Results 15,201-15,220 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Housing Issues (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department estimates that the medium-term demand for housing is around 35,000 units per annum.  Over the period 2008 - 2018, an average of less than 15,000 units were built each year, resulting in a considerable level of ‘pent-up’ demand.  In order to satisfy this pent-up demand, housing output will need to be higher than the level of annual underlying demand for a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Data (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 165 to 167, inclusive, together. The Department of Finance has developed a number of alternative statistical models to assist in its assessment of the medium term growth potential of Ireland’s economy and its cyclical position over the short term. These results, along with other economic indicators (including the modified current account, labour...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Home Renovation Incentive Scheme Data (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by Revenue that monthly statistics on the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) are published at www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/statis tics/tax-expenditures/hri/hri-quarterly.aspx. The number of HRI works, by year commenced, and the value of associated tax credits available under the Incentive is provided below. The tax credits can be availed of in the two (or...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland Staff (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Subsequent to the Deputy submitting his question, the Government agreed at the Government meeting on 1 May last to nominate Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf for appointment by the President as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland.  Mr. Makhlouf is the Treasury Secretary and Chief Executive of the New Zealand Treasury, and the New Zealand Government’s chief economic...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bank Branch Closures (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 170 and 171 together. As the Deputy will be aware, AIB is an independent company with listings on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. Decisions in regard to branches are the sole responsibility of the board and management of AIB which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The bank's independence is protected by a Relationship...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Funding (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The proposed InvestEU programme will replace the Investment Plan for Europe (Juncker Plan) under the multiannual financial framework (MFF). The programme will run from 2021-2027. When it comes into effect, it will streamline 14 financial instruments, currently under 8 different programmes, into one overarching instrument. Preliminary agreement on the InvestEU programme has been reached...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, AIB is an independent company with listings on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. The decisions around lending operations are the sole responsibility of the board and management of AIB which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The bank's independence is protected by a Relationship Framework which is a legally binding document that...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax on Tobacco Products (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that if tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes was increased using an annual tax escalator of 5% and the rate of inflation of 1.1% (March 2019), the most popular price category of cigarettes priced at €13 would increase by €0.62.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax on Tobacco Products (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that if tax on a 30g pack of roll-your-own tobacco was increased using an annual tax escalator of 10% and the rate of inflation of 1.1% (March 2019), a pack priced at €17 would increase by €1.55. The Deputy may be interested to note that Revenue’s Ready Reckoner, available at www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/statis...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Strategy Group (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy will be aware that the Tax Strategy Group (TSG) is in place since the early 1990s and chaired by the Department of Finance with membership comprising senior officials and political advisers from a number of Civil Service Departments and Offices. Papers on various options for tax policy changes are prepared annually by officials. The TSG is not a decision-making body and the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax on Tobacco Products (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that if tax on roll-your-own tobacco was increased using an annual tax escalator of 10%, it would take approximately four years for the tax rate on roll-your-own tobacco to reach equivalence with cigarettes. That is providing there was no further increase in Tobacco Products Tax on cigarettes during that period.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax on Tobacco Products (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the available information is in respect of the volumes of cigarettes on which Tobacco Products Tax is paid. The clearance data for cigarettes for the years 2003 to 2017 are published on the Revenue website at the following link: www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/excise/exci se-volumes-commodity.pdf. The provisional clearances for 2018 and the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Illicit Trade in Tobacco (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Overall responsibility for the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products rests with my colleague, the Minister for Health.  However, I am in a position to advise the Deputy on planned traceability and security feature systems intended to secure the supply chain of tobacco products, which is one of the key elements of the Protocol.  The EU Tobacco Products Directive...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Exemptions (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Nicotine replacement patches are subject to the 23% standard rate of VAT.  It is not legally possible to apply the zero rate of VAT to nicotine patches.  Under EU VAT law the zero rate of VAT can only be applied to those goods and services which applied at that rate on and since 1 January 1991.  As nicotine patches did not apply at a zero rate in January 1991 it...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: National Economic Dialogue (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The National Economic Dialogue will take place on 26-27 June 2019. The Dialogue will be an opportunity for stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds to consider how to optimise available resources in the interests of all citizens.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Appointments to State Boards (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: There are eight State Boards under the aegis of my Department. They are the Central Bank Commission, the Credit Union Restructuring Board, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, Home Building Finance Ireland, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the National Asset Management Agency, the National Treasury Management Agency and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland. For seven of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Social Welfare Benefits Payments (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Social welfare payments are exempt from USC and PRSI. With certain exceptions social welfare payments are subject to taxation. Section 126 (6A) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA), as amended by the Finance Act 2018, sets out certain of those social welfare payments which are exempted from income tax, as follow: "A payment which is - (a)described in column (1) of the Table to this...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Money Laundering (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the numbers of suspicious transactions reports (STRs) received from designated bodies, including financial institutions, under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Funding) Act 2010, in each of the years 2014 to 2018 and to the end of April this year, are set out in the following table. Year No. of STRs Received 2014 18,149 2015 21,358 2016...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Customs and Excise Staff (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In September 2018, the Public Appointments Service (PAS) ran a competition to establish panels from which Clerical Officers (CO) would be assigned to Customs Trade Facilitation posts in Revenue. The specific locations for assignments from this competition were Dublin, Rosslare and Cork.  Interviews for the positions, which attracted over 3,000 applications, began in October 2018....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Availability (8 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that losses which arise on the sale by a person of residential properties to a person who is not a member of the vendor’s family can be offset against gains made by that person in the year in which the sale took place or in a subsequent year.  Where a loss arises on the sale of a property by a person to a family member, relief for the...