Results 26,241-26,260 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 39: In page 114, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: “(3) Section 653AN of the Principal Act is amended, in subsection (1), by the insertion of the following definition: “ ‘chartered engineer’ means a chartered engineer included on the register referred to in section 7 of The Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputies for their contributions on this issue. Given the scale of the housing challenge we face at the moment, I felt it appropriate to send a signal in the budget and in this Bill that even though we are only now receiving the first set of returns, we will increase the tax. That is why I made the decision to go from three times to five times the LPT rate. It will be kept...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: I will keep it under review. I acknowledge the work of my predecessor and the officials in developing the vacant homes tax. It was the right decision. In addition to the rate of the tax, the provisions were designed such that surcharges, interest and penalties would apply as well. Section 653BF of the principal Act provides for a surcharge to be imposed where a chargeable person fails to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: In accordance with section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, tax relief is available to certain taxpayers who donate heritage items to Irish national collections. The purpose of the scheme is to assist approved bodies to acquire important heritage items for their collections, items that might otherwise be exported from the State, constituting a diminution of Ireland's accumulated...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: Yes, it was maxed out last year. This is an ask that has come to us through the cultural institutions and the line Department. The current ceiling has been eroded over time through inflation and it has become a constraint on the State receiving donations of many of these items.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: Yes, it is my understanding that the Revenue Commissioners publish the list of items each year.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. This section amends Part 22A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Part 22A was introduced in the Finance Act 2021 and provides for an annual residential zoned land tax, RZLT, calculated at 3% of the market value of land within its scope. Broadly, this is land that is zoned as being suitable for residential use, or for a mixture of residential...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: By the end of May.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: My understanding is that a change of zoning is a function of the members.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: There is not necessarily an obligation to zone other land.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: There is not necessarily an obligation; it would depend on the area development plan. That will be guided by the national planning framework and the identification of what is the appropriate amount of land needed to meet population targets where we want population growth to take place over the years ahead.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: That would be a matter for local authorities. They may decide, if they are approving a de-zoning, to accompany that with rezoning of other land. They will have to consider what their obligations are under their development plans and in line with the spatial strategy and the national planning framework. It will not necessarily be the case that in all instances where they accept a de-zoning...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2023)

Michael McGrath: One of the issues that has arisen is the need for consistency around the treatment of what you might call statutory phasing or tier 2 land. This is land that is not earmarked for immediate development but that is zoned. That is one of the issues that has arisen over the past year.