Results 9,881-9,900 of 14,706 for speaker:Phil Hogan

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I will answer them. However, I also wish to correct a number of points the Deputy made. I did not promise legislation last June.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: No, I did not. I have before me, in writing, the promise I made in the House, including with regard to the roadmap.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I fully acknowledge that I am a few weeks behind time. While slippage sometimes occurs, I am bringing forward the policy analysis done by the National Economic and Social Council from the end of February 2013 to next week. The Deputy failed to refer to his document, which is the outcome of a process that involves the various stakeholders drawing up the necessary policy options and doing an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I am anxious to work in step with our EU partners to ensure that we have a competitive, low carbon economy. If we are out of step with them and fall behind the leaders, it might damage our competitiveness. We are working in step with our EU partners to comply with targets to which we are legally bound. The outline heads of the low carbon Bill will be brought to the Government next week....

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 and 165 together. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent commissioner of valuation under the Valuation Act 2001. The Commissioner for Valuation has sole responsibility for all valuation matters,...

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I welcome the fact that Deputy Boyd Barrett is now seeking to champion the cause of small businesses.

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I welcome him to the revolution that he is acknowledging has taken place with regard to small businesses.

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I am very surprised that he is doing so because he and his friends protested against my visit to a very important facility in his own constituency last week, valued at €100 million. They do not want people to pay anything, which would put more pressure on commercial small businesses struggling for survival as well as on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to provide services...

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I wish to reduce the burden and not increase it, as advocated by Deputy Boyd Barrett.

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I agree with the sentiments expressed by both Deputies with regard to helping small businesses through these difficult times. Small businesses in a provincial town contribute a substantially higher proportion of their profit to their local authority than in a major town or city. There is a case to be made and I am prepared to look at any opportunities, with the help of the Minister for...

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I agree with the sentiments expressed by all Deputies about the frustration of small business with commercial rates and their application arising from the existing Valuation Act. The Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 is working its way through the Upper House and I hope it will be in the Dáil in this session. There are many anomalies. I am sure that all of us, from our direct...

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I am sure other sectors of the economy are getting a break.

Other Questions: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: The House will be aware that the hotel sector got a significant break of a reduction in its rates base in the past year and it acknowledged that. Maybe Deputy Wallace is not aware of that. The hotel sector is a significant employer as well. The point Deputy Wallace makes, with which I agree, is that there is a significant problem here. The Valuation Office is too slow to carry out...

Other Questions: Property Taxation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 135, 137 and 146 together. The introduction of the local property tax will provide a more sustainable funding model for local government, will devolve greater responsibility for financial decisions to local level, and will help renew the relationship between the citizen and his or her local authority. In introducing the Act, the Government has been keen to...

Other Questions: Property Taxation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I am not in a position to clarify a number of those issues today because they form part of the finance Bill. The regulations for the implementation of this tax will form part of that Bill in coming weeks when it will become clear. However, there is an issue of equity here. Some people in local authority estates, perhaps in tenant purchase schemes, are paying a contribution under the...

Other Questions: Property Taxation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: Some 130,000 social housing units provided by local authorities and 27,000 units provided by approved housing bodies could become part of the category the Deputy mentions in the context of the local property tax. A steering group made up of all the Departments and agencies he mentioned is considering this issue and will report to the Minister for Finance in the context of the finance Bill.

Other Questions: Property Taxation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: This is ironic given the calls by some Members earlier for support for the small business sector, in particular Deputy Boyd Barrett who called for some respite in the differentiation of rates in town centres. No one has yet suggested how all sectors of society could be asked to make an equitable contribution to same.

Other Questions: Property Taxation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: The issues raised by Deputies, in relation in particular to the approved housing bodies, are important and will be clarified in the context of the Finance Bill which the Minister for Finance will shortly publish.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Proposed Legislation (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I refer to the reply to Prior ity Question No. 132 on today’s order paper. As I stated in that reply, I see a central role for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht in the policy development process. That is why, in drafting the Programme for the development of national policy and legislation, I earmarked a significant period of time for the Joint...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Leader Programmes (5 Feb 2013)

Phil Hogan: I propose to take Question Nos. 140, 172 and 157 together. Mayo North East Leader Partnership is the Local Action Group contracted by my Department to deliver both the R ural Development Programme and the Local Communi ty Development Programme to the North Mayo area. On foot of correspondence received in 2011 regarding a possible governance issue at Mayo North East LEADER Partnership...