Results 27,221-27,240 of 33,214 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that most PAYE taxpayers affairs can be managed online, and Revenue provides a full range of online services to support this. These services, which include an online communications channel through the MyEnquiries system, are available 24/7, are easy to use and are fully secure. Revenue also provides a PAYE Helpline telephone service operating from 9.30am to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Social Media (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 272 to 274, inclusive, together. I wish to advise the Deputy that of my Department’s social media posts during the timeframe specified, none were exclusively in languages other than English or Irish, nor did any posts feature languages other than English or Irish. 1% of social media posts were exclusively in Irish, and 1.2% of posts featured...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Budget Process (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of the annual Budgetary process, my Department, along with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (PER), publish a wide range of documents. With these publications we try to strike a balance between ensuring sufficient technical detail on one hand, and making the material accessible to the general public on the other. In this regard we are constantly trying to improve the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Debt Warehousing Scheme has offered valuable and practical liquidity support to individuals and businesses, assisting them with their cash-flow during the difficult trading periods associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.  The objective of the scheme is to support the long-term economic viability and survival of the participants/businesses concerned.  The Deputy will be aware that...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Ukraine War (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy will be aware that the ‘National Public Procurement Policy Framework’ issued by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) in November 2019, sets out the procurement procedures to be followed by government departments and state bodies in accordance with EU rules and national guidelines.  In that respect, my Department has not awarded any contracts in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Contracts (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department does not currently employ any external persons or firms to deal with public relations. Public relations for the Department of Finance are handled by staff based within the Press Office.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the findings of a survey conducted by the Alliance for Insurance Reform during April 2022. While the survey is an indicator, I would note that it appears to only survey the Alliance’s own members and therefore cannot be said to be representative of the total market. The National Claims Information Database (NCID), managed by the Central...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: For capital acquisitions tax (CAT) purposes, the relationship between the person giving a gift or inheritance (i.e. the disponer) and the person who receives it (i.e. the beneficiary) determines the maximum amount, known as the “Group threshold”, below which CAT does not arise. Any prior gift or inheritance received by a beneficiary since 5 December 1991 from within the same...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Universal Social Charge (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Universal Social Charge (USC) was designed and incorporated into the Irish taxation system in 2011 to replace two other charges, namely the Health and Income Levies. Its primary purpose was to widen the tax base and to provide a steady income to the Exchequer to provide funding for public services. The USC is an individualised tax, meaning that a person’s liability to the tax...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 282 and 283 together. Officials in my Department are currently reviewing the options now available to Ireland in setting VAT rates. This will include consideration of the new options available to Member States  as a result of the recently updated EU VAT rules when setting VAT rates as well as the new limitations introduced on how reduced rates may be...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (10 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Minister for State Fleming and I, as well as my officials, have regular contact with the Financial Services Union (FSU). I recently met with the General Secretary and the Head of Communications and Public Affairs of the FSU on 11 April 2022. At that meeting, I advised that my Department will be monitoring closely the number of accounts that have closed/switched over the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Exemptions (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The rent-a-room scheme was introduced in Finance Act 2001 as an incentive to encourage individuals to let rooms in their principal private residence as residential accommodation in order to bring about an increase in the availability of rental accommodation. In accordance with section 216A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, an individual who lets a room or rooms in her or his sole or...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Coverage (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Firstly, it is important to note that neither I, nor the Central Bank of Ireland, can intervene in the provision or pricing of insurance products, which is a commercial matter for insurance providers. This is expressly prohibited by the EU’s Solvency II framework. However, I can assure the Deputy that Government is committed to improving the cost and availability of insurance for all...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Directives (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Officials in my Department are currently reviewing the options now available to Ireland in setting VAT rates. This will include consideration of the new options available to Member States as a result of the recently updated EU VAT rules when setting VAT rates as well as the new limitations introduced on how reduced rates may be applied. Decisions about tax changes are generally taken in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Exemptions (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Officials in my Department are currently reviewing the options now available to Ireland in setting VAT rates. This will include consideration of the new options available to Member States as a result of the recently updated EU VAT rules when setting VAT rates as well as the new limitations introduced on how reduced rates may be applied. Decisions about tax changes are generally taken in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 to 91, inclusive, together. The Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2022 will bring all the direct and indirect providers of credit (including credit which is termed ‘buy now pay later’), as well as the providers of hire purchase and consumer hire agreements, to consumers within the regulatory...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Credit and Financial Institutions are obliged to identify and verify their customer’s identity on the basis of documents or information that they have reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identify of their customer. Institutions often use official documents, like passports or driving licences, in order to verify a customer’s identity. However,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Priorities (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware the Government has provided a wide range of supports to business over the course of the pandemic. In relation to the increasing cost of heat and electricity for households and businesses a reduction in VAT on the supply of gas and electricity from 13.5% to 9% came into effect from 1 May and will last to 31 October. The measure is estimated to cost €46m....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department is aware that the number of bank operated ATMs across the country has been declining in recent years. This is mainly because banks have sold, mostly offsite, ATMs to independent ATM deployers (IADs). The latest data from the BPFI shows that in December 2021 there were 1,787 ATMs operated by banks in Ireland. This figure is down from 2,353 in December 2020. IADs are not...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (11 May 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The level of data requested is not available on ATMs operating in Ireland. The Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) collects data on the total number of bank operated ATMs cross the country. This has been declining in recent years mainly because banks have sold, mainly offsite, ATMs to Independent ATM Deployers (IADs) and more recently also due to branch closures. The latest data...