Results 14,521-14,540 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Rebates (26 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the tax rebate to which the Deputy is referring was recently approved and issued to the person’s nominated bank account. It was not possible for Revenue to issue the repayment prior to this time as there were other outstanding issues that required attention by the person.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Staff (26 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by Revenue that since the start of 2019, Revenue has appointed over 550 staff from open recruitment and interdepartmental competitions, the majority of these have been assigned to customs roles or to backfill positions from which existing Revenue staff have been assigned to customs duties. As serving staff take up their new Brexit-related roles, Revenue is back-filling the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic and Social Research Institute (26 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of ongoing engagement between my Department and external institutions, officials within my Department engaged in discussions with officials from the ESRI in relation to the publication of its Quarterly Economic Commentary on Thursday 20thJune. My officials have briefed me on the findings and recommendations that are set out by the ESRI in its report. In terms of the overall...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration (26 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that where a vehicle is moved from one Member State of the EU to another a registration certificate from the first Member State is a requirement when re-registering the vehicle. This requirement is set out in the VRT section on the Revenue website at General information on registration. I am also advised that since earlier this year some importers of used...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Collection (26 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the estimated cost to the consumer of Carbon Tax (including VAT) on each of the requested units and commodity types is provided in the table below. Carbon Tax (tonne of CO2) Coal 40kg Briquettes (12.5kg) Petrol (L) Diesel (L) Kerosene (L) Natural gas (Gross KwH) €5 €0.60 €0.13 €0.01 €0.02 €0.01 €0.01...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (26 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: At the outset, the Deputy should note that I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation. Neither I, nor the Central Bank of Ireland, can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products, as these matters are of a commercial nature, and are determined by insurance companies based on an assessment of the risks they are willing to accept....

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: That would be after the stabilisers have occurred. I want to address another point made by the Deputy and touched on by Deputy Pearse Doherty. The point of the summer economic statement is not to make budget day decisions or indicate their detail; it is only to provide resources available and overall statements on what we are likely to do from a policy point of view. That figure is...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As to which sectors of the economy and what parts of our country would be important when making these decisions, food exporting and small and medium-sized companies in some sectors will be particularly affected by Brexit. Have we decided the form of support that would be available to them? At this point, that decision has not been made but we are looking at options as to how we would respond.

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I take the Deputy's point. This is a live issue that we will return to in the debate that is under way on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Deputy will know that that is income support made available in return for certain forms of activity. It is more likely to be in that space that the debate he raises will play out. As to whether it would be part of a Brexit response, I...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: That is why I said in the SES that the response from the Government has to be a mixture of two things. The first is how we support people at a time of difficulty, and the other is how we put in place plans and activities to help the economy rebalance. Both have to be done at the same time. We are planning a further increase in public capital investment next year of €700 million. It...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Both of those are budget day decisions. I will not comment on what Deputy Michael McGrath or other political parties might be saying about this. The budgetary process will begin in September. Members of the House are commenting on what we have said today. I will be approaching budget 2020 in good faith and in a professional way with Deputy Michael McGrath and Deputy Cowen. It is not the...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I always admire that, unlike some other Deputies, Deputy Boyd Barrett will put forward costed ways in which funding can be raised. He and I strongly differ about their consequences. The financial transactions tax, FTT, is the classic example of one. The FTT is likely to be implemented in some European Union member states in coming years. I believe that will happen. From the point of view...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Regarding what the Deputy has described as an embargo, we are involved in decisions on health service recruitment and retention. That is part of my job as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. To reiterate what the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has said, we are saying that Departments need to stay within the budget available for the number of people they are to recruit. That is...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: When looking at what temporary, targeted supports will be needed, I will look at other measures that could be taken to fund them which may include, most notably, a level of borrowing. This is an issue with which we will deal when we move into the budgetary process itself. We have to get the mixture right. We have to ensure that the resources are in place to support public services. I then...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy made a proposal in this area, although I saw the merit in doing it. He suggested a process be put in place to form a view on sustainability. The IFAC outlined a very broad range of scenarios. It suggested that €3 billion to €6 billion of the approximately €10 billion we collect may be at risk. That is very broad guidance from which it then advises me to...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is precisely because of the analysis of our current expenditure projections offered by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council that we have increased them for the summer economic statement. The average rate of projected economic growth in the SPU was 2.5%. In the forecast for the medium-term projection, which underpins the two different scenarios, I have increased the rate of expenditure...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The change to which I referred is in respect of the year 2021 onwards; it does not take account of 2020 because the rate of expenditure growth for that year will depend on the decisions made on budget day. I am not in a position to indicate what those decisions will be right now because we have made no budgetary decisions. Predicting a gross rate of expenditure growth of 3.25% when the...

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: A custom and practice has built up with regard to the payment of the Christmas bonus. Another Deputy appeared to allege that because the Christmas bonus is not referenced in the summer economic statement, it is not going to be paid. The Christmas bonus payment has been included in most budgets, including all recent budgets. At this stage I do not have any plans to change that provision....

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: To deal with the first point, I disagree with the Deputy's analysis that the Christmas bonus would be subtracted from the €700 million, leaving €400 million. The payment of the Christmas bonus is in our base. Traditionally when we determine the allocation of new resources, which are outlined in the summer economic statement, we are referring to expenditure on top of the base.

Summer Economic Statement 2019: Statements (25 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: With regard to how we would fund new activity to support the economy in the event that there is a disorderly Brexit, as I have already indicated to Deputy Michael McGrath, were we to be in that situation I would recommend to the Government that we look at how to fund such support, which might include making decisions on borrowing or in respect of the rainy day fund.