Results 4,141-4,160 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: I dealt with Deputy Gormley's misrepresentations for four years.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: Deputy Gormley spoke of Armageddon on numerous occasions.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy was educated in the defence policy group on the European Union constitution.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy was educated on all the realities. He told me that and I will put it on the record.

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the only relevant information available is in respect of income tax relief allowed for contributions to 'Retirement Annuity Contracts' for the income tax year 2002, which are available to the self-employed and to employees not in occupational pension schemes. A distribution by income ranges of the number of cases, amount of deduction and...

Written Answers — Vehicle Registration Tax: Vehicle Registration Tax (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: Within the EU Single Market, the facility is available for Member States to raise revenue through internal taxation subject to certain provisos such as: that the measures do not give rise to border controls; that there is no discrimination as between home produced goods and those imported from other Member States; and that the measures are not of the nature of quantitative restriction on...

Written Answers — Vehicle Registration Tax: Vehicle Registration Tax (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: I have no plans at present to introduce a VRT export refund scheme. I don't accept that the introduction of such a scheme is necessary under EU law, and any such scheme has the capacity to simply act as a State subsidy for car dealers. Given the profitable nature of the motor trade, introducing such a refund scheme would seem inappropriate given that the money involved can be better spent...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: I can confirm that, on 19 July 2001, my Department wrote to all the Government Departments concerned in the administration of Structural Funds, drawing their attention to provisions involved in the closure process. That letter signalled that the application of EU Regulation 2064/97 would have to include further expenditure checks, in relation to a selection of pre-1998 expenditure, and, where...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: The two Arthur Andersen reports referred to were commissioned by my Department in 1997 to review the financial management and control systems within the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund. Regulation 2064/97 was issued by the EU Commission during the course of the Arthur Andersen investigations. Given this time scale, it is not surprising, therefore, that the...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: The exemption from income tax of certain farm land leasing income is confined to individuals who are aged 40 years or more (or regardless of age if permanently incapacitated by mental or physical infirmity from carrying on a trade of farming). I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the number of farmers availing of the leased land relief scheme is tentatively estimated at...

Written Answers — Cross-Border Funding: Cross-Border Funding (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: Responsibility for funding youth projects of this nature falls to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism under that Department's Sports Capital Programme and the Youth Services Grant Scheme operated by the Department of Education and Science. The position regarding the PEACE II programme, over which my Department has an overseeing role, is that the relevant measure, 2.2 Developing Children...

Written Answers — Tax Collection: Tax Collection (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that a certificate of discharge for the purposes of the Capital Acquisitions Tax will be issued in respect of the property in question when Revenue has established that the capital acquisitions tax, if any, charged on the property has or will be paid. At the moment solicitors for the estate are filing the necessary papers with Revenue and no...

Written Answers — National Development Plan: National Development Plan (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: As I have indicated in responses to previous questions the all-island dimension will be one of the key horizontal themes of NDP 2007-2013. There are a number of issues facing both parts of the island such as the need to invest in infrastructure, energy provision, education and training, new technology and R&D. It is intended that the NDP will set out an agreed strategic framework for...

Written Answers — Tax Collection: Tax Collection (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: This is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners. The compliance of individual taxpayers is, of course, in the first instance confidential between the taxpayer concerned and Revenue. However, Revenue has advised me that the person concerned has been contacted and advised on the course of action required to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

Written Answers — National Lottery Funding: National Lottery Funding (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: It is not intended to designate animal welfare as one of the areas which will benefit from the proceeds of the National Lottery. Under Section 5 of the National Lottery Act, 1986, the surplus from the National Lottery may be used for: sport and other recreation; national culture (including the Irish language); arts (within the meaning of the Arts Act, 1951); health of the community; and for...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that tax incentives are available in the form of capital allowances for various types of on-farm investment. Where a farmer incurs expenditure on the provision of plant and machinery for use in his or her farming trade, wear and tear allowances are available allowing the expenditure incurred to be written off over 8 years at the rate of 121⁄2 % per...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that relief, generally known as "section 23 relief", is available for the refurbishment of rental accommodation under all of the main property incentive schemes such as the urban, rural and town renewal schemes and the student accommodation scheme. Relief is also available under the general countrywide refurbishment scheme for rental accommodation....

Written Answers — Semi-State Sector: Semi-State Sector (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: Under my Department's Guidelines for the Appraisal and Management of Capital Expenditure Proposals in the Public Sector, as amended by my Department's Value for Money Circular Letter of 26 January 2006, all semi-state bodies with responsibility for developing capital projects are required to carry out an appropriate cost benefit analysis of projects costing over €30 million. If a semi state...

Written Answers — Motor Vehicle Registration: Motor Vehicle Registration (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: Data in respect of total VRT received (and numbers of private cars registered) over the past ten years is set out in the following table: Year Net Receipts Nos. Private Cars Registered € 1996 448,867,644 163,290 1997 502,621,274 181,718 1998 615,068,488 191,057 1999 771,115,041 212,334 2000 1,001,252,058 256,432 2001 788,029,014 181,314 2002...

Written Answers — National Development Plan: National Development Plan (4 Jul 2006)

Brian Cowen: The next National Development Plan 2007-2013 will contain 7 year indicative financial allocations. These indicative allocations will be at national level rather than two Region level as is the case in the current Plan. The two Region basis derived from the Structural Funds regionalisation strategy under the current round which yielded an additional €600 million in Structural Funds. This...