Results 15,561-15,580 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Okay. I thank the Minister.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: We need a profile of vacant properties, because while a tax would be suitable for some, it would not be for all. There are delays in the probate process. I am dealing with individual cases and currently they are taking months. A report during the summer stated that it was taking 16 months for probate to come through, but the properties in question remain vacant in the meantime. We need a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: One of the report's recommendations is that a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the scheme should be undertaken after a period. Given the limited time since the measure was introduced, a report inevitably can only represent a preliminary assessment and, in short, the assessment is inconclusive and it is too early to say. The Government, to use the Taoiseach's words, is admonished for...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I would like to add something.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: The Minister did not answer my direct question about a cost-benefit analysis. It is recommended in the Indecon report that one be carried out after a period of time. The consultants made the point that they were only able to make a very preliminary assessment. The Minister has said that he will take into account the data and that he will be in a better position in advance of the next...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I wish to ask the Minister of State about the nature of the review that has now been carried out, which the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, said in his press statement would be completed in the first half of next year, so that any changes can be brought forward in the following budget. Is the review linked to this issue being identified? In the interim period, will the scheme...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I call on the Minister of State to answer that question. Can he give us whatever data the Department has on the number of IREFs and what value the Department has in terms of the transactions and so on? What data does the Department possess?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: There are 100 IREFs? Is that correct?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: As it may be relevant to what we are discussing, I would like the Minister of State to tell us what further amendments are under consideration in the context of IREFs. He indicated in his opening remarks on this amendment that the potential exists for other amendments to be introduced on Report Stage. I would like to know the thinking on those amendments because it is relevant to what we...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I assume a change has not been defined at this stage and the Department does not yet have an amendment in mind.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 21:In page 29, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:"Income volatility for the farming sector 17.The Minister shall within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the feasibility of introducing further tax provisions and stabilisation tools to deal with income volatility for farm enterprises both in terms...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: To clarify, what specifically will the review cover which the Minister of State has committed to undertake? Is that all agriculture related taxes? Will it include the issue of income volatility? Will there be consideration of further measure to address that?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Will that be a Department-led review? Will we see the outcome of it in advance of the budget next year?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Will it be available in advance of the budget for review and discussion?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I want to focus for a moment on REITs, which file an annual return by the end of February. What information is provided in the annual return? On the policy rationale, Ireland was a very different place in 2013. There were apartments available in Grand Canal Dock for what now appear to be very low prices. I can understand the logic of seeking to professionalise and institutionalise the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Will the Minister explain what he intends the tax strategy group to do on REITs and Irish real estate funds, IREFs?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I have a question on the new section. In respect of anti-avoidance, in the context of the Paradise Papers that are being revealed every day, although it is early days yet has the Minister any indication from Revenue that it needs to strengthen its anti-avoidance powers to deal with transactions or tax structures which, in its view, are designed to reduce or eliminate a tax liability in the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Looking at the figures, the change that lifted the cap from 80% to 100%, made in the Finance Act 2014 which came into effect in 2015, has had a staggering impact. Seamus Coffey's online blog makes for very insightful reading. In 2014, when the 80% cap last applied, €2.6 billion of capital allowances were claimed under that regime. In 2015, when the cap was increased to 100%,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I will put it on the record before we go into private session.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I will be brief. The Minister has put on record the figures for the purchase of patents for the years 2014 to 2017, inclusive. Let us call it the onshoring of intellectual property, IP, during the 100% window. Do we know how many companies those figures represent?