Results 18,121-18,140 of 32,983 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: With respect, the Deputy cannot point at me and ask how I would deal with a revenue loss, given that he is looking to abolish the tax that generates the revenue in the first place. I will respond to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council's comments on medium-term expenditure by citing the example of public pay. If we were to outline now what we believe increases in public pay will be in 2021,...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is true. Sinn Féin wants to abolish the local property tax. It was against water charges and voted against the VAT increase and the increase in the levy on the betting sector. That is Sinn Féin's track record. It was against those proposals and its only idea for raising revenue was to increase taxation on intellectual property in corporation tax policy. That is the very...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: There is always a reason to vote against these measures and the Deputy has taken it at every opportunity.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Those categories are charitable bodies; charitable bodies or public bodies providing special needs accommodation; registered nursing homes; properties that have been vacated because of long-term mental or physical infirmity; the residence of a severely incapacitated person; properties that are fully chargeable to commercial rates; unfinished housing estates; properties where there has been...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The total number of exemptions is 48,728.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The answer is "Yes". At the moment, the tax applies to properties that were levied when we last made changes to this tax. If a property like the one described by Deputy Burton is exempt, so too is a property that was purchased by somebody for €100,000 or €150,000. Those people do not pay the local property tax either.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to finish the point because this cuts both ways. As Deputy Burton is aware, far more properties have been bought at values below the price of penthouse apartments in the IFSC.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I will address Deputy Burton's point briefly. I am not suggesting that exemptions continue indefinitely. We have to change this situation. As I stated to Deputy Breathnach earlier, I accept the inequity of one property being subject to the property tax while another is not. An equal inequity in the eyes of some, however, would be charging one person on the basis of 2019 property values...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I did indeed. The incoming Governor of the Central Bank has now been appointed. He was appointed when the Government made its recommendation to the President and the President then acted on that recommendation. The Government's recommendation was made on the back of my recommendation which itself followed an independent and thorough process that yielded a single name at its conclusion....

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The New Zealand authorities have indicated that they are aiming to have this inquiry finished by the end of June. That is, however, a matter for them.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Regarding the different points the Deputy made, first, he alleged I have breached the fiscal rules in the-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No, I think the Deputy said I had breached the fiscal rules.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Each budget I have introduced has been assessed by the European Commission as being compliant with our fiscal rules. I remember being where the Deputy is seated and being assured that rules were being met. I have to do better than that even though the rules are being met. To be clear, the European Commission has assessed the performance of the budgets I have introduced vis-à-visthe...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No. The Deputy said that I had breached Government ceilings on a number of occasions. I am just stating what I have done. Third, to address the point regarding Brexit, in the stability programme update, SPU, we called out what would be the effect on our economy of a hard Brexit taking place. That was published in April. It is highlighted in a box in the SPU. However, the Deputy's...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I will need to acknowledge and outline on budget day the ways in which that will be paid for, and I will do that.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I have always said there are a number of different ways in which it can be paid for. The future tax revenues we will collect are an obvious way in which it can be paid for but there are other choices that we can make as well. I have always said that.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I have not done that to date.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My view is that we will be able to maintain other projects we have in the national development plan. When we made the decision earlier this year to pay the additional costs from the national children’s hospital without changing the capital ceilings earlier, I was told this would result in a variety of project cancellations. That has not happened. If earlier in the year I had...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I said, I have demonstrated this year our ability to deliver the funding that is needed for the national children’s hospital without making changes elsewhere. As I approach budget day having outlined the resources available to us in the summer economic statement, I believe we will be able to continue with that approach. With respect to the national broadband plan, in particular, I...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In the context of the Deputy’s assessment of where we stand from IFAC's point of view, will he give consideration to changes we have made in broadening the tax base to deal with the very risk he identified? Over the past two budgets, the tax base has been broadened. This was done despite the fact the sectors of our economy affected by tax broadening did not want it. It happened...