Results 9,401-9,420 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Other Questions: Tax Yield (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I had hoped that in the Deputy's supplementary question to me there would be an acknowledgement that in the figures produced yesterday, which looked at the half year, we have seen an improvement in many of the tax heads versus where we were last year and versus the targets that we have for this year. In particular, in June we saw a number of the tax heads that are particularly important in...

Other Questions: Tax Yield (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Over the last number of weeks that I have been in this role, the Revenue Commissioners have not raised the matter with me to date. However, I will be meeting them directly in the coming days and will raise the matter with them to see if there is a cause for concern in the way the Deputy has outlined. As we know, the Revenue Commissioners impartially implement all the laws that we have...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 53 together. A real estate investment trust or REIT is a quoted company used as a collective investment vehicle to hold rental property. A REIT is exempt from corporation tax on qualifying income and gains from rental property subject to a high profit distribution requirement. A REIT provides the same after-tax returns to investors as direct...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will not begin a practice here of commenting on the tax affairs of any individual company. That is a matter for the company. What I will comment on is the overall tax treatment of REITs and similar entities. What neither Deputy pointed out in their analysis of the issue is the fact that because of how they are structured, REITs are required to return 85% of their yield or profit to...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: In his first priority question the Deputy made the point that I should not make any comment that might have consequences for the housing market in how it was structured for those who participated in it. I will abide by that principle in any comment I make on the taxation of rental income in the future, apart from confirming for the Deputy that there is a report on the way on all tax support...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I outlined the way in which tax was paid by those who benefited from the funds, depending on where they were resident.

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am well aware of the difficulties and challenges people face in the housing market across the country, whether they are looking to buy, living in rental accommodation or worried about the direction their rent is taking. I am as aware of them as the Deputy.

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: What I do not need from the Deputy every time an effort is made by the Government to try to address the housing issue, for example, we made over €5 billion available to be invested in the provision of social housing is it being condemned as being insufficient by Sinn Féin which at no time explains to us from where we will get the additional resources.

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: What I have done is acknowledge the role REITs can play in dealing with the issue of housing supply. REITs, in particular, play a role in the release of commercial property which we also need. I have clearly outlined how income generated from REITs is taxed. It is taxed in different ways, depending on where one is resident. There is also the dividend withholding tax which has not been...

Other Questions: Tax Code (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As much as I appreciate the Deputy's interruptions, it would be helpful if he were to make these points in the time available to him, but I will continue to do my best to answer the last set of questions he asked. We have put in place measures aimed at boosting supply, while recognising the difficulties people face in the housing market. Like any taxation or policy measure, they will always...

Other Questions: NAMA Operations (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The pending implementation of the 2014 revised EU audit directive and regulations which underpin the Deputy’s question was first brought to the attention of my officials in the Department of Finance in respect of the potential impact for NAMA in May 2016 by officials within the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, who are responsible for transposing the...

Other Questions: NAMA Operations (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will come back to the Deputy on his question about NAMA being a public interest entity. To answer the main question he asked, it arises from a change to the audit requirements. Because the audit requirements emanated from an EU directive, we had to change how we were dealing with these matters. All of the bodies affected, including NAMA and the Comptroller and Auditor General, worked...

Other Questions: NAMA Operations (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: To answer the Deputy's question, I am not aware that my Department sought an exemption. If I am wrong in that understanding, I will respond to the Deputy with the information. There has been no change in the recognition of the constitutional role of the Comptroller and Auditor General as auditor of the State. It has not been affected. The Deputy asked my view on the role of the...

Other Questions: Sale of State Assets (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the State has now sold 25% of AIB's ordinary share capital at a price of €4.40 per share for a consideration of almost €3 billion. The offering was strongly supported by a broad range of international institutional investors, with all of the top investors being categorised as longer term investors and sovereign wealth funds. The State also granted...

Other Questions: Sale of State Assets (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: On the Deputy's first point about the share price and investors doing well, of course, the State is still an investor. It owns the vast majority of the bank and as the share price goes up, our stake in the bank also goes up. To answer the Deputy's second question, it continues to be my intention to use the money to repay the national debt. The €3 billion relating to the 25% of sales...

Other Questions: Sale of State Assets (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yesterday, my Department was clear and careful not to use the proceeds of the sale in the AIB share to influence the half-year figures for income and expenditure. The changes in our position overall were mostly driven by the improvement in tax collection, especially throughout June. We did not use the sale of the AIB share to influence the presentation of those figures, but of course it did...

Other Questions: NAMA Transactions (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As outlined to the Deputy in my written response to Parliamentary Question No. 107 on 29 June 2017, I am advised by NAMA that while Project Shift began as an asset sale it ultimately transacted as a loan sale. While Project Shift and Project Eagle were two separate transactions and were completed as such, given that the same purchaser ultimately was involved in both transactions, it made...

Other Questions: NAMA Transactions (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will always be straight with Deputy Wallace but I fear he might be disappointed with the answers I can give him on this matter. I will always try to give him the fullest information I can as a Member of the Oireachtas. Many Deputies called for the establishment of a commission of investigation in the aftermath of the Committee of Public Accounts work on aspects of Project Eagle. I cannot...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Competitiveness (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland’s economic recovery has been underpinned by a significant improvement in competitiveness.  The latest figures from the Central Bank of Ireland show that Ireland's real harmonised competitiveness indicator, a widely used measure of competitiveness in Europe, has improved by approximately 20 per cent between its peak in 2008 and May 2017. Progress can also be seen in our...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Fiscal Policy (5 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department carries out and publishes the results of fiscal stress tests on a frequent basis. The annual Stability Programme Update (SPU) submitted to the European Commission each April complies with European requirements, including the Code of Conduct agreed between the Commission and the Member States.  EU requirements are that economic and budgetary forecasts use the most...