annual growth of 5.2 per cent in the first quarter. As part of Budget 2018, my Department is forecasting real GDP growth of 4.3 per cent for this year and 3.5 per...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland Funding (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The strategic mission of the SBCI is to deliver effective financial supports to Irish SMEs that address failures in the Irish credit market, while also encouraging competition and innovation. The SBCI achieves this aim through the provision of low cost liquidity and risk sharing activities. The SBCI began lending in March 2015. To the end of June 2017, €855 million of SBCI funding...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance Costs (30 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 36 together. The Deputy should note at the outset that in my role as Minister for Finance I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. Neither I nor the Central Bank can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products, as these matters are of a commercial nature, and are determined by...