Results 20,501-20,520 of 35,829 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: While I am not surprised that the Government will not accept the amendment, I am shocked at the Minister's response. He has just told the committee that no longer obliging those who earn just above the minimum wage to pay the USC, which would cost the State €78 million, would leave us vulnerable to external shocks and narrow the tax base. This is madness. The Minister is going to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister is making the argument I made. The point I made earlier is that his proposal this year cost €462 million. The proposal I suggested, which should be the sum total of what we do with USC, is to bring those earning up to the minimum wage out of the net, which would cost €78 million. While I have acknowledged that this would narrow the tax base, in the context of USC...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I agree with the script the Minister's officials wrote for him and it is in line with the briefing note they gave him when he was re-elected and took office. However, it is completely out of step with the political position of his party to get rid of the USC. What the Minister said is accurate. The abolition of the USC to the scale the Minister is talking about would leave us vulnerable to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 5:In page 6, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: "3. The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann an analysis of the tax changes in this Act, and the total of tax changes and spending adjustments of Budget 2015, setting out the continuing impact on people based on their gender, income, age,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: We have not seen the stuff that is to be published but I am not sure that the comprehensive data I have looked for in terms of disability, status, income and so on will be available. However, I could be proved wrong. The principle of doing this is one that the Department should lead out on. If it is the case that the is data there, it could be collated and the gaps provided on. On that...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 6:In page 6, to delete lines 21 and 22 and substitute the following:“(a) in paragraph (a), by substituting “€1,100” for “€550”, and (b) in paragraph (b), by substituting “€1,100” for “€550”.”. The proposal by the Government to equalise the self-employed tax credit with the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I will come in on that point. I have asked that as we go through this there would be some clarification. I sat with the clerk who has given time to try to explain this and I have suggested a guide for Deputies. I imagine there are very few people in the House who understand the rulings. The clerk has to go on existing rulings and precedent and all the rest but, for the life of me, I do...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: The reason I raised it this morning is because we need to do it at committee level. The schedule is to go through this until 9 o'clock tonight. I think it would be unfair to ask the clerk to sit back and for us to go into his office one by one to discuss this. We are back early tomorrow morning. We should set out half an hour and ask the clerk to come in to explain some of the rulings so...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Not yet. Not since we came down here.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I will withdraw it, but we may come back to it on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I have signalled that I will come back to this issue on Report Stage. I acknowledge that the amendment I tabled in this regard has been ruled out of order, but on Report Stage the Minister might address the tapering out of tax credits for higher income earners.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I gather we are discussing this amendment and the next one together. I will begin by discussing the fisher tax credit. We should perhaps give it its Irish name, which has always been gender neutral, an iascaire. There are issues in terms of state aid in respect of the seafarer allowance being proposed under the Indecon report. It was made clear that there were state aid issues. No such...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I support the amendment. The report comes up with good recommendations, although I am not supportive of all of them. The reported has rightly flagged that there are issues in respect of state aid rules applying in this case. For example, the report has made a recommendation in respect of the tax tonnage regime to allow us to compete with Malta. Currently, the Malta regime is under...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I am a little concerned about this measure. While we should be supportive of sport and Irish athletes, there are provisions in place to deal with income accrued from sporting activities, including fees and earnings. Provision has already been made to allow, for example, a golfer who wins the Ryder Cup to treat income from the win as non-taxable. The proposal in this section goes too far by...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I will study the Minister's note on this issue before Report Stage because it was difficult to follow when he read it out. Is it the case under the current scenario that for certain sportspersons, earnings derived directly from participation in sport, namely, prize money, performance fees, etc., as opposed to income from sponsorship, advertisements or endorsements, are subject to relief...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Let me take the example of a golfer who earns €500,000 in prize money for winning a competition. The individual in question is an Irish resident and his or her income is taxable in Ireland. Is it correct that he or she will not pay income tax on this portion of earnings?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: The net effect is that the golfer will not pay income tax on this portion of income because it can be claimed back.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: I am not picking on golf but the net effect of this measure is that income tax will not be paid on prize money from golf competitions. It would be paid initially and reimbursed on retirement.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: Does the 40% relief apply to prize money or earnings? For example, in the case of a football player paid €60,000 per annum, is 40% of annual salary exempt from tax?