Results 28,421-28,440 of 33,214 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, very much so, and I fully appreciate the reality of what the Deputy outlined. I see this in small shops and businesses in my constituency, Dublin Central, and throughout the city of Dublin. I was in Mullingar on Friday evening and met many amazing local business people who employ so many people and are confronting the very kind of pressure the Deputy referred to. Of course, we will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inflation Rate (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising the critical economic challenge we are now confronting. As he will be aware, consumer price inflation picked up sharply over the past year and in October stood at 9.6%. Almost every advanced country in the world is in the same position with, for example, inflation throughout our neighbours within the EU, and in particular among those countries that share the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inflation Rate (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Indeed. The focus at European level is on trying to reduce the cost of energy, which, as the House will know, is an exceptionally complex and sensitive matter at a time the supply of energy in the first instance is so constrained and so low. That is the focus of considerable collective efforts within the EU because any change in the price of energy will have a significant impact on the rate...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inflation Rate (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, it will. In the various economic forecasts we conduct, which we will again revise in April, we will continue to monitor clearly where we are with inflation and what that means for our economy overall. While we expect a decrease in inflation rates in the economy for next year, it will be a decrease to only 6%, which, unfortunately, will have an impact on the living standards of our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Our taxation system is among the most progressive in the OECD in that those on lower incomes pay less income tax as a share of their income than those on higher incomes. Budget 2023 included a significant personal income tax package, estimated to cost €1.13 billion. Overall, in all the measures contained in that tax package, it is expected 2.1 million taxpayers will benefit in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I appreciate the point raised by the Deputy. I have made great efforts in changes I made to the USC to deal with the issue he identified. As he will know, changes in PRSI have other consequences of which the Minister of Social Protection will be aware. I have no doubt at all that she will give a clear and justified account of what is happening from a PRSI perspective. However, the reason...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy knows, many of the institutes he is quoting regarding the progressive nature of our budget are the same institutions that are saying the measures we brought in should be temporary. The one-off measures should indeed be temporary in the hope that the cost-of-living pressures about which we are all concerned begin to change and moderate, and offer an opportunity then to change...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Yield (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: A stamp duty charge of 1% normally applies to the purchase of shares. However, I am advised by Revenue that the stamp duty treatment of share buybacks depends on the form in which the shares are held and the method by which the buybacks are affected. Share buyback refers to the practice whereby a company purchases or buys back its own shares. For shares held in certificated or paper form,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Yield (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I would love to be able to point out whether this is a matter Sinn Féin considered in its alternative budget but I cannot because it is not available. I did evaluate it, however. In evaluating and consulting with my officials on it, the view I have reached is that a change to it at this point could limit the ability of our capital markets to operate. Those capital markets are important...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Yield (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I have no doubt that Sinn Féin's pre-budget statement is going to be available later today.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Yield (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Not at all. Actually, the Deputy did post it to me - I have a copy of it - but it was not available today. It has not been available over the last number of days and the Deputy knows why. The figures do not add up, the proposals are a source of risk and any new issue, any bus that goes by, Sinn Féin wants to hop on it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Yield (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Sinn Féin does not want the country to know what its track record is and what its proposals are.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Yield (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am going to answer. I am only too happy to answer the Deputy's question. We did indeed consider this matter following the publication of the tax strategy group paper. As I said to the Dáil, we are going to continue to monitor this matter. It was the view of my Department, and I assessed the matter myself, that any change in the current regime could cause unintended consequences,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97, 146 and 159 together. This new charging mechanism was legislated for in 2019. It is not a result of anything that was contained in this budget or the current Finance Bill. We indicated in 2019 that these changes were to come in. I appreciate why the Deputy is raising this matter and the impact it may have on some of his constituents. I recognise that....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I appreciate that the costs the Deputy refers to are very significant. I have no doubt that constituents are contacting him about the matter and are concerned about it. I respectfully make the case to him again that we have been flagging this change for a number of years. My concern is that if we were to change or defer a significant change in BIK that has been very well flagged at this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Unions (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to recognise the huge work the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, has done in this. He has put incredible energy into assessing where we are from a policy perspective with a part of our economy he understands well, namely our credit union movement. He regrets that he cannot be here to take the Deputy’s question but he is representing us on Government business in Brussels. ...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Unions (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is dead right. For example, in the early part of 2021 some 19 credit unions participated in the Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme. It was great to have those individual credit unions participate in that scheme. Beyond that, five credit unions were announced as participants in the Brexit impact loan scheme. If I look at the participation of the credit union sector within our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Unions (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is very positive to hear the example the Deputy has of the acquisition of the Bank of Ireland building in Bantry. I know the building the Deputy is referring to and I can only imagine that will have a positive impact on the presence of credit union services to her constituents. We will continue to work within Government with the sector to try to support it, in an appropriate way, in the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Business Supports (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Details of the new TBESS are set out in Finance Bill 2022. Farmers will be eligible for payments under the TBESS in the same way as any other business that is carrying out a trade which is taxable under case I of Schedule D where they meet all eligibility criteria. A person engaged in a trade of farming who has suffered an increase of at least 50% in the average unit price of electricity or...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Business Supports (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am virtually positive that is the case but I will come back to the Deputy to confirm that. I will provide that full clarification when we are debating the Finance Bill. As I have said, if businesses have a trading relationship with the Revenue Commissioners under case I, they are included in the scheme. There are some positive signals on the design of the scheme. The feedback is that...