Results 3,281-3,300 of 26,228 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Mr. Barnes will appreciate that it gave headroom to the Government. If those surplus corporation receipts had not come in, the headroom to do those once-off measures would not have been available at that time. Is that correct? It did not require borrowing.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Will Mr. Barnes explain that? The summer economic statement referred to a surplus of €1.2 billion, whereas the outturn shows a surplus of €1 billion. There is a difference of €200 million. I think €2.5 billion was the figure that was being mentioned in once-off measures and it ended up being €3.9 billion. The point I am making is that if we take the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: My figure is more of an accounting measure.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: In the limited time I have----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: No, I am making a more fundamental point. Regarding the surplus corporation tax receipts, if once-off measures are being put in place, they have to be paid for at some stage.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: No, I am making a more fundamental point. While policies have to be driven, at some stage they have to be paid for. Either they will be paid for by taxes or borrowings. It is one or the other. We cannot pull magic money out of the air. I am just saying that the surplus corporation tax receipts have provided a new dimension to our economic performance as a country. I direct the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am turning it on its head. Mr. Barnes spoke about policy.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: The IFAC is decoupling the windfall corporation tax receipts from policy decisions. I am probably a bit more pragmatic. I do not like borrowing. These receipts gave us the opportunity last year to take once-off measures that we had to take. We were able to that from cash flow on a once-off basis rather than having to borrow. That is my view.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: If we did not have the windfall corporation tax receipts last year and we spent €3.9 billion on once-off measures, would we still have had a surplus? How would we have done it without either new taxes or borrowing?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Would it not have given rise to a normal deficit if that had been done?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Apologies have been received from Deputy Matthews. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss Ireland's national aviation policy. We are joined by Mr. Michael O'Leary, group CEO of Ryanair, and Mr. Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair. They are both welcome. With regard to privilege, witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Will Mr. O'Leary reference back to his opening statement to link the presentation with the opening statement? That covers the opening statement itself, which is a document we have to publish.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: They will be very happy with you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: The witnesses set out their views. Many members want to contribute, so I ask that they keep strictly to ten minutes and deal with the issues raised by Mr. O'Leary and Mr. Wilson.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: What about Kerry?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Senator Gerry Horkan has ten minutes and I will be strict with time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: Deputy Lowry and Senator Buttimer have agreed to switch. Deputy Lowry is taking Senator Buttimer's place.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: We will write to the authority on the matter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: It is my own slot now. I wish to pick up a couple of points. We have had the DAA in before. Since a new CEO has come in, we expect to bring the authority before us early in the new year. We will write to it about the issue of it having sufficient staff at both Christmas and next Easter. I had a quick look at the Ryanair statistics and in 2019, 86% of its traffic was coming through...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Aviation Policy: Ryanair (30 Nov 2022)

Kieran O'Donnell: I want to go into the policy. I want to put the counterargument on the long-haul flights outside of Europe. For a layperson looking in, the tax applies on inter-EU flights. If Ryanair flies outside the EU, for example, to Morocco, it does not apply. The long-haul airlines say they will not be competitive on an international scale with other airlines worldwide if the environmental tax is...