Results 20,561-20,580 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: Given the lack of clarification, I am going to have to do that. The alternative is to discuss the amendments now.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Yes, but I am not going to agree amendments on Committee Stage without having discussed them. I do not want to be forced into calling votes on these amendments and voting against them individually. For example, we have not been given clarification on the four-year tax-----
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Yes, I understand.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: I did.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: That is fine. That is okay. I am just explaining. We started into a discussion on the section.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: The Chair will remember that this was opposite the amendment. When that discussion closed down, it seemed that the entire discussion on this group of amendments was closed down.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Yes, with the indulgence of the Chair. I just want clarification on some of these amendments because they are quite technical.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Is there any provision for enabling returning emigrants, about whom we hear so much, to avail of this scheme? I understand the Government has a plan to entice 70,000 of them to return home. Given that they might not have a tax liability in the four years prior to their purchase of a new home, are any amending provisions being made to accommodate them?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: I have an issue with the Minister's suggestion that this is a technical amendment. I would argue that it is a substantive change, regardless of whether that is what was originally intended. The existing section within the legislation would mean that this would only apply in the case of a contractor who was proposing to build new-builds and thereby increase supply. This amendment will...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: The previous wording was about new supply. This amendment will expand the scheme to include existing houses that are likely to be sold anyway. It goes against the grain of the Minister's argument for why this is required in the first place.
- 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: It is not agreed.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Can I get clarification on that? Does a fully completed building in Dublin or wherever that is not in a ghost estate and has not yet been sold qualify as a result of this section even though it would not have qualified under the existing section?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Okay. I think the Minister has been very selective in relation to ghost estates. It is far wider than that. It increases-----
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: It is the same issue as in the past. Those who are opposed to the scheme continue to vote to expand it.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: My similar proposal was ruled out of order. Under it, this section would not have commenced until such a study had been undertaken. Deputy McGrath's proposal is better than nothing, but it is not for us to say that we should just give this a go and introduce a tax rebate despite the fact that many of us believe it will increase house prices and most observers who have appeared before...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: I understand the amendment I tabled which would have had the effect of the section not commencing was ruled out of order. I can understand the reason the Minister's arguments for not agreeing to it, but what I do not understand because he did not respond to the question I put to him directly is what is preventing his officials from carrying out the type of assessment sought in a number of...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Houses not already in the pipeline will not be built in 12 months. Therefore, the argument does not stack up. That is one of the big problems with the scheme in the first place. Obtaining planning permission for development takes a number of years, more than likely two years on average. The Minister has announced a scheme that will last for three years, but the reality is that it will...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: I would like to see data but I probably would not dispute that and there is a good reason for it. God help the many people who were forced to buy properties in many of the developments built during the Celtic tiger period because many of the properties that were built were not up to standard and were not overseen in the way that they should have been. We know of the consequences of that in...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Was that in a formal meeting or did they supply submissions that could be made available to us?