Results 21,721-21,740 of 33,049 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (24 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 101 together. Ulster Bank Ireland is a significant employer, has 88 branches, has a sizeable market share in terms of mortgage lending and SME lending and it is important in terms of providing competition in the Irish market. I am aware of the media reports suggesting that NatWest is engaged in a strategic review of its operations and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Lending (24 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will not speculate or comment on the specific matter raised by the Deputy but I can outline the protections that apply when mortgages are transferred from a regulated entity. The relevant Irish and EU consumer protections continue to apply to any mortgage that has transferred. The Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015provided that all the consumer protections a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (24 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Central Bank have informed me that there is no Central Bank regulation relating to Death Benefit Insurance. The Central Bank understand that any requirements mandating a credit union to have a percentage of its members sign up to a Death Benefit Insurance scheme to allow such a scheme to be offered to members, may be a particular feature of the product offering of the insurer. ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Claims Agency (24 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The State Claims Agency has prepared the attached table in response to the information requested by the Deputy. The information in the table represents the amount paid on claims finalised by court award between 1 January 2010 and 31 August 2020.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The banks and the Government are aware of the great challenges that are facing so many. We have put in place and released the supports that made a difference to so many at such a crucial time. Payment breaks were applied to 157,000 customer accounts over the past six months. Those related to mortgages, personal loans and SME loans, and they were a source of considerable relief to customers...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a responsibility and duty in this regard which I have discharged. It is by discharging this duty and responsibility that 89,000 breaks were granted to mortgage holders who needed them in the first place. Since then, we have seen almost 37,000 of those deciding they do not need the payment breaks, and that they are able to honour their loans in full. What Deputy Doherty has just...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I am representing my party and I am the Minister for Finance in the Government which has at all times sought to do the right thing by those who are facing such difficulties and those who are experiencing the crisis of Covid-19. Deputy Doherty is at it again. He is referring to Italy but, in the comparison he is making, will he point to the fact that, during the moratorium in Italy, only...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Primary Medical Certificates (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As he is aware, this is a very important scheme, the cost of which was, in 2019 and excluding motor tax, €72 million. To repeat what I have said, this scheme is important for many and I understand the many demands on it. It is open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or as a passenger, and it is open to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Primary Medical Certificates (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I absolutely understand the concerns of the many people who wish to access this scheme. I understand their level of need. I am now considering the consequences of the Supreme Court ruling on this matter. I have asked my officials to prepare options for me as to what we can do in respect of this scheme. I know many Deputies in this House represent constituents who, for entirely...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Primary Medical Certificates (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: In his question, the Deputy acknowledged the challenges on which we need to reflect. This scheme is very valuable to those who participate in it. They deserve the value afforded by the scheme, which gives help to those who need it most. I need to ensure that, if any further changes are made to the scheme, it will continue to target a great deal of taxpayers' money at those who need it most...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry Regulation (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Given all the work he has done in this area, the Deputy will be aware of what dual pricing is, so I will not go through the definition. As he himself has acknowledged, the Central Bank has now published the findings of a phase of its work in studying this practice in the Irish market. Our programme for Government includes a commitment to remove this practice from the market. I will be...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry Regulation (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The comparison with the FCA in the UK is interesting. The FCA began this work in October 2018. It has now published a final report. It was published this week along with a related consultation document. The FCA is inviting views on its consultation document up to 25 January 2021. The FCA has indicated that in the aftermath at some point next year it will publish a policy statement. That...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry Regulation (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The actual timeline is that the Central Bank report began in January and the report is now published. The bank has moved with speed on this issue. The Deputy compared our work to what is happening with the FCA. The FCA has taken longer to do this work. It has now published something that might lead to action next year. That is the timeline for what is happening elsewhere. The Central...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 35 and 36 together. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council published its annual pre-budget statement on Wednesday, 16 September. As ever, this is valuable analysis and I welcome the council's contribution at an early stage of the budget process. It is also worth pointing out that around the same time, the Governor of the Central Bank wrote to me...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: On the scale of the stimulus and the role of capital spending, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, has committed to €9 billion of investment in capital projects next year. To put that in context, the figure at the start of the previous Dáil was between €3 billion and €4 billion. It is a huge increase on recent years. Unlike in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: There are two points on that. I would be careful, as the Deputy acknowledged, about deriving a great deal of comfort from what has happened to national income growth because so much of the improved performance in national income has been driven by what has happened to our exports in a particular part of our economy. The reality of where we are is contained in the Deputy's point about what...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Credits (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 33 and 271 to 273, inclusive, together. Consistent with the programme for Government, it is not the intention to increase the value of income tax credits or bands in budget 2021. I note, however, that the Deputy raised three separate but related issues regarding important measures in the tax code that support caring for people in vulnerable circumstances....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Credits (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will definitely consider the different issues the Deputy has raised. I appreciate that in any tax credit such as this, that is targeted and that is looking to support those who are doing important work in our society and for their families and so on, anomalies can be generated by it at times and I will look at the issue the Deputy has raised. I want to make the point that, for example, if...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Credits (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy has pointed to a number of potential anomalies and issues, which she has explained to me in the question she has put forward. I have looked to explain why the tax credit is at the level it is and I have noted what the financial cost would be in any such change. As I have already said to the Deputy, I am acknowledging the financial cost involved in a change such as this. In doing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Banking Sector (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 34 and 41 together. I am aware of the reports that NatWest is engaged in a strategic review of its operations, including those of Ulster Bank Ireland. The Government has no formal role in such a review or in any commercial decisions that result as these are a matter for the board and management of the bank and its parent company, NatWest. I understand...