Results 7,401-7,420 of 16,492 for speaker:Ciarán Lynch

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: We will commence today's meeting, which is to discuss pre-budget submissions. I welcome Mr. James Claffey, policy and communications officer, Irish Rural Link, IRL; Ms Michelle Murphy, policy research analyst, Social Justice Ireland, SJI; Mr. Michael Harty, chairman, Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI; Mr. Robin Hanan, director, European Anti-Poverty Network, Ireland, EAPN; Ms Caroline...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I thank Ms O'Sullivan. The reason this meeting is taking place before the summer recess is the budget cycle has been changed, with the budget now being presented in October instead of December. Another significant aspect this year is that, having exited the bailout programme, Ireland, like other member states in the eurozone, has country-specific recommendations. I invite the delegates to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: In the context of the fuel poverty strategy, what is the difference between living in a major urban area such as Dublin and living in a rural area?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: My next question about the social justice service programme and the corporation tax rate is directed at Ms Murphy. The assumption made in the proposal is that the effective rate is 6%. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: They are all Irish-registered companies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: Any company registered here is in a particular zone. The committee has looked extensively at companies that may be engaged in very elaborate tax constructions but Ms Murphy is talking about an effective tax rate for companies that are Irish-registered and liable to the Irish rate of corporation tax.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I refer to the reference in the country-specific recommendations to Ireland continuing to deal with the structural deficit in taxation which happened around the time of the collapse. I refer to water charges and property tax. Social Justice Ireland representatives attended the committee two years ago and engaged in innovative thinking about the property tax. I assume the organisation is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: At the time it was modelled on that basis of local services in order that those who had access to schools and bus stops in their locality would pay more than those who lived at a distance from such services. There are advantages and disadvantages to that approach. For example, a person living in a mansion in a remote part of Ireland would pay very little in property tax compared to someone...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: That is the same view it held two years ago.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I ask Mr. Harty how Home and Community Care Ireland savings of €69 million could be made.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I ask Mr. Harty to expand on his proposal of a €50,000 ceiling on tax relief. How would it operate?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I am very interested in Mr. Hanan's concept of jobseeker's payments moving to an hours-based scheme as opposed to a daily one. I was that soldier once and it had a very adverse impact. If one gets only one or two hours of work every day, amounting to 16 hours over the course of a week, which is two day's work, how can that be modelled? If somebody earns minimum wage and works eight or six...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: There would be a distinct difference between a person who receives benefit and a person who receives allowance.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: For instance, if one is unemployed and receiving benefit one could earn €1,000 working on a Tuesday, theoretically, without any impact on the days for which one is signing on. If one receives allowance and earns just €100 for a day's work, it would have a very significant impact on the payments one receives for the remainder of the week.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I have first-hand experience of the concept and have seen the difficulties of it. How can it be reconciled?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: Does EAPN Ireland have a proposal on how it might be reconciled or does it suggest it must be examined?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: The family income supplement is a better model than a daily social welfare rate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: Family income supplement may be more equitable. Could Ms Fahy expand on her thoughts about training or work experience opportunities for young early school leavers? Based on my background, training should be part of any work experience.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I was an adult literacy organiser in my previous work, to which I may return. One of the difficulties my colleagues in the field talk about is the people at or below FETAC level 3. A certain degree of flexibility is required for this client group because their first experience of education was not positive and dealing with the structure of the system is very difficult for them. Given that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Ciarán Lynch: I am sure the other Deputies, like me, have people coming to them with overpayments of €500 to €30,000. They can go on for years. By and large I have found the Department to be fairly sensible about what is achievable in cases where a person on a fixed, low income owes a large amount of money. Even an overpayment of €30,000 could be reconciled with a payment of...