Results 17,401-17,420 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Brexit Issues (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government is under no illusions about the complexity of Brexit and is taking forward extensive and detailed Brexit preparedness and contingency planning across all Government Departments and Agencies.   Contingency planning is well advanced, with all issues identified and an array of measures are under active consideration in a worst case scenario. Within my own...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Broadband Plan Expenditure (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is the Sponsoring Agency for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) and it is the responsibility of that Department to undertake costings and comply with the Public Spending Code.   It would not be appropriate to comment or speculate on the estimated cost of the NBP, at this juncture in advance of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Relief Schemes (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) study carried out by the Office of Public Works resulted in the publication of Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMP’s) for each river basin district studied under the programme. The FRMP for the Shannon river basin identified a potentially viable solution for the flooding problem in Springfield (Clonlara) comprising the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Climate Change Adaptation Plans (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, my role is to ensure that the funds allocated to addressing climate change are well-managed, well-targeted and sustainable. My Department does not have specific climate change targets save for the objective  of improving its energy efficiency by 33% by 2020.     A sustained whole of Government...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Data (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 210 and 211 together. My understanding of the PQ's is that the Deputy is looking for the number of people who currently fall into each of the income bands that apply to the PSPR rates and how the number in bands will change as a result of the PSPR rate changes provided for under the Public Service Stability Agreement.  I have been supplied by the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 sets out a specific schedule of measures and dates in respect of deductions made under the FEMPI Acts including provisions in respect of the implementation of the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (PSSA). This scheduled further lessening of the PSPR impact on pensions will mean that from 1 January 2019 all pensions up to €39,000...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 24 of the Public service Pay and pensions Act, 2017 will raise the PSPR exemption threshold from €34,132 to €39,000 per annum. This change means that all pensions up to €39,000 per annum will be exempt from PSPR in 2019, while those higher-value pensions still affected will benefit from a gain of €1,080 per annum. This significant change in 2019...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Risk Management (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) study carried out by the Office of Public Works resulted in the publication of Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMP’s) for each river basin district studied under the programme. The FRMP for the Shannon river basin identified a potentially viable solution for the flooding problem in Springfield comprising the construction of a...

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to thank my officials, who have put considerable work into co-operating with Deputy Michael McGrath on this Bill. I am keen to emphasise one objective we have not touched on tonight. We have all talked about the different objectives that Deputies have relating to Irish banks. I have another objective that has not been mentioned this evening. I want the Irish taxpayers' money...

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will make two final points because the amendments are technical in nature and I hope we will be able to pass them quickly. I do not want my comments to be misinterpreted. What Deputy McGuinness just said about the tracker mortgage issue is correct; the money that was being returned to people was their money, full stop, end of story. The fact is that more than €500 million has been...

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am just responding to the questions the Deputies have put to me.

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Acting Chairman. As I have said, I have met the commitments I offered to Deputy Michael McGrath earlier in the year. Extending the regulatory reach of the Central Bank to the fundamental owners of the debt can make a difference. I remind the House that the credit servicing firms themselves have always been regulated here in Ireland.

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputies Kelleher, Fitzmaurice and McGuinness for the additional points they raised. I will deal with some of them, as well as the matters that Deputy Michael McGrath raised. Deputy Fitzmaurice raised a particular point on mortgage to rent and the participation of certain forms of homes within it. I was not aware of the issue he raised and I will follow up to see can I help with...

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2018: Order for Report Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now." I welcome the opportunity to speak to this Private Members' Bill. I gave a commitment to Deputy Michael McGrath that my Department and I would work with him on his proposed draft Bill to find a way in which the policy objectives of the Bill could be delivered. On Committee Stage, a significant amount of discussion took place on the Bill and since...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In accordance with Standing Order 163, I ask the House to agree that the Ceann Comhairle instruct the clerk of the Dáil to make a formal correction in the Bill. On page 52, line 42, the phrase "of any company other than—" and the following clauses (I) and (II) on top of page 53 should be aligned to paragraph level as the text is a continuation of paragraph (b) and not...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand that Revenue contacts PAYE taxpayers to remind them that there is a four-year time limit for claiming additional tax credits and reliefs. In late 2017, Revenue issued 135,188 letters to all PAYE taxpayers who had not claimed additional credits or reliefs from 2013 to 2017, reminding them that they may be entitled to make claims on or before 31 December 2017. An additional 291...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: On the e-brief issued by the Revenue Commissioners, it was not in regard to a new policy. Rather, Revenue were confirming existing policy in the area. I imagine they did so in recognition of the growth of the sector. On the requirement for a withholding tax, the Deputy will be aware that the purpose of the withholding tax is to facilitate tax compliance, which as we both know has to occur...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We have debated this matter on a number of occasions. My point remains that there is a difference between the tax relief that is available to professional bodies and tax reliefs that are available to a trade union. For this reason, I am not in a position to support the amendment.

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We dealt with this issue on Committee Stage. I will reiterate the two points I made at the time. In principle Deputy Pearse Doherty is against any measure that might add to the price of homes or that might drive the demand for them. However, when I seek to make a policy decision to alleviate the pressure on pricing, acknowledging the fact that the ESRI carried out a report in which it...

Finance Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The introduction of the exit tax regime is an important development in ensuring that our corporate tax policy continues to meet the evolving international standards in respect of corporation tax policy. I explained on Committee Stage that the reason I was making this change at 12.5% was to bring it into line with the main trading rate of corporate tax. I also made the point that, though...