Results 3,401-3,420 of 8,277 for speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (5 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The amendments in this group address the issue of changes to the nominations processes and to the processes for small payments on death. These are important changes to the Bill as originally published. Members will be very familiar with the nomination procedure. The two changes here are an increase in the nomination limit from €23,000 to €27,000 and a tightening of the...

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (5 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: This grouping inserts a new section 51A that allows for the referral of a member to another credit union, regardless of whether the referring credit union provides the service the member is seeking. This is absolutely core to the operation of the new Bill. What we are trying to do is increase the financial services provided to people all over this country, irrespective of where they live,...

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (5 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The latter is exactly what is proposed. Rather than forcing smaller credit unions to provide mortgages or current accounts in a way that may not suit them, because they may not step into that risk profile, the member of that credit union can and should be referred to another credit union that offers those services and becomes a member of that credit union specifically for the purpose of...

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (5 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Yes, the purpose is about referring members rather than changing the common bond.

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (5 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: This is about empowering the credit union boards to better manage their own governance to allow them to focus and concentrate on strategy and development rather than detailed operational matters. This grouping addresses the following issues: organisational matters regarding the delivery of notices of meetings, documents, annual accounts and the calling of meetings; a quorum for a general...

Seanad: Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (5 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people involved in this collaborative piece of work: my predecessor, the Minister for State, Deputy Sean Fleming, who introduced the Bill into this House; and my officials on the credit union policy team, Catherine and Miriam in particular, who have done extraordinary work on this. I also thank the representative bodies - the ILCU;...

Committee on Public Petitions: Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings: Discussion (30 Nov 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: What is probably the most significant insurer at the moment has indicated its continued participation in the market. There is support for the report by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. The fire risk is significant; there is no question about it. To the extent that this risk can be mitigated, a thatched-roof property with radiators is very different from a thatched building with a...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank Senator Black for outlining her position on this. As a female Minister of State in the Department of Finance, I have a very acute interest in the gender distribution of policy made in the Department and particularly on the inequitable outcomes for women in pensions and on pension poverty. I am aware of that in everything we do. I appreciate the Senator has had an exchange with the...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank Senator Black. The recommendation requests a report on the potential revenue implications for the State if a 50% limit on deferred tax assets was imposed. As Senators are aware, loss relief for corporation tax is a long-standing feature of the Irish corporate tax system and a standard feature of corporation tax systems in most OECD countries. It recognises the fact that a business...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: This proposed recommendation seeks the preparation of a report on the revenue that might be raised from and the distributional impact of a wealth tax of 2% on all households with assets over €20 million within six months of the passing of the Bill into law. As Senators from all sides of the House are aware, wealth can be and is taxed in a variety of ways. Many such taxes are already...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The proposed recommendation attempts to create a link between the Irish corporation tax system, on the one hand, and human rights and welfare, including child welfare in the global south, on the other. These are distinct policy considerations. I will address reform, and the extensive work in recent years the Department of Finance has undertaken to update the Irish corporate tax system, much...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Tackling vacancy is an urgent priority for the Government and every Member of the Houses. It is appropriate that every available lever is deployed to incentivise the use of existing housing stock throughout the country. This includes measures to deter vacancy, alongside supportive measures that Senators have mentioned, such as grants. For this reason, the Minister for Finance announced in...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Senators will be aware the Government is committed to tackling climate change and decarbonising the economy by 2050, and we are very much aware of the challenges subsidies pose to our collective effort to disincentivise fossil fuels. We are stuck in a difficult transition period as we try both to help people meet their energy bills and to transition the economy to renewable energy sources....

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (12 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator for highlighting that, given it was agreed to in the 2022 Act, as he said.I have confirmed with my officials that Revenue continues to work on it. It is a priority for the Department of Finance that it is active. Officials have been in touch with Revenue in the last week or so to make sure that is so. The Department of Finance is keen that it be implemented shortly by...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Medicinal Products (13 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank Senator Ruane. I am glad that the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, had the opportunity to speak directly with her. I will update Senators more broadly on the position but I know the Minister of State will do further work in that regard. As Senator Ruane said, naloxone is a prescription-only drug at the moment and measures have been put in place to ensure that as many...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Medicinal Products (13 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The Prison Service has been working with HSE addiction services on this for some time. It is a hugely beneficial project that benefits both people in prison and their families. There is significant ongoing training for pharmacists on naloxone administration. There is a body of work on this as the Government recognises that it is a lifesaving drug. It is clear the response it can have on a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (13 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Finance, who will be signing the commencement order. He states that the new requirements under which employers must report to Revenue certain non-taxable benefits paid to their employees or directors were introduced in section 9 of the Finance Act 2022. These reportable benefits are the remote working daily allowance of €3.20,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (13 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The Senator is right. Anything that increases the administrative burden is difficult, particularly in the first instance. That is why it is important to have a flexible approach to begin with. Once one gets into a new reporting practice, however, it tends to be embedded in the practices of the business. If we can get to a point where more compliant businesses are being audited less...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (13 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: To clarify, is the site the Senator is referring to in respect of 112 affordable purchase homes also referred to as Cammogue?

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (13 Dec 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator. I was afraid we might have been talking about two different places and I would not like that. I am happy to update the House on this matter, noting that, in line with the Affordable Housing Act 2021, responsibility for the administration of affordable housing schemes rests with the local authority concerned, in this case Cork County Council. Kinsale is an absolutely...