Results 6,901-6,920 of 36,188 for speaker:Pearse Doherty
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Mr. Armstrong is saying he and his colleagues have ignored even the projected inflation we all know is happening next year. Is that correct?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: The levy does not apply now; it will not apply until next September. Have the officials just ignored the fact prices are going up?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Okay. Was it factored in?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: So the impact of the levy will increase.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: So is it the case the impact of the levy is likely to increase the costs of a dwelling potentially beyond the upper limit of €1,100, given we are going to see construction inflation increase between September, when the Department took the snapshot, and the levy taking effect a year later?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Does Mr. Armstrong acknowledge inflation is happening in the construction sector? Does he acknowledge what the CIF has told us about further increases-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: -----with concrete and therefore the impact on house prices of this levy will be greater by the time it is introduced than what is in this report? I appreciate this is a snapshot in time but the real politics of this is that it is going to cost more.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Then rising energy costs are also-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Okay. The Department has excluded rising energy costs as well. Is that also excluded from September on?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Okay. It is the same idea, is it? The Department is just taking a snapshot in time.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Okay. We have concluded the all-in costs are in the region of the Department's upper limit of €1,100. However, those are based on September prices and given construction inflation they are likely to increase by the time this takes effect. Is that fair?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: I appreciate the clarity on that. This is based on a Cabinet decision made over a year ago and outside the officials' bailiwick. As officials in Departments, however, they must give advice to the Ministers on how to give effect to the decision to have an industry contribution. What type of options did they provide to the Ministers on an industry contribution? One of them is the levy...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Those were the four options contained in the paper.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Did the officials look at a levy on the profits of certain companies?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Everybody who has been before the committee previously has acknowledged that this will be passed on by the industry to those who are purchasing homes or building homes for themselves. Do the officials accept that?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: It is more likely that if one has a levy on profits, for example, the company can try to increase its profits but would Mr. Hennessy not acknowledge that it is far easier to pass on a levy on a product than it is to do so on profits?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Mr. Hennessy said that the aim here was to bring in €80 million but that is now gone. Is that gone for good or is it gone temporarily because of the kickback from the public in respect of this levy?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Given that there are only two products being levied, which are concrete blocks and the aerated blocks, and that lintels, precast stairs and floors and all the apartments that are being constructed using precast walls are all excluded, the rate did not come down by very much. If everything that had been included in the rate had been reduced to 5%, one would expect a revenue stream of...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Concrete Block Levy: Discussion (26 Oct 2022)
Pearse Doherty: Did the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage raise any concerns about how we are in the eye of a significant storm in this State in which housing is a crisis and which the President called a disaster? We have so many people in emergency accommodation, house prices are beyond control and inflation is being turbocharged. Did this Department raise concerns that this would push...