Results 21,741-21,760 of 33,049 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

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

Paschal Donohoe: My exact wording was that I expect Ulster Bank to keep stakeholders, the Government and those who depend upon them for their jobs or for lending informed. Deputy Brendan Smith raising this question has given me the opportunity to make clear my expectation on that communication. As I did with the earlier question that was put to me, I want to acknowledge how valuable Ulster Bank is and will...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputies Barry, Smith and Doherty for their questions. I have already contacted the parent bank, NatWest, to ascertain the status of the alleged reports. My contact with the bank has informed the answer I gave to Deputies this afternoon. As the process develops within NatWest, I will of course raise issues and perspectives that I have in this regard. I absolutely understand the...

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

Paschal Donohoe: Payment breaks have provided substantial and rapid relief to allow homes and businesses to absorb the shock and impact of Covid-19. The expiry of the guidelines do not prevent banks from engaging with customers who continue to experience difficulty beyond the deadline and all applicable consumer protection remains in place. Borrowers who cannot return to full repayments following the...

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

Paschal Donohoe: The guidance from the European Banking Authority on the matter was that economy-wide payment breaks should not be extended. As of yet I am not aware if other governments or regulators have decided to extend further the measures they have in place. Comparing where we are versus other countries, those other countries have put in place very different arrangements. Superficially they may in...

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

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Doherty is referring to alleged inaction. As I pointed out to him earlier, payment breaks were made available in the first place because the Government took action. This has been a huge help to so many families and businesses at a time when it was needed. We have seen the number of people who need these payment breaks begin to decrease, quite considerably in the case of some banks....

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

Paschal Donohoe: The European Commission first proposed a digital services tax in early 2018. After a period of intensive technical and political discussions among member states, a revised proposal for a digital advertising tax was brought to ECOFIN in March 2019 but no agreement was reached there. It was subsequently agreed that member states would focus on supporting the ongoing discussions at OECD...

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

Paschal Donohoe: The question from the Deputy highlighted how challenging this environment will be. In last year's budget and much of the work that led up to it, I made the point that our corporate tax revenues, which have increased in recent years, will fall. The reason for that fall is highlighted in the question asked by the Deputy. If agreement is not reached, the risks related to double taxation will...

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

Paschal Donohoe: That is the challenge we face. That agreement brings consequences, but agreement not being reached also brings consequences. The Deputy is correct in his summary of the matter. Several proposals are being put forward within the EU to generate what are called "own resources". They are, in essence, taxes the revenue from which goes back to the European Union. There are several such taxes...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 61 together. The 2020 programme for Government contains several commitments related to working from home, the responsibility for which falls to my Department. There is also a commitment to the development of a "national remote working strategy", and to that end a remote working strategy group has been established. A number of issues are being...

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

Paschal Donohoe: It sounds, from the way the Deputy introduced the question, that there is already much demand in the homes that he referred to and the Deputy has that work well under way already. How could I not be aware of so many more people now working from home? Of course, they are making the choice regarding where that home will be located. There are supports available within the tax code for this...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I am not privately concerned about the prospects of offices being empty for the foreseeable future. I am publicly concerned about it. Looking at where we are now across September and October, a time in which many new employees are starting work in new employers throughout the country, for example, for them not to have the opportunity to be able to go into an office to sit with peers and...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I take the Deputy's point. That is the kind of balance we need to try to move to, where we have offices being used in a way that is different from how they were used in the past but have people in them who are learning, who are healthy and who are safe. The most important priority is to try to keep people safe and try to reduce the spread of this disease. That is why our public health...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Issues (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: That work is under way. An updated report has been published. It is an action plan towards a capital markets union which looks at the different steps member states may be able to take to accelerate progress in how we can arrive at new ways of funding investment and delivering lending, particularly to smaller companies across the EU. I will work in particular with Commissioner...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Issues (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: It is about jobs, how we can use people's savings to fund within Europe investment that can create more jobs and better income in future. That is the purpose of capital markets union. We have not made the progress on it in the EU in recent years that we had planned and wanted. I believe the kind of context the Deputy referred to will be cause for more ambition and energy in this area. It...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Issues (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The best way we can begin to do that work is in our schools. The curriculums in business studies and economics and how the basics of mathematical literacy are taught in secondary school, using real life examples in relation to finances and work, are the foundation towards beginning that. In future, the products that will be available to families and businesses may be safer in many ways, in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Budget Contribution (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, on 21stJuly 2020, Heads of State and Government reached agreement on the Post-2020 MFF and recovery plan Next Generation EU, totalling €1.82 trillion. Difficult discussions took place over four days, but the Government has welcomed this agreement. It is a fair and balanced outcomeand demonstrates that Europe can work collectively to deal with this...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the recently published Central Bank report “Household Wealth: What is it, who has it, and why it matters”. This report presents the results from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) 2018, which collects data on households’ financial positions. That survey was undertaken prior to the outbreak of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 45, 58 and 67 together. As the Deputies will be aware, Revenue set out last Friday how any tax liability arising on the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) will be dealt with.   While the expected tax liability should be modest in most cases, the position as set out by Revenue is very welcome and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Wage Subsidy Scheme (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 46, 55, 89, 262, 283 and 314 together. The design of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) reflects the changing environment around the COVID-19 pandemic which has shifted from crisis mode to one of living alongside the virus, in line with the recently announced Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Wage Subsidy Scheme (29 Sep 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) expired on 31 August 2020.  The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) replaced the TWSS from 1 September, as the Government’s focus has shifted from an employee income support paid via the employer that maintained the existing employee/employer relationship insofar as was possible, to a direct employer subsidy to help support viable firms...