Results 14,621-14,640 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Health Services Expenditure (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As you are aware managing expenditure within the overall fiscal parameters has been a key factor in ensuring that our fiscal targets have been achieved. A key responsibility of each Minister and Department is delivering public services efficiently and effectively within their budgetary allocations. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is in regular contact with...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Data (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The information which has been requested by the Deputy in respect of my Department and the bodies under its aegis is set out below: Organisation Number of FOI Requests Granted in 2018  Number of FOI Requests Part Granted in 2018  Number of FOI Requests Refused in 2018 Department of Public Expenditure and Reform 60 68 67 Office of Public Works 29 36 39 Office of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Budgets (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Managing expenditure within the overall fiscal parameters has been a key factor in ensuring that our fiscal targets have been achieved. A key responsibility of each Minister and Department is delivering public services efficiently and effectively within their budgetary allocations. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is in regular contact with all other...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Development Plan (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level.  The responsibility for the management and delivery of the individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the NDP, rests with the individual sponsoring Department in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Spending Code (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Spending Code is the set of rules and procedures that are in place to support public bodies in achieving value for money as they implement all projects, including major projects, through the course of the project’s lifecycle. Each project works through a lifecycle from project identification, appraisal/business case, planning & design, procurement, implementation, to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Disability Act Employment Targets (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES) proposes to increase the existing disability employment target of 3% to 6% incrementally by 2024. I understand from my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality that the legislation increasing the employment target from  3% to 6% in the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill has not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget Targets (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As set out in the recent Stability Programme Update (SPU), the Irish economy is in an unusual position at the moment, with a slowdown in key export markets on the one hand and possible domestic overheating and capacity constraints on the other. In addition, Brexit is of course a significant risk and source of major uncertainty. While this is challenging, it is important to note that we are in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Broadband Plan Funding (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I should first say that responsibility for the National Broadband Plan rests with my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. However, I can say that the Government's decision to proceed with the National Broadband Plan (NBP) was taken on the basis that additional expenditure that may be required, beyond that already allocated within the National Development...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service Pay Commission was established to advise Government on public service remuneration policy. In the current phase, the second phase of the Commission's work, it was tasked by its Terms of Reference to undertake an examination of whether, and to what extent, there are difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff in key areas of the public service identified in its...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan Measures (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: To stay relevant within a changing world, public service organisations, including Government departments, must continue to evolve and change. An important goal of the current framework for Public Service reform - Our Public Service 2020 - which became operational during 2018, is to encourage innovation across the public service and to promote different service delivery options. This notably...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Policy (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Estimates process and the determination of expenditure ceilings now takes place as part of a whole-of-year budgetary cycle.  The Summer Economic Statement sets out the broad fiscal position and the National Economic Dialogue facilitates engagement between the Government and stakeholders. The pre-Estimates Departmental expenditure position is provided in the Mid-Year...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Summer Economic Statement (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In setting out expenditure projections and associated expenditure ceilings, it needs to be recognised that such projections and ceilings can play a significant role in creating expectations for future increases in expenditure. Consequently, the approach currently adopted has been informed by the experience in the period leading up to the fiscal and economic crisis. In the years preceding...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Policy (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I regularly monitor the latest economic developments. My Department continually analyses and prepares briefing on short and medium-term macroeconomic trends in European and international economy. This includes informing me of the latest forecasts from the international institutions for the global economy, and for our key trading partners. At European level, through both the ECOFIN and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Staff (20 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: Carbon Tax Collection (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that what constitutes consideration for a supply of goods or services is defined in EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply, and consists of everything which the supplier is entitled to receive in return for goods or services supplied including taxes, duties, levies and charges, excluding the VAT itself. Therefore, VAT is chargeable on the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Exemptions (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The legislation governing the administration of Local Property Tax (LPT) provides for a limited number of exemptions from LPT. There is no specific exemption for properties affected by Mica and there are no plans to introduce such an exemption. LPT operates on a self-assessment basis and it is a matter for the property owner in the first instance to file an LPT Return, if they have not...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Data (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Payment Accounts Directive, transposed in September 2016 by the European Union (Payment Accounts) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 482 of 2016), contains a right to open a payment account with basic features with a credit institution. The Central Bank is the designated competent authority for the purposes of the European Union (Payment Accounts) Regulations 2016. The most recent...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance Costs (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: At the outset, the Deputy should note that the legal framework governing insurance regulation is determined at EU level through the Solvency II Directive. This is transposed into Irish law by the European Union (Insurance and Reinsurance) Regulation 2015 (SI No. 485 of 2015). Solvency II provides the basis for how insurers can operate in the EU and amongst other things prohibits interference...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Data (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I can advise the Deputy that there are four tax reliefs that are scheduled to terminate within the next 12 months. Whether a relief or scheme is to be extended will be considered as part of the deliberative process in relation to Budget 2020. The four reliefs are a capital allowance scheme, known as the Living City Initiative, a farm restructuring scheme allowing relief from capital gains...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Knowledge Development Box (20 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the annual cost of the Knowledge Development Box (KDB) and the number of claimants that availed of the credit are published in Revenue’s paper on 2018 Corporation Tax payments and 2017 tax returns, which is available on the Revenue website at The table referencing the KDB is extracted below: Year Number of Claimants Cost €m 2016 12 9.4 ...