Results 1-20 of 8,357 for speaker:Jack Chambers

Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill 2024: Second Stage (26 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." The Department of Finance's retail banking review, published in November 2022, concluded that despite a decline in its usage, cash remains an important element of the payments system and the broader economy and that it is essential that cash remains readily available to customers through ATMs and other means across the country. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (25 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The Standard Fund Threshold (SFT) is the maximum allowable pension fund on retirement for tax purposes which was introduced in Budget and Finance Act 2006 to prevent over-funding of pensions through tax-relieved arrangements. I am informed by Revenue that they are unable provide a costing for changes to the SFT. Information on the numbers and values of individual pension funds or on...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Regeneration Projects (25 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The Living City Initiative (LCI) is a modest, targeted measure which is aimed at very specific areas in urgent need of regeneration, it is provided for under sections 372AAA to 372AAD of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. It offers income or corporation tax relief for qualifying expenditure incurred in the refurbishment and conversion of qualifying residential and commercial buildings located...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Primary Medical Certificates (25 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The Deputy should note that my Department and I share concerns that the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme or DDS is no longer fit-for-purpose and believe it should be replaced with a needs-based, grant-led approach for necessary vehicle adaptations that could serve to improve the functional mobility of the individual. However, this is very much a matter for Government as...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Legislative Measures (25 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The Bill has not yet gone to Government to get agreement for drafting and is still under consideration. it is hoped to progress the Bill during the next Dáil term and to refer it for pre-legislative scrutiny in the coming weeks.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113 and 118 together. Council Directive 92/83/EEC (as amended) and Council Directive 92/84/EEC set out the EU rules for the harmonisation of excise duty structures and rates for alcohol and alcoholic beverages. These rules provide uniform definitions for excise product categories, lay down the tax base and structures applicable to the various alcohol...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The age exemption applies for any year of assessment where an individual is aged 65 years or over and his or her total income does not exceed €18,000 per annum. Where an individual is a married person or civil partner and is jointly assessed to tax, the age exemption will apply where either individual is aged 65 or over and where the couple’s total income does not exceed...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: General Practitioner Services (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: My Department, the Department of Health and Revenue have, for some time, been aware of issues arising from contractual arrangements within the General Practitioner (GP) community whereby some GPs treat income under their General Medical Services (GMS) contract as income of a GP practice in which they are a partner or an employee, rather than income of that individual GP. The core issue...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: I note the Deputy's query regarding the taxation of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). I am advised by Revenue that there is no separate taxation regime specifically for ETFs. Being collective investment funds, they generally come within the regimes set out in the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 for such funds. The domicile of the ETF will generally determine the applicable fund regime, specifically...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Redundancy Payments (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The matter of whether a payment made to an individual is a redundancy or termination payment, and a statutory or ex-gratia element of same, depends on the specific circumstances of each individual case and may sometimes give rise to tax implications. By way of background, the Redundancy Payment Act 1967 imposes a statutory obligation on employers to recompense employees dismissed for...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Freedom of Information (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: My department received 272 FOI requests over the course of 2022; of that number, 53 requests were refused. 270 FOI requests over the course of 2023; of that number, 54 requests were refused. 273 FOI requests have been received in 2024 to date, with 52 of those requests being refused as of 18 September 2024. It is worth noting that any case where records do not exist are deemed to be...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: I am advised by Revenue that it currently operates 27 detector dog teams, including one team working on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Individual kennels are installed in Revenue’s dog handlers’ private residence where the detector dogs reside when off-duty. When dog handlers are on periods of extended leave and during the period when new dog...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Funding (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The Recovery and Resilience Facility – or RRF – is a European Union instrument through which the European Commission raises funds on capital markets and makes them available to Member States to implement reforms and investments. It is the central element of the NextGenerationEU recovery package, which was introduced to enable a swift recovery from the health and economic crisis...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The origins of the 3% USC surcharge, that applies on non-PAYE income in excess of €100,000 per annum, go back to Budget 2011 when the USC was first introduced, where significant changes to PRSI took place in parallel with the introduction of the USC and the abolition of the Health and Income Levies. The 3% surcharge was introduced to ensure that the relative position as regards the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Priorities (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: Ireland’s equity markets are diverse encompassing both public and private equity market participants and a wider ecosystem which includes a large number of professional services firms. It is clear that public equity markets in Europe, including Ireland, have been facing significant challenges over the last decade due to a variety of overlapping reasons. This includes competition from...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Priorities (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is a project which aims to deepen and further integrate Europe’s capital markets, support growth and enhance the resilience of the financial system. For Ireland, CMU has the potential to widen the sources of available funding for our companies as well as provide opportunities for our export-oriented financial services sector to contribute to a more...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: I have been informed by Revenue that the Irish Passenger Information Unit (IPIU), which is a unit of the Department of Justice, is the competent authority in the State for the collection and processing of passenger name record (PNR) data for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorism and serious crime. Revenue’s ICT infrastructure is...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Community Employment Schemes (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: Section 118(5G) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA) provides for the Cycle to Work Scheme. This scheme offers an exemption from benefit-in-kind (BIK) where an employer purchases a bicycle and/or associated safety equipment for one of their employees (or directors) to use, in whole or in part, to travel to work. Associated safety equipment may include items such as helmets, lights,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (24 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: The Standard Fund Threshold (SFT) is the maximum allowable pension fund on retirement for tax purposes which was introduced in Budget and Finance Act 2006 to prevent over-funding of pensions through tax-relieved arrangements. I am informed by Revenue that they are unable to provide a costing for changes to the SFT. Information on the numbers and values of individual pension funds or on...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Coverage (19 Sep 2024)

Jack Chambers: Firstly, it is important to clarify that neither I nor the Central Bank of Ireland have the authority to dictate insurance pricing or product offerings, as these are commercial decisions made by individual companies, governed by the EU Single Market framework for insurance (the Solvency II Directive), which prevents Government from intervening in pricing or provision of insurance products. ...