Results 21,661-21,680 of 35,959 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: In its review the committee will have a view on what the Government has suggested regarding the tax strategy papers. The 2016 tax strategy papers have still been redacted. There are three papers that have been only partially released. Given that the rest of them were released after the budget, how likely is it that there will be further redactions if the other papers are going to be...

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I have a series of questions but I will try to get through them as quickly as I can.

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: In its proposal, the Government again states that it will be published earlier, which is the start of April. That does not allow sufficient time for consideration by the new budgetary committee to allow it to examine and report on those issues and to have an input into the draft stability programme update. The OECD recommended that it be published a couple of months prior to the...

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: We will come back to that issue. My view is that I have not heard a valid reason the SPU cannot be brought forward. The spring or, as it is now called, the June statement will update the figures in the SPU so the issue in terms of accurate figures is that they will only be accurate at a point in time. The idea of this engagement process is that we are looking at a continuum of information...

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: A budgetary committee put on a statutory footing should also have the respect of Government and the Department and information should flow to it alongside the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council which has a specific role in respect of macroeconomic projections but which does not really go beyond that.

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I will go through some of my questions quickly. The-----

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Let me group some of these questions.

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: A suggestion being put to us is that the national economic dialogue would be taken in charge and led by the budgetary committee and other sectoral committees. I am sure the Minister would be invited to it as he is inviting us to the next one. I would appreciate the Minister's views on that suggestion. Another suggestion is that Parliament would lead the national economic dialogue instead...

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: There could be an economic dialogue led by the Parliament instead of the Executive-----

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I only questioned the Minister for Finance earlier.

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: That is fine.

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I do not want to go over any old ground if possible. In terms of the information that is required, the proposal from Government is that at the six-month point the expenditure data will be released to the Parliament, be discussed and so forth, but we have a problem with timing, in the same way as we do with other data. If the data is only released in the middle or at the end of July, it will...

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Okay.

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: One can use data and abuse data as much as one wants. Some of the challenges and the frustrations we have are in trying to delve below the headline figures. The officials in the Department will know this - we talk about the fiscal space and the net in gross fiscal space, and it reduces because of demographic pressures. I do not know how many times I have tabled questions seeking a...

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Who is verifying the health budget? The HSE always produces a plan based on the budget. That is existing practice. How will this be verified?

Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny: Engagement with Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (15 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Which is what always happened.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Infrastructure Ireland Funding (14 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: 72. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of plans to allocate capital funding for the projects outlined in the capital plan; and when each of these projects will commence. [15618/16]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance (14 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: 154. To ask the Minister for Finance if the Central Bank is examining how it presents insurance statistics and data related to the insurance sector and in particular to the motor insurance sector; if it will publish these statistics in a more contemporaneous way and in greater detail; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15389/16]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (14 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: 155. To ask the Minister for Finance when the working group examining the framework for insurance policy will report; if he will publish its report without delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15390/16]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Avoidance (14 Jun 2016)

Pearse Doherty: 164. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of annual prosecutions and corresponding tax, interest and penalties levied as a result of the general anti-avoidance rule since it was introduced in the Finance Act 2014, in tabular form; his views on the effectiveness of the Rule; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15558/16]