Results 13,781-13,800 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy asked if I accept that an IMF approach is being brought to the release of European Union funding. The answer to that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Okay, the model of the troika but the question the Deputy put to me was whether I believe the troika approach to the release of funding is being institutionalised in the future in the context of the MFF. I do not believe it is being institutionalised. As the Deputy has already acknowledged and I have said repeatedly, there are other funding streams for which criteria have to be met in order...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The availability of more financial services within our State is probably separate to many of the elements to which we are referring and which form part of banking union. What is more likely to lead to more services being provided or to services being provided at a more competitive price is first, fintech and new financial services coming into our country and second, the balance sheets of our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to see that happen. The banking union measures that were referred to are dealing with a different issue entirely, namely, the stability of our banking system. It is not acceptable to me that Irish mortgage interest rates are so far above the European Union average in the way I know and in the way the Deputy has described. It is worth making the point that a factor contributing to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: First, I never said it is the main reason. I said it is a contributory factor.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The record will show that I said it is a contributory factor. I now use this opportunity to talk about the other contributory factors. As one compares our interest rate which those of some of the economies to which the Deputy has referred, one finds that some have levels of non-performing loans that are also very high. They are not as high as in the Irish economy by any stretch but I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Sure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will do that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: On where it is going to move to, the figures the Commission has published point to an increase. The Taoiseach has already said we are willing to contribute more than at present. I do have a figure in mind regarding what we would be able to afford and what that level of contribution would be but we are at a very early stage of negotiation and it would be wise for me to point to where our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a figure in mind regarding what we can afford.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Depending on how it is calculated, we estimate the UK contribution is in the region of €10 billion to €12 billion per annum, which is 7% to 8% of the total EU budget. There are only three ways in which that shortfall could be dealt with. Either the level of expenditure goes down, the level contribution goes up, or there is a mixture of the two. How the Brexit shortfall will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is correct about the own-resources model that the Commission has put forward. One of the sources it has put forward is the introduction of a CCCTB. The Irish position on the matter is unchanged. We will not support the introduction of such a fundamental change to corporate tax policy. It is doing so because the approach has been used in the past. It is one that the Commission...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It is €12 billion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, it has.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, that is correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Indeed. It would be over the lifetime of the entire budget plan, and while €12 billion is a gigantic and vast amount, it is in the context of the more than €1 trillion the Commission is looking to raise in this budget.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: At the end of 2017 the debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 68%. That is a reduction of 2.1 percentage points on where I estimated it would be last year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes. By the end of this year the debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to reach 66% and, therefore, the 60% target as mandated by the Stability and Growth Pact should be reached before the end of 2021. My position on windfall gains is unchanged. The approach I used, for example, on the proceeds from the sale of AIB in the past will continue to be my approach in the future. What we do all of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It is under consideration all the time. Such stories and analysis have regularly been written about my views over the past year. We keep it under review all of the time and look at where market conditions stand, but, as the Deputy will be aware, we also have a programme for Government commitment in relation to this matter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: European Union-Related Matters: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Jun 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, I am. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has published papers reviewing where we stand on the issue. We think we are doing okay on it. One issue I am aware of, which I fed into the process, is that sometimes we think of demographics in terms of what happens within social protection and we let that guide our thinking, principally about people getting older, but we have to...