Results 1,421-1,440 of 34,618 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Banking Sector: Statements (3 Mar 2021)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to discuss banking matters here this evening. As the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has touched on, this debate, like so many others, is now set against the backdrop of Covid-19. Covid-19 is the most significant shock the banking system has faced since the financial crash of over a decade ago. Nevertheless, the banking reforms introduced...

Insurance (Restriction on Differential Pricing and Profiling) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Feb 2021)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann resolves that the Insurance (Restriction on Differential Pricing and Profiling) Bill 2021 be deemed to be read a second time this day nine months, to allow for greater analysis of the complex issues concerned following the publication of the Central Bank’s...

Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020: Motion (3 Feb 2021)

Seán Fleming: I welcome this debate and thank the 20 Deputies who contributed to it, covering a large number of issues. In the first instance, everybody recognises that the wage subsidy schemes, the earlier one and the current one, have been a central pillar of the Government's response to the economic impact of Covid-19 by supporting viable firms and encouraging employment. To that end, it is an...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: By way of information, so the public watching will be aware of the current position, up to yesterday 15,000 businesses had registered for the scheme, covering 17,900 premises. A total of 2,400 new applications have been received in the past day or so. Claims totalling €111.6 million in respect of 15,300 premises have been received, and €110 million has already been processed...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and hopefully the debate will help clarify some of the issues raised by him which have caused legitimate confusion earlier on in the scheme. The CRSS is a targeted support for businesses significantly impacted by restrictions introduced by the Government under public health regulations to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The support is...

Investment Limited Partnerships (Amendment) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this Stage of the debate. I want to put a few points on the record. I agree with Deputy Doherty that this legislation has improved from its original iteration in the previous Dáil in that there are greater procedures in place to identify the beneficial owners. Other than that, I...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Senator. The recommendation differs from that put forward on Committee Stage in that it proposes to exempt the PUP from taxation for the period prior to 5 August, rather than maintaining that the payment is not currently taxable.The Senator has accepted that the payments have been taxable since August and is now proposing that payments from March, when they were introduced, until...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: As set out in the legislation to which I have referred, that is, the Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Act 2020, the period of applicability in the context of the payment is from 13 March onwards. That legislation was passed by this House on 29 July and then brought into effect on 5 August. I wish to confirm that those are the dates in question.I do not agree with the Senator's...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: We discussed the issue, the principle, the background and the information that led Senator Mullen to put this recommendation forward on previous Stages. We had quite a detailed discussion and the Senator provided a lot of information on the matter. Section 195 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for the exemption of certain earnings of writers, composers and artists and allows the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: We are not excluded from making an artistic contribution to the country.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: Regarding otherwise high-earning individuals, in addition to the €50,000 cap, those claiming the exemption that also avail of other specified reliefs, continue to be subject to the high earners' restriction, which limits the amount of tax relief that can be utilised in any one year to €80,000 before the restriction begins to apply. It is now a more limited scheme targeted at...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2020: Report and Final Stages (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: Recommendation No. 5 calls for a report on carbon pricing and carbon levies, outlining how the Government intends to apply the aforementioned principle between individuals and corporations, and the potential implications of such pricing and levies as regards costs associated with EU emission reduction commitments and future liabilities under investment protection schemes. The United Nations...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it today to give it an overall view of the Government's new insurance reform agenda. This marks the first time I will do so in my role both as Minister of State with special responsibility for financial services, credit unions and insurance and as a member of the new subgroup on insurance reform under the Cabinet committee on economic...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: The representatives gave that assurance to this committee publicly on behalf of the insurance companies they represent. They gave it directly to the Department of Finance more recently. In my meetings with insurance industry representatives over the past two months, I referred to the action plan for insurance, with its specific deadlines. The vast majority of the actions are to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: There are two halves to that question. The second half concerns information on profitability and costs. The Central Bank of Ireland is the regulator and has complete access to all that information on a company-by-company basis. Part of our work will involve greater liaison with the Central Bank from a governance point of view without interfering with its independence or regulatory role....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: I have met representatives of the Law Society of Ireland and the Bar Council of Ireland on that issue. Their view is that their members are brought in only if a client comes to them. They say their members are not out looking for business. That is a moot point but what we are doing, as part of a key element, is engaging in PIAB reform. Under the action plan, there is to be public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: That is fine. The first aspect concerns getting more players and competition into the market so that we will not be just relying on eight or ten insurance companies. That is exactly the reason the new office was established. It was created to promote competition and it held its first meeting yesterday. We saw that one of the key problems was exactly as the Deputy described it. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: The only way of absolutely removing discretion from the Judiciary, however, is by constitutional amendment, and that is an issue. Some people might agree with doing that, but others might cite the example the Deputy gave at the beginning of a catastrophic case in which it is estimated that a person might live for 50 years when an award is being settled, but it might turn out that he or she...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Insurance Issues: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (16 Dec 2020)

Seán Fleming: A constitutional amendment would, however, be required to provide for a legally binding set of awards in respect of the Judiciary.