Results 15,421-15,440 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Irish insurance sector is diverse, comprising life, non-life and reinsurance firms operating across a range of product and geographical markets.  As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation of the sector.  This framework is mainly governed by the EU Solvency II Directive, which provides for three ways in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, there is an extensive array of regulatory protections for borrowers who are in arrears under the various statutory Codes of Conduct issued by the Central Bank, such as the Consumer Protection Code 2012 and the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears 2013 (CCMA). Furthermore under the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2018, which...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Review (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: A review of the local property tax was carried out by the Department of Finance in conjunction with the Departments of the Taoiseach, Housing, Planning and Local Government, Public Expenditure and Reform and the Revenue Commissioners. The terms of reference required that in conducting the review the review group was to have regard to the principle of achieving relative stability in the LPT...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Collection Forecasts (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I can advise the Deputy that in the year to-date income tax receipts of €4,973 million have been collected against a target of €5,144 million. This represents a small shortfall of just 3.3 per cent or €171 million. However, it should be noted that income tax is a broadly based tax-head, covering a range of sub-components. In the year to end-March there was some...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66, 68 and 79 together. I am very conscious of the difficulties being faced by certain small businesses in obtaining insurance and that a number of such businesses have had to close or are facing closure if they are unable to get cover.  I believe that the issue of the rising cost of insurance and in some cases its unavailability is linked to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 67 and 73 together. As outlined to the Deputy in previous PQ responses (including PQs 9764/19, 7359/19, 48428/18 and 40780/18), stakeholder consultation formed the foundation upon which the two primary reports of the Cost of Insurance Working Group and the accompanying recommendations were developed.  This consultation process involved a wide range of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Yield (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I presume the Deputy is referring to the Budget 2019 policy change to increase the VAT rate on tourism-related activities to 13.5 per cent from January 1st this year. The estimated increased  Exchequer yield arising from this Budget change is €466 million in 2019. In terms of composition, the VAT rate increase in tourist accommodation is expected...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Oireachtas Select Committee Recommendations (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the Budget Oversight Committee's ongoing work in the area of tax expenditures, which recently culminated in its publication of a paper on the issue on the Monday of last week, 8th April 2019. In advance of publishing this Report the Committee had met with representatives of my Department and Revenue (on January 22nd2019), as well as of the Parliamentary...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Compensation Fund (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Setanta Insurance ("Setanta") was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014.  As it was a Maltese incorporated company, the liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law. The Deputy will be aware that under the Insurance Act 1964, as amended, monies may only be paid out of the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF), with the approval of the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The increase in the betting duty rate from 1 per cent to 2 per cent, and the betting intermediary duty rate from 15% to 25%, came into effect on 1 January 2019. The last time that the betting duty rate was increased was in 1975 and at 1% betting duty was at an all time low.    Receipts from betting duty represented less than 1 per cent of all excise...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Personal Injuries Commission (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, a key recommendation of the Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) was the establishment of the Personal Injuries Commission (PIC) which was asked to examine amongst other things award levels in this country compared with elsewhere.  The PIC reported in September 2018 and concluded that soft tissue injuries are significantly higher here than in England and Wales...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Implementation (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Decisions in relation to the carbon tax take place as part of the annual budgetary process. The Energy and Environmental Taxes paper prepared annually for the Tax Strategy Group contains analysis on carbon tax policy options. Recent Tax Strategy Group papers are available to read on the Department of Finance website and the 2019 Environmental Tax paper will be published in the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Community Banking (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, my Department in conjunction with the Department of Rural and Community Development, issued a report on Local Public Banking in Ireland last year. The report concluded that there is not a compelling case for the State to establish a new local public banking system based on the German Sparkassen model in Ireland. However, a commitment was given in the report that...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Aid Investigations (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government profoundly disagrees with the Commission’s analysis in the Apple State aid case.  An appeal is therefore being brought before the European Courts. Such an appeal takes the form of an application to the General Court of the European Union, asking it to annul the Decision of the Commission. The Attorney General prepared the legal grounds in support of the annulment...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Eligibility (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand that the Deputy is proposing that income tax relief, similar to that which is provided for under Section 644 TCA 1997, would apply where landlords provide long-term leases of residential properties.  As the Deputy will be aware, decisions by me in relation to the Tax Acts are made in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill process. However,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Film Industry Tax Reliefs (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 89 together. The Deputy will be aware that a number of amendments were made to Section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as part of Finance Act 2018. I would like to advise the Deputy that I signed the regulations and commencement order that give effect to the 2018 changes on the 27th of March. One of the most significant changes I made...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Registration (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: VAT is governed by the EU VAT Directive (Council Directive 2006/112/EC), with which Irish VAT law must comply. Article 284 of the Directive permits Ireland to maintain two thresholds - €75,000 for goods and €37,500 for services. Different VAT registration thresholds for the supply of goods and services are a feature of the EU VAT Directive and Irish VAT legislation and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Treaties (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy will be aware that the OECD are carrying out further work on the reform of the international tax system to address the tax challenges arising from increasing digitalisation. There are two broad pillars to this work being discussed at the OECD. A first group of proposals advocate the need to reallocate a proportion of profits, and thus taxation rights,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Both my officials and I have discussed the recent joint ESRI and Department of Finance study of the potential macro-economic impacts of Brexit on the Irish economy. The research does not examine the implications of Brexit on an all-island basis. As the UK Government and other research institutes have assessed, Brexit will have a negative economic impact on the UK economy and the Northern...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Exemptions (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply.  In accordance with the EU VAT Directive legal services are liable to VAT at the standard rate, currently 23%. In general, the VAT Directive provides that all goods and services are liable to VAT at the standard rate unless they fall within categories of goods and services specified...