Results 19,961-19,980 of 32,999 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 246 and 247 together. I am informed by Revenue that VRT is levied under the provisions of the Finance Act 1992, Part II, Chapter IV.  There are a number of exemptions and reliefs under this legislation including a zero rating on vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines, and, under certain circumstances, relief from VRT and VAT under the provisions of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Forms (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The legislation governing entitlement to the incapacitated child tax credit is contained in section 465 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as amended.  Incapacitated Child Tax Credit can be claimed by filling in the form ICC1. The wording of this form was updated by the Revenue Commissioners in January 2018, following an internal review. The precise nature of the issue which the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Coverage (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation.  Neither I nor the Central Bank of Ireland has the power to direct insurance companies on the pricing or provision of insurance products.  Indeed, the EU framework for insurance expressly prohibits Member States from adopting rules which require insurance companies to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Stamp Duty (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I assume the Deputy is referring to the measure introduced in Finance Act 2017 to allow a farmer to claim relief from stamp duty where he or she both sells and purchases land for the purposes of consolidating an existing farm holding.  This measure has not yet been commenced as it is still being considered by my Department in the context of EU State Aid requirements.  Subject to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: There is no agreement on the precise meaning of the term “vulture funds” and it has come to have pejorative connotations. I presume that the Deputy intends referring to private equity funds. As the Deputy may be aware, the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) (Amendment) Bill 2018 was introduced by Deputy Michael McGrath on 21 February 2018. The Bill...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Community Banking (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department, along with the Department of Rural and Community Development, is assigned the responsibility of fulfilling the Programme for a Partnership Government commitment to "thoroughly investigate the German Sparkassen model for the development of local public banks that operate within well-defined regions". Local public banking is where the state, or another public body, has...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Sector (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) undertook the first comprehensive study of the Personal Contract Plans (PCP) market in the State. As part of its study the CCPC issued detailed questionnaires to all the financial institutions that underwrite PCP finance in the State. This allowed the CCPC to compile, for the first time, primary...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Data (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Bank of Ireland release quarterly statistics on Residential Mortgages and Repossessions.  The most recent mortgage arrears statistics, published on 22 March 2018 are available at . The Central Bank provides data on arrears in the following categories: - in arrears up to 90 days, - in arrears 91 to 180 days, - in arrears 181 to 360 days, - in arrears 361 to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, in recent years, the European Commission has focused on Consumer Protection with regard to the provision of financial services. This began with the updating of the rules for the sale of financial instruments under Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and is also a focus of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD). The aim of European...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the current position regarding the delays in issuing Employment and Investment Incentive (EII) certificates to investors. Revenue has informed me that the increased complexity of the scheme, arising from changes in Finance Act 2015 and 2017, means that each application takes longer to process than in previous years.  The increased complexity also results in a large...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Availability (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by Revenue that they operate a scheme known as ‘country money’ in relation to employees in the construction sector. This arrangement is designed to reduce the administrative overhead for both employers and employees in the reimbursement of expenses. Section 114 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides that where an employee “is necessarily obliged to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Stamp Duty (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Pre-Budget 2018 estimates of potential Stamp Duty yield were based on a projection forward of receipts in the preceding years. This projection included factoring out a series of significant transactions in prior years that were deemed to be once off and not likely to reoccur. Estimates are therefore provided on a prudent basis but on the assumption of a continuation in the level of core...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: This information is not held by my Department but officials in the Department of Finance have received the following responses from the banks in relation to the Deputy's question: AIB: “In line with normal practice and for commercially sensitive reasons, AIB does not publicly disclose the details of contracts with individual external service providers. The bank manages its...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware non-performing loans (NPLs) remain at an elevated level across the European banking system and addressing this issue is one of the key priorities for the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). The reduction of NPLs is also being given high priority at EU level with the Commission announcing their "Action Plan to Tackle Non-Performing Loans in Europe" in July 2017. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Officials in the Department of Finance referred the Deputy’s question to PTSB and received the following response in this regard: “Permanent TSB has a requirement for legal/technical support and advice on an on-going basis across different parts of its business. It manages some of this requirement through its in-house capabilities, as well as engaging external legal and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have received the following response from AIB. "The Split Mortgage solution was built in response to the Keane report by all banks across the industry in 2012. It was delivered by the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Strategy (MARS) Programme with regular engagement between AIB and the CBI on the split mortgage design and delivery. The MARS programme engaged the direct support of both PwC and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Insurance (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been advised by the Central Bank that it does not publish figures on lifetime loans. These are niche products, usually provided to those aged 60 or older.  The Consumer Protection Code 2012 defines ‘lifetime mortgage’ as - “a loan secured on a borrower’s home where:  a) interest payments are rolled up on top of the capital throughout the term of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the relationship between the Minister for Finance and AIB is governed by a relationship framework agreement, which can be found on my Department's website. In accordance with the relationship framework, the Minister for Finance has no direct function in commercial decisions made by the bank and these decisions are the responsibility...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the concerns raised by the Deputy.  However as Minister for Finance, my role is limited to the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation.  What this means is that 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...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (17 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 270 together. The close company surcharge is charged on undistributed investment and estate income of companies. I am advised by Revenue that the available information is the amount of Corporation Tax liability associated with the close company surcharge 2014 to 2016 (the latest year available) and is as shown in the following table.  It is not...