Results 12,761-12,780 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Either he made an honest mistake or-----

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----he intentionally misled but there is no evidence that he intentionally misled-----

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: -----and to date in this debate the Opposition has not produced a shred of evidence that he intentionally misled anyone on this court proceeding. The Opposition does not have any evidence of this but it constantly insinuates that in some sense he is guilty of an offence which he never committed.

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Deputy Kenny cannot act, and this morning his spokesperson suggested that the Director of Public Prosecutions might have some role in this matter but there is no evidence being given to the Director of Public Prosecutions on this matter. What we have in this whole political saga is an attempt by Fine Gael to operate as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. We are not having it.

Confidence in Minister for Defence: Motion (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Deputy Kenny has not produced a shred of evidence.

Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Powers of Inquiry) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I thank Deputy Rabbitte and the Labour Party for the considerable work that went into drafting the Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Powers of Inquiry) Bill 2010. The Bill was first before this House on 20 January in the context of the Labour Party's Private Members' motion on an inquiry into the banking crisis and the desire for such an inquiry to be conducted in public by a...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There are a great many State bodies, State boards and organisations funded by Government Departments, including some 112 non-commercial semi-state bodies (NCSSBs) operating under the aegis of the various Government Departments as well hospitals, universities and other third level institutions, health related bodies, just over 300 local and regional bodies and various ad-hoc and advisory...

Written Answers — Disabled Drivers: Disabled Drivers (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101 to 103, inclusive, and 107 and 108 together. The Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal is hosted by the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), Rochestown Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin on behalf of the Department of Finance and the cost of the Board has been recouped to the NRH since 2005 from the Department of Finance Vote. I am therefore...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The position is that tax relief is available for mortgage interest paid on a qualifying home loan, i.e. a loan used for the purchase, repair, development or improvement of an individual's principal private residence and is operated through the tax relief at source (TRS) system. In my Supplementary Budget 2009, I announced that mortgage interest relief for first-time and non-first time buyers...

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they already have a number of Public Offices serving the Border area (at Letterkenny, Bridgend and Donegal Town in Co. Donegal, at Sligo, Monaghan and Dundalk). These offices are available to provide a range of Revenue services to cross-Border workers. The offices already deal on a regular basis with tax enquires relating to cross border...

Written Answers — Banking Sector Reform: Banking Sector Reform (17 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As independent bodies, it is a matter in the first instance for the financial institutions themselves, whether covered by the Bank Guarantee Scheme or not, to consider and determine their strategic arrangements, subject of course to necessary regulatory, competition and other relevant requirements. Regarding the State's role, its primary consideration continues to be to protect, in the public...

Written Answers — Public Service Contracts: Public Service Contracts (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: National guidelines for contracting authorities in relation to minimum standards for suitability criteria for construction contractors interested in tendering for public works projects are being developed by my Department and, when available, will be published on the Department's construction website www.constructionprocurement.gov.ie. These guidelines will take account of the principles of...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: My Department does not have a formal policy in relation to staff donating blood during normal working hours. However, a number of the Department's staff have been donating blood to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service on a regular basis for many years. Subject to meeting the business needs of the areas concerned, the Department is happy to facilitate this ongoing practice.

Written Answers — Complaints Procedures: Complaints Procedures (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: My Department maintains a well-publicised, accessible, transparent and simple-to-use system of dealing with complaints about the quality of service provided. Similarly, a simple-to-use system of appeal/review for customers who are dissatisfied with decisions in relation to services is maintained. Complaints about our standards of service delivery addressed to our Quality Customer Service...

Written Answers — Electronic Payments System: Electronic Payments System (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Payments systems deal with the transfer of money (funds) between bank accounts. While each member state has effective payments systems at national level, the integration of the single market in financial services has been hindered by the lack of cross-border interoperability between national payments systems. For some years now the payments industry has been working to improve the dynamics...

Written Answers — Public Sector Remuneration: Public Sector Remuneration (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The reductions to the pay of all public servants, including teachers, announced in my Budget Statement of 9 December 2009 were legislated for through the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No 2) Act 2009, and were implemented with effect from 1 January 2010. Section 3 of the Act provides that in calculating the pension entitlements of those in receipt of public service...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the relevant information available on the cost to the Exchequer of each of the property and area based tax reliefs is based on personal income tax returns filed by non-PAYE taxpayers and corporation tax returns filed by companies for the year 2007, the latest year that this information is available. These are set out in the following table: ...

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the termination dates for the various property-based incentive schemes vary depending on the scheme and are set out in the following table. These termination dates are the dates by which the construction or refurbishment work on a building has to be carried out if the expenditure that is attributable to that work is to qualify for tax relief....

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the information provided in tax returns on the annual amounts of claims for property based tax reliefs is not sufficiently detailed to provide a basis for deriving an estimate of the remaining legacy cost to the Exchequer. I am not therefore in a position to provide the information requested by the Deputy.

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (18 Feb 2010)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 69 together. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the relevant information available on the cost to the Exchequer of hotel capital allowances is based on personal income tax returns filed by non-PAYE taxpayers and corporation tax returns filed by companies for the years 2004 to 2007, the latest year for which this information is available....