Results 23,861-23,880 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to the statement I made during the Dáil second stage debate of the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Bill 2020 on 29 July 2020, and in particular the following extract: "It [the Stay and Spend scheme] will run from 1 October 2020 to 30 April 2021" In relation to the rationale for the 1 October start date, I advised the House that: "This will incentivise taxpayers...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Transport Policy (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Cycle to Work scheme is an action of my Department and Revenue that encourages people to cycle to and from work. Section 118(5G) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA 1997) provides for this scheme. This scheme provides an exemption from benefit-in-kind where an employer purchases a bicycle and associated safety equipment for an employee. Under section 118B TCA 1997, an employer and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Pensions (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: In March 2021, the Department of Finance made a submission to the Commission on Pensions, which is available on the Department’s website.The analysis set out in the document attempts inter alia to quantify the likely budgetary costs of population ageing in order to inform the appropriate policy response. It builds on work undertaken by the Department of Finance in conjunction with...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government does not see the State as a long-term investor in the banking sector and its policy of selling down its investments in the Irish banks remains unchanged. However, given the extent of these investments, this was never going to be achieved in the short term and was always going to require a series of sell down transactions possibly spread over more than one market cycle. In...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, my Department and I engage with the Central Bank and the Governor of the Central Bank on a regular basis. Throughout these engagements my Department and the Bank discuss a wide variety of issues. This effective engagement with the Central Bank is accomplished through a mutual understanding and respect of the roles carried out by the Department and the Bank. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy will be aware that it is the responsibility of the Regulator to set the level of capital which each bank is required to hold. These capital levels are determined within the context of a robust EU regulatory framework which is designed to ensure a safe banking system that can support the economic needs of each member state. One of the key inputs in this regard is historical...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The announcement by KBC Bank Ireland last week that it is leaving is a very significant development for the retail financial sector in Ireland, particularly as it comes so soon after NatWest’s decision to withdraw Ulster Bank from the Irish market. Firstly, I am concerned about the impact of this decision for KBC’s staff and customers.  It also raises...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (22 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government does not see the State as a long-term investor in the banking sector and its policy of selling down its investments in the Irish banks remains unchanged. However, given the extent of these investments, this was never going to be achieved in the short term and was always going to require a series of sell down transactions possibly spread over more than one market cycle. In...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Chairperson. I am pleased to have the opportunity to be here today to discuss the draft stability programme update, SPU. The SPU sets out the Government’s macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts for Ireland for the next five years. It will be submitted to the European Commission later this month. At the outset, I stress that this is a purely technical document, with the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his questions. Far from the Government looking to punish any parts of society or any citizens, the approach of the Government has been to sustain society while we have all been grappling with an economic crisis that has its origins in health and public health. That is why the Government has had the PUP in place for so long. We have sustained a higher level of income...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: A key feature of where we have been economically is that the country has been able to fund what we have done in the past year for two reasons. First, it is due to the support of the European Central Bank, ECB, and, second, when we came into this crisis, what we were collecting in taxation was approximately equal to what we were spending. Our national finances were in a position of broad...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his kind words. It is a challenge that we will face, as will every other economy that has been closed for a period and is beginning the process of reopening. In terms of where we are now, if he looks at where we were in 2020, we estimate that our household savings ratio, that is, the portion of income that is not being consumed, reached almost 24% across that year....

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: We implemented much of what was proposed by the group in the Finance Bill. There were some very small elements of what it proposed that we did not go with because I had a concern about the proportionality of it but the vast majority of what the TSG proposed in respect of the taxation of vehicles was implemented. In parallel to that we have expected increases in carbon taxation, which are...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I believe that the figure for 2022 is actually €4 billion. The Government has not yet made a decision on the composition of that. That will have to be made on budget day. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will have to engage with different Ministers regarding the composition of that for next year.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: That is correct and that is a corollary of the fact that the SPU is prepared on a no policy change basis. Currently, we have only made decisions on the PUP up to the end of this year so any decision on the payment for the rest of this year and even for next year will change those figures.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Minister, Deputy McGrath, looked at measures that would be needed, for example, to support semi-State companies, the continuation of social distancing within public transport and some of the measures that are in place in our schools and made a judgment on the need for that to continue into next year. That is related to decisions the Government has made that are implemented in our current...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: On the Deputy's point about employment, it does not assume the continuation of the EWSS, for example, next year. That is the case. The Deputy is correct with regard to employment. My expectation is that inside the €2.5 billion there would be figures that relate to health. That is a matter directly for the Minister, Deputy McGrath, but I will double-check that with him and confirm...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government has not made a decision in that regard. We have said we want to provide clarity on income and business supports in the coming weeks. We have not made a decision on that but it is the case that over time, as our economy reopens, we will have to change these payments in a very careful way. For example, getting our national finances back into a healthy position and recognising...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: We expect an average rate of unemployment for this year of 11%. We expect a significant improvement on where we are at the moment. We expect total employment this year to grow by 80,000. Next year, we expect unemployment to fall to approximately 7%, with an average of 8% to 8.25% for the year overall. I do not have what that equals in terms of numbers of people.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The way the Government dealt with that matter last year was, as we changed public health guidance to allow businesses to reopen, we would over time change some of the payments, for example, the PUP. That is what we did last year and the Government will have to carefully consider how we do this across this and next year. We are not in a position to continue to maintain very high levels of...