Results 8,021-8,040 of 36,188 for speaker:Pearse Doherty
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: Have there been amendments to the country-specific recommendations for Ireland?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: The intention is to implement these recommendations. What has been the interaction between the Government and the Commission on the latter’s view that the tax base for property tax should be widened?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister earlier said that Ireland needs to show progress in these in the next 12 months. Does he intend to broaden the general tax base in the next 12 months?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: I appreciate that. The Minister said earlier that there seems to be a difference of opinion between the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Department on the structural deficit target. Is the Department and the Minister of the view that a structural deficit rate of 0% must be reached by 2018 to meet commitments under the fiscal compact treaty?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: With a debt of about 60% of GDP, to have a balanced budget means we must have a structural deficit of 0.5%. The Government is targeting 0% by 2018 but the fiscal council believes the Government is overshooting the target and is applying more austerity than is required to meet it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: I am surprised that the view of the Department is that the 0.5% deficit is not the appropriate figure. We have had a referendum on this issue. As far as I understand, it is written in the legislation or the treaty that 0.5% is the figure. I will turn to other issues that have been identified and challenges we face in respect of the medium-term objectives. It has again been pointed out by...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: We will return to that point. In respect of the budget, the Minister has made it very clear, as he has every year, that it is the deficit targets and not the adjustment that is at issue. I have made the point that it is not even the adjustment figure that we should be debating but rather how that adjustment is applied - who pays the price. The CSO is reportedly looking at our data in terms...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: So it will be in excess of 1% of GDP?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: That saves a deficit reduction of about €800 million.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: I understand that. That recalculation could lead to-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: So that could deal with many budgetary adjustments without actually making any change just as a result of the recalculation of our GDP?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister previously mentioned to us in the Dáil that the rule of thumb is that for every-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: This is my last point. The Minister told us that the rule of thumb is that for every 1% increase in GDP, there is an adjustment of about €800 million that one does not need to make in terms of the deficit.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: There is no tax coming in.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Forthcoming ECOFIN Council: Minister for Finance (18 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: It will have an effect but it will be much smaller.
- Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Loan Book (19 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: 42. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of vacant residential properties the National Asset Management Agency is exposed to in Dublin by postcode; and the number by county outside Dublin. [26407/14]
- Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: 176. To ask the Minister for Health when a hospital appointment will be available in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26404/14]
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2014: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (19 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: I again welcome the representatives of the Fiscal Advisory Council to the committee. They have provided a wealth of data that we can pore over. I have not been able to go through all the data since the report was published but it is good to see that an analysis has been done on housing. That issue will be monitored in future so we should revert it. It is regrettable that we and the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2014: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (19 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: Therefore, it is always asking to go further than necessary in order to give itself that little bit of leeway. I do not think the Government has ever agreed with the council's position on the level of adjustment. There is a long-term problem, however. Whether or not we agree with the Government's position, the Fiscal Advisory Council is statutorily bound to provide data, yet within a day...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Assessment Report 2014: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (19 Jun 2014)
Pearse Doherty: That was not my question but that was a good defence.