Results 11,181-11,200 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (16 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: In 1995, as a public service pension reform measure, it was agreed that all future entrants to the public service would pay full PRSI and be eligible for a Contributory State Pension as a part of their overall pension entitlement. As a consequence, occupational pensions for those recruited between 1995 and 2012 are made up of an occupational pension payment plus Contributory State...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Legislative Programme (16 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Sector Standards Bill provides for the disclosure of registerable interests by members of the Oireachtas and public servants, and for investigation of possible non-compliance with the legislation. The Bill consolidates the current legislative framework governing the ethical obligations of public officials. It aims to significantly enhance the existing framework for...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Appointments to State Boards (16 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 80 together. As the Deputy will be aware, the Government overhauled the system for State Board appointments during 2014, building on a number of earlier innovations originally introduced in 2011. The revised approach has the following three key principles at its core: - the promotion of wider access to opportunities on State boards; - the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Gender Balance (16 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the only State Board under my remit. The gender breakdown of that Board in tabular form is as follows: Total Membership  as per Legislation Vacancies Current Members Gender Breakdown 9 3 6 Male 66.7% Female 33.3%

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: We dealt with this matter on Committee Stage. I just want to make a few points on the amendment put forward by Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett. I will explain why we will not be accepting it. The Deputy criticised the last budget when we delivered, through a series of changes to the USC and by increasing the entry point to the higher rate of income tax, a set of gains of around €5 per...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I think that is the difficulty, namely, that they were the tax policies of the 1960s and 1970s and the tax code, especially for a small open economy such as Ireland's has very different needs. We must have a resilient tax base. If we were to take the course of action recommended by Deputy Boyd Barrett it would undermine the strength of the tax base and I believe instead what we should be...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: For good or ill, I read Capital in the Twenty-First Century and it goes through the point Deputy Boyd Barrett made in great detail, but the majority of the book is about the inequality in the distribution of wealth and the causes of it.

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, we will move on to that later, whereas what we are focusing on here relates to the distribution of income. In that context it is worth making the point that the latest data available to the OECD showed we had the largest absolute reduction in the Gini coefficient between market and disposable income for any OECD country for which data were available. We do have a way of intervening in...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputies will be aware that the process of phasing out mortgage interest relief from home owners has been underway since 2009. Relief has expired for qualifying mortgages taken out prior to 2004 and the relief was abolished for new borrowers for mortgages taken out after 31 December 2013. Therefore, only qualifying borrowings taken out between 2004 and 2012 remain in receipt of the relief....

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: All Deputies will know that regardless of the composition of this Government, by the time a budget was being forged and a change introduced that could have had an immediate and significant effect on 400,000 citizens, steps would have been taken to moderate the effect of that change, to make sure that it was introduced in as fair a manner as possible and over as long a period as possible....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Help-To-Buy Scheme Eligibility (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Help to Buy initiative does not apply to the purchase of second-hand properties. It is instead a targeted response that is aimed at first-time buyers, buying (or building) new residences. I am advised by Revenue that local property tax is generally payable following the purchase of a second-hand house where the house was built before 1 May 2013. In relation to first-time buyers, there...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Yield (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that since its introduction in 2010 to the end of 2016 carbon tax receipts amounted to almost €2.5bn. Provisional figures for receipts for the first 10 months of 2017 amount to just over €350m. Further information on carbon tax receipts is published on the Revenue statistics website at:. This includes a breakdown by commodity since 2010. With regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Energy Prices (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department monitors energy costs as part of its overall assessment of inflation trends on an ongoing basis. CSO data indicate that the Energy Products component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by an average of 3.9 per cent on an annualised basis over the first ten months of 2017. As a result, Energy Products have provided a positive boost to overall inflation this year,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Stamp Duty (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that transfers of farmland between certain blood relatives qualify for a reduced rate of stamp duty of 1% provided certain conditions are met. This is referred to as consanguinity relief. This measure currently applies where the person transferring the land is less than 67 years of age. In Finance Bill 2017 I have introduced measures to extend consanguinity...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been informed by the Central Bank due to the confidentiality requirements imposed by domestic and EU legislation, which provides for confidentiality of information relating to ongoing supervision and limits disclosure to circumstances specifically provided for in Section 33AK of the Central Bank Act 1942, the Central Bank cannot comment on individual interactions with regulated...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Treaties (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland, in accordance with our International Tax Strategy, is committed to engaging constructively and respectfully with developing countries in relation to tax matters, and to supporting such countries in raising domestic tax revenues in ways that are more efficient, that promote good governance and equitable development, and that can allow them to eventually exit from a dependence on...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I can confirm for the Deputy that the matter referred to has not been raised with me. I would remind the Deputy, however, that although the State has a 14% minority shareholding in BOI, I in my role as the Minister for Finance, have no direct function in the relationship between the bank and its customers. Decisions taken by the bank in this regard are matters for the board...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As I have said all along, it is my intention to introduce the tax on sugar-sweetened drinks at the beginning of April to align with the introduction of Soft Drinks Industry Levy in the UK, subject to State aid approval from the European Commission.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Implementation (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Carbon tax was introduced on a phased basis and applied to motor fuels with effect from December 2009. It was extended to non-solid fuels in 2010 and finally to solid fuels in 2013 and 2014. As with all taxes it is reviewed on an ongoing basis in the context of the Tax Strategy Group deliberations on annual budget options. In addition to such reviews, pursuant to a commitment in the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (21 Nov 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for Brexit, Minister Coveney has responsibility for coordinating the whole-of-Government response to Brexit. Work at Cabinet level is being prepared through cross-Departmental coordination structures. These represent a frequent and active channel through which all relevant Departments are providing their research,...