Results 20,521-20,540 of 35,882 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Finance: EU Directives (10 Nov 2016)

Pearse Doherty: 106. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the State's implementation of the anti-tax avoidance directive; the legislative or regulatory steps he plans to take to complete its implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34127/16]

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

Pearse Doherty: I would like a clarification. The Chairman said the divisions will take place as they arise. Will they not take place at the end of the sections, as normal in committee?

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

Pearse Doherty: Okay.

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

Pearse Doherty: It is fine. I asked out of curiosity more than anything else.

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

Pearse Doherty: I echo that call. It is important that we frame the discussion we will have this week and next week on Committee Stage of the Finance Bill in the economic context we are in. As Deputy McGrath said, we are all aware of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the Exchequer figures, but last night's victory for the Trump campaign has created further uncertainty, which the Minister himself...

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

Pearse Doherty: We will have to get to the meat of the amendments, but it is important to have a brief discussion on this because what we are doing here is based on the fiscal rules. I welcome the acknowledgement from the Labour Party, as we have heard from other parties, that it was wrong in its approach to the fiscal rules and that it should not have supported putting legally binding rules into our...

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

Pearse Doherty: The Labour Party is now seeking to have them revised. We pointed this out in the first place. We cannot spend capital because of the fiscal rules which the Deputy argued and campaigned for and which the people voted for. That is democracy. My question follows on from the valid question Deputy Burton raised. I previously asked the Minister about the fact the budget does not provide for...

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

Pearse Doherty: Amendment No. 65 is in my name. When I raise this issue every year, I am told that the data are not available and that it is hoped they will be available the following year or at some future point. It is important to recognise that the Department of Finance and the Economic and Social Research Institute have worked on the CSO data and are apparently going to make a presentation in this...

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

Pearse Doherty: Could the Minister give more detail on the report that will be presented? I presume the Minister has seen the report, which is being worked on by his Department and the ESRI. We are asking for a net wealth tax. Every year, we have this discussion on local property tax, CGT and CAT. The Minister is reducing the latter two. The local property tax is not a net wealth tax. Let us not rehash...

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

Pearse Doherty: I will withdraw the amendment with the option of re-introducing it on Report Stage, which probably will be after the publication of the work being done by the ESRI and the Department. I acknowledge it has been a step forward. I do not think it would have happened if it was not for myself and others continuing to put this on the political agenda. Hopefully there will be comprehensive data...

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

Pearse Doherty: No. Will the Chairman bear with me?

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

Pearse Doherty: Just on section 2-----

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

Pearse Doherty: No, before we go onto section 3, I will speak on section 2. The Chairman has disposed of amendment No. 2 but section 2 is the section that reduces the universal social charge.

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

Pearse Doherty: I am opposed to section 2. I believe it is a mistake by Government. I acknowledge the reductions in the universal social charge are very small and that people, particularly low and middle-income earners, are feeling the pinch and have been for many years as a result of both this Government's policies and the previous Fianna Fáil Government's policies. There are better ways to relieve...

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

Pearse Doherty: The Minister mentioned that high marginal tax rates have an affect on employment yet there is no data to suggest that is the case. Indeed, the ESRI, which, I am sure the Minister will acknowledge, is a reputable body and does not have a political axe to grind, has stated before the Committee on Budgetary Oversight that this notion should be tested and made a follow-up point that sufficient...

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

Pearse Doherty: -----or we do not have enough money to house the homeless or to build the new houses that are needed to deal with the housing crisis.

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

Pearse Doherty: This is very relevant.

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

Pearse Doherty: With regard to the budget, it is the Minister's view that it is easy to decide we do not need €444 million of tax money this year, next year and every other year because our services are somehow fine. This would be somehow justifiable if we did not have a crisis in health, a crisis in housing and a crisis in homelessness, and if we did not have workers out on strike and balloting for...

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

Pearse Doherty: This is a very bad move. The Minister has presented as facts what are not facts. He has changed his argument to suit a political narrative and to suit some type of person in the Fine Gael headquarters who decided, "This is a good idea. Let us print up some election posters saying 'Abolish the USC', and the country is somehow going to be fine despite getting rid of €5.6 billion from...

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

Pearse Doherty: I would have appreciated if Deputy D'Arcy had addressed the motion in full. If he wanted to give full information for accuracy, and I have made this point in the Dáil Chamber, what it actually called for was the abolition of the USC and the reinstatement of the health levy and the income levy. The point I made earlier is that when the previous Government of Fianna Fáil introduced...