Results 1,121-1,140 of 33,118 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Legislative Programme (5 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The instruments transposing EU law are referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and reform and An Taoiseach in two main circumstances. If a transposition is being effected by means of primary legislation the bill is referred to the relevant Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny and for Committee stage in the same way as any other bill. However, most...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Coverage (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: At the outset, it is important to note that neither the Minister for Finance nor the Central Bank of Ireland can intervene in the provision or pricing of insurance products, nor compel any insurer operating in the Irish market to cover specific individuals or organisations. This position is reinforced by the EU framework for insurance, specifically the Solvency II Directive, which prohibits...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 290 and 318 together. Section 481 TCA 1997 provides relief in the form of a corporation tax credit related to the cost of production of certain films. The scheme is intended to act as a stimulus to the creation of an indigenous film industry in the State, creating quality employment opportunities and supporting the expression of Irish culture. Currently, the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: As announced as part of Budget 2025, the section 481 film tax credit has been amended to provide for an uplift of 8% to the existing rate of 32% for small to medium sized productions with a maximum qualifying expenditure of €20 million. As you are aware, this uplift does not apply to all section 481 projects, however, it does apply to both animated and live action feature films...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to the requirements of the EU VAT Directive with which Irish VAT law is obliged to comply. In general, the Directive provides that all goods and services are liable to VAT at the standard rate unless they fall within the categories of goods and services listed in Annex III, in respect of which Member States may apply a lower rate. On this...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Reviews (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: 'Funds Sector 2030: A Framework for Open, Resilient & Developing Markets’ was a wide-ranging review of the funds and asset management sector. The report was published on 22 October 2024. The report made forty-two recommendations in total, including eight recommendations on the topic of retail investment. The Programme for Government has committed to progress and publish...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Universal Social Charge (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The origins of the 3% USC surcharge, that applies on non-PAYE income in excess of €100,000 per annum, go back to Budget 2011 when the USC was first introduced, where significant changes to PRSI took place in parallel with the introduction of the USC and the abolition of the Health and Income Levies. The 3% surcharge was introduced to ensure that the relative position as regards the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Legislative Measures (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Local Property Tax (LPT) was introduced in 2013 to provide a stable and sustainable source of funding for local authorities. For the valuation period 2022-2025, the tax is payable annually on the self-assessed market value of residential properties as at 1 November 2021. The Local Property Tax legislation was last amended by the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Act 2021. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Tax Debt Warehousing (TDW) scheme was introduced in May 2020 to provide vital liquidity support to businesses impacted by COVID-19 trading restrictions, thereby helping to support their long-term economic viability and survival. The scheme allowed businesses to temporarily ‘park’ eligible taxes on an interest-free basis, the vast majority of which related to VAT and payroll...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government recognises the difficulties that the increase in interest rates in recent years has caused for some mortgage borrowers. The formulation and implementation of monetary policy is an independent matter for the European Central Bank (ECB). As the Deputy is aware, the ECB has increased official interest rates over the course of 2022 and 2023 as it attempted to combat inflation....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is an important part of the robust consumer protection framework in place in Ireland to support consumers of financial products and services. I wish to inform the Deputy that the FSPO’s external legal expenditure for 2022 and 2023 is published in its Annual Financial Statements for those years under the headings Legal Fees and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Bank of Ireland is responsible for the supervision of all regulated financial service providers. While it does not regulate or authorise firms on a product specific basis, firms which are involved in the general activity of providing credit or other type of financial accommodation to consumers, and which may include equity release type financial products such as lifetime...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: In general any entity which is involved in the business of providing credit to consumers, including entities which provide ‘lifetime mortgages’ or ‘equity release’ type financial accommodation, falls within the supervisory remit of the Central Bank of Ireland. Such entities are required to comply with all relevant requirements of financial services legislation,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) applies to land zoned for residential development, which also has the necessary services in place for the development of housing. The aim of this tax is to increase the supply of land for building. It will be charged at 3% of the market value of the land every year. Local authorities published annual RZLT maps for 2025 on 31 January 2025 – these...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Avoidance (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 302 and 303 together. I am advised by Revenue that, as set out in the response to Parliamentary Questions No 66 and 67 of 19 February 2025, there are a number of factors that can impact on the duration of Revenue interventions, including the size and complexity of the case and whether there is agreement on the final liabilities, or if the case is subject to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government recognises the difficulties that the increase in interest rates in recent years has caused for some mortgage borrowers. From a regulatory perspective the Central Bank has put in place a range of measures in order to protect consumers. This framework seeks to ensure that regulated entities are transparent and fair in all their dealings with borrowers and that borrowers are...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: Data provided by the Central Bank, based on extracts from unaudited information reported by credit unions, outlines the following positions as at 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2024 respectively: 2023 - The amount outstanding in house lending was €550.1m with an average loan size of €110,980. 2024 - The amount outstanding in house lending was €784.3m with an average...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: There is limited consolidated data available on the credit union sector to provide an answer to this question. On a best efforts basis, the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) estimate that there are approximately 3,000 staff employed in credit unions at present. It is estimated by ILCU that this number is unchanged, or has increased very slightly from December 2023.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Credit Register (CCR) is established by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Credit Reporting Act 2013 (the Act). The Act provides a threshold of reporting to the CCR of €500. It also provides that Credit Information Providers (CIPs) must enquire on the CCR when considering a credit application for €2,000 or greater and may enquire when considering credit...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (4 Mar 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 308 and 309 together. Data provided by the Central Bank, based on extracts from unaudited information reported by credit unions, outlines the following positions as at 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2024 respectively: 2023 – The amount outstanding in business lending was €166.79m with an average loan size of €22,173. 2024 –...