Results 25,801-25,820 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Amendments Nos. 109, 110 and 111 are grouped together and I will speak to each of them in turn. Turning first to amendment No. 109, as the Deputy is aware, earlier this year I introduced a special 10% rate of stamp duty to apply to the purchase of ten of more houses in any 12-month period by any person or corporate entity. This rate came into effect from 20 May 2021. The new rate does...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with each of the questions in turn. To begin in the order in which Deputy Doherty addressed the issues he raised, I refer to the issue of commercial stamp duty, the latitude for it to be increased further and the role it might play in not only raising revenue but also, more importantly, shifting capital into the delivery of more homes. That is one of the reasons I have over...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Absolutely, but at what time are we breaking?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Are we voting on this group of amendments after I finish?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I suspect we are going to hear the term "non-Exchequer" a great deal more from Sinn Féin in future because the claims it makes cannot be backed up by its figures. It claims that it can build homes at a fraction of the actual cost and-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: -----it continues to make the charge-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The louder the voice, the weaker the argument. The more the heckling, the shakier the ground. This is the ground that Sinn Féin is on. I will now move on to my record and my future but, more important, the future of what we need to do in respect of housing. Sinn Féin is telling the Irish public to trust it and it can build a home for €150,000, but what is the answer to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: These are the figures.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Twenty thousand social homes at a cost of €3 billion. The maths of that is €150,000 per home. The latest incarnation and flowering of the magic money tree from Sinn Féin is the phrase "non-Exchequer". These are the figures in Sinn Féin's calculation.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: As to whether we want to and are going to build more social homes and see the State play a role in that, the answer is an unqualified "Yes". This is not just a promise for the future. Rather, it is the reality of what is happening now. It is the reality of this Government, despite our construction sector being closed for so long due to a pandemic, now having 8,750 social and public homes...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Excuse me, I want to come back in again. Jibes have been made against me. If are going to suspend Standing Orders, I am going to be treated fairly, as it happens. The Department of Housing-----

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I expect the Deputy is referring to Public Dancing Licences which, under Section 2 of the Public Dance Halls Act 1935, are required to be held by premises where dancing is open to the public and in which persons present are entitled to participate actively. A Public Dancing Licence is separate to a liquor licence. A Public Dancing Licence fee includes court fees of €335 and excise...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Directives (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I should clarify that the item referred to by the Deputy was the Proposal for a Directive, rather than a Directive itself. The Proposal was part of the package of measures published by the EU Commission in March 2018 to address the issue of non-performing loans (NPLs). Proposal (2018/0063(COD)) was subsequently split into two parts so that the element relating to credit services and credit...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Regulations (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 and 205 together. As the Deputy may be aware, the Commission’s communication of 13 October 2021 set out a toolbox for Member States to allow them to tackle rising energy prices. For VAT provisions, the communication refers to the fact that Member States can decide to apply reduced rates of VAT on energy products, but only within the confines of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that, where the relevant conditions are met, the following tax-based measures may be available for persons who purchase a residential or a commercial property: Help to Buy Scheme Help-to-Buy (HTB) is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. This measure gives a refund of Income Tax and Deposit...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The main purpose of a pension fund is to provide a secure income in retirement for the pension beneficiary. The purpose of providing tax relief for pension contributions is to encourage saving - by employers, employees and the self-employed - towards retirement income. Any early drawdowns from a pension fund, for any purpose, would reduce the pension savings from which individuals could...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 198, 203 and 208 together. The objective of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) is to support employment and maintain the link between the employer and employee insofar as is possible. The EWSS has been a key component of the Government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. In money terms, the overall support provided to-date (25th November)...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: It is assumed the Deputy is enquiring about a Stamp Duty rate of 4% on the value of residential properties in excess of €800,000, where properties are valued above this amount (currently a 2% rate applies on values over €1m). I am advised by Revenue that, based on transactions levels and values in recent years, the additional yield per annum from the proposed increase is...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (30 Nov 2021)

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, can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products, as these matters are of a commercial nature, and are determined by insurance companies based on an assessment of the risks they are willing to accept. This position is...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (30 Nov 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I assume the Deputy is referring to the Local Property Tax (LPT) late filing surcharge that is provided for by section 38 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended). Section 38 makes provision for a surcharge to be applied where a person files their annual self-assessed tax return (whether it is in respect of income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax) on or before the...