Results 48,921-48,940 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: No, it is not.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: The State has to house the family anyway if it is made homeless.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: The Government is being played by the banks again. We saw the Keane report in front of the finance committee for a long time and the Government has been in place for over two years, yet the relevant figure is that 20 of these transfers have been completed. We know that nearly one in five residential mortgages is either in arrears or has been restructured, mainly to an interest only...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: The key figure is 20. Two years on 20 of these transfers have taken place. There is huge potential in her portfolio for the Minister of State to do something about this. Based on what the Secretary General, Mr. John Moran, said and the legislation the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, is about to bring forward, we know that the number of repossessions is going to go...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: The figure is 20.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: In two years we have had 20 transfers. The Minister of State has said this is a difficult decision for families. It is not. These are families who are about to be chucked out on the street and the decision is whether they want to be chucked out on the street or stay in their house. It is a not a difficult decision for a family to make. The ones who are slowing down the process are the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (12 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his position regarding local authorities taking on houses with distressed mortgages, for example, a house worth €200k with a €400k mortgage which will not be paid, the council takes on a new mortgage with the same lender at the market value of €200k and rents the property back to the initial occupiers,...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: As regards what the Minister said concerning the potential, according to a conference in Wicklow about two weeks ago the figure for potential savings in public expenditure if we get all of this right is €1 billion. It is huge.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I want to start with a technical question. I know the bands have been moved around but, by and large, the tables seem to be pretty much the same. If my note is correct, the estimate for the tax yield is €50 million, but where is that sum coming from? I may be wrong, but a comparison of the tables does not seem to show too many differences. Perhaps the Minister could explain where...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: May I reply to that?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It is still not quite working. I accept that there are those who are buying too much wine and might have a drinking problem. According to the publicans and the alcohol sellers to whom I spoke, the anti-social drinking - the drinking that ends up in the accident and emergency department and the drinking that ends up spilling out onto the streets - is not from wine; it is from what the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Let us consider the rationale behind the €1 increase on a bottle of wine. Representatives of the industry are telling me it is not the case that the price at which they sell wine increases but that it is multiplied. They have explained the position to me, but I cannot quite remember exactly how the measure works. I believe the way it works is that the supplier must increase the cost...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It is good to hear about the February sales. However, the Minister should keep an eye on the fact that some of the retailers to whom I have spoken have said that the increase is due to the fact that they are still moving their old stock through. They have not yet had to pass on the increase. I understand the Minister's intention is that the price in the shop or restaurant should increase...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: The Minister stated the rationale was that more wine was sold in the off-licence trade than in the on-licence trade. So what? Why is the Minister more comfortable taxing the off-licence trade? If I understand correctly, he is saying his preference is to tax the off-licence trade rather than the on-licence trade.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It sounds as if the Minister's officials have been briefed by the Irish Cancer Society, ICS. The section has two parts - remove the ad valorem tax and cap it. My understanding is that this might be difficult in terms of complying with EU regulations, but would the Minister consider a maximum price? If the total sales price can be capped, the ad valorem price would fall and the specific...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It is not allowed.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: What lobbying can be done in the medium-term on the basis that this is not a normal product, but an addictive drug with significant health consequences? What conversation can be had in Europe to the effect that, while we agree with the principle for good market reasons, this is a highly unusual product?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: We are unable to table amendments that would involve a charge on Revenue, but the proposal made in the amendment came from the Irish Cancer Society. It is marginal and in the direction the Government is moving and the section provides an opportunity to accelerate the move. There are four elements to the price of tobacco - the specific tax, the ad valorem tax, VAT and the non-tax price....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2013: Committee Stage (6 Mar 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: The Minister can focus on this year if he wants but the legislation does not just focus on this year. The section I am opposing does not just talk about €250, it explicitly contains €3,000. I understand the Minister's argument-----