Results 33,421-33,440 of 34,956 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Industry (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 164 together. The action plan for insurance reform contains 66 cross-departmental actions that aim to improve the cost and availability of insurance. This reform agenda is progressing well. The first implementation report published by the Tánaiste’s Department last July showed that 34 of the 66 actions had been completed. Key reforms...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Industry (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: As the Deputy rightly says, the categories of car insurance and home insurance are separate from the issue of business insurance. There have been reductions in car insurance, which affects every household in the country, this year and since the guidelines came in. Three major insurance companies were at the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Industry (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I agree with the Deputies opposite when they talk about balancing the duty of care. Before we came in here, we had it already arranged that I will meet with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, at the very beginning of the new year to progress that legislation. Work has already been done on it in consultation with the Attorney General. It...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important and timely issue at present affecting every household in the country. The final retail price of fuel is determined by a number of factors that include the costs of production, distribution, global market factors, international exchange rates, taxation, wholesale market contracts as well as individual retail pricing policies. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: It is important to put on the record that all the measures I have just mentioned, especially regarding the fuel allowance for many hundreds of thousands of households around the country who benefit to the tune of €914 from October to next April, are funded through the carbon tax. Those who oppose the carbon tax are trying to reduce the Government's ability to assist those households....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: The initiatives we announced this week specifically refer to the increased costs of working from home. The Finance Bill included some new measures of support for people working from home. The previous scheme was very narrow, but we included a new scheme of statutory benefits in the Finance Bill that was passed in the House last night. There are benefits for people working from home in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I understand the issue concerning having a buffer in place to address the volatility in prices, many of the causes of which are outside our control. The ESRI stated again this morning that it expects the inflation rate to peak by the end of the first quarter. I know that means we will continue to have rising prices, but as the year progresses, some of the issues that have emerged in terms...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Industry (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 100 together. At the outset, I am sure the Deputies will appreciate that neither I nor the Central Bank can interfere in the provision or pricing of insurance products, nor do we have the power to direct insurance companies to provide cover to specific individuals at specific prices. Everybody knows it would be deemed gross interference in the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Industry (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: On the duty of care, it is an immediate priority. It is one of the biggest single outstanding actions in the action plan that we announced 12 months ago. I would hope that by the end of January we will have a firm date. There is a meeting of the Cabinet subgroup dealing with this issue towards the end of January, by which time we will have a full review of 2021. I expect that at that date...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Industry (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for raising that timely issue. Before I came in here, we made a phone call to Lapland. The Government in Lapland has told us there is no insurance required whatever for anybody in Lapland who ever has an accident, which has never happened because Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus make sure that all the helpers are fully protected, so there has never been an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: While competition issues generally are primarily a matter for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, competitive pressures in the banking sector can clearly have an effect on the functioning of the financial system and on the quality and price of credit and other banking services provided to customers. It is accepted that the Irish retail banking system is relatively...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: As I said, there has been a reduction, although I understand the Deputy’s point that despite the 2.73% rate available since October this year, it is higher than European norms. In truth, the reason for that is multifaceted. While the credit risks and capital requirements in Ireland are elevated due to the historic loan experience and loss experience, the level of non-performing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: On that issue generally, the European Central Bank, ECB, has a much greater role in overseeing and regulating the Irish banks. As time progresses the ECB will try to equalise all the issues with reserves across the various member states. We have had a historic higher level of defaulting, we had a higher level of people not paying mortgages and we still have a higher level of arrears,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Real Estate Investment Trusts (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101, 123, 130 and 141 together. Institutional investment in the commercial and residential property market continues to be critically important to ensure the ongoing supply of new housing. This is particularly the case in areas where there are viability challenges, in the area of high-density urban apartments for example. As with investment funds...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Real Estate Investment Trusts (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Deputies for continuing to raise this issue. The essence of my point all along has been that the beneficial owners are the people who pay the tax by and large. The VAT and other small taxes are paid directly by the fund. There is a strong withholding tax regime in place for the transfer of funds. For example, in the Irish REITs market, including Hibernia, IRES and Newgrove,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Discussion (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I thank the committee for facilitating pre-legislative scrutiny of the insurance (miscellaneous provisions) Bill and for the invitation to appear before it today. My script has been provided to the committee in advance. Insurance reform is a priority for Government. In the programme for Government there are 21 measures related to insurance reform. The Action Plan for Insurance Reform,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Discussion (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Deputy. That is a perfect question and the exact question I raised when this issue came to light. What the Deputy has just said explains the current situation concisely and accurately. In practice, where a business had a loss of the order of €100,000, to use the example the Deputy gave, and there is State support through TWSS, CRSS or rates not being levied on that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Discussion (16 Dec 2021)

Seán Fleming: I agree with the Deputy but we do not have sufficient information to draft robust legislation on it now. That mechanism can work in the future immediately, prospectively and in relation to any new scheme introduced across any Department, like in social protection. That measure should be included in the scheme being brought forward through legislation. If there was a new scheme introduced...