Results 21,741-21,760 of 37,017 for speaker:Pearse Doherty
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister is wrong and in that regard I refer to him the Central Bank's website. It refers to the emergence of a credit fuelled property bubble, trying to control house prices, etc. This is clearly spelled out. Suppressing house prices was not a consequence of the rules but one of their objectives. On the amendment, this change is obviously an example of new politics. The Fine Gael...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: The Minister's argument does not stack up. While I agree with his point on the black economy, one could argue that the scheme will encourage a black economy in certain areas where property prices exceed the new threshold. One could also argue that people are being incentivised to borrow more money. The key issue is that the ostensible purpose of the scheme is to increase the supply of...
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: If I may, I will finish the point. What the Minister is doing in legislation is basically setting a ceiling for starter home prices across the State by allowing people to benefit by up to €20,000 when buying a property costing below the ceiling. This means prices can rise to the level of the ceiling, which is wrong because it will encourage a faster rate of increase in house prices.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: Has it been discussed already?
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: I ask the Chair to bear with me. We are going to end up discussing the subject matters of these amendments when we consider the section as a whole.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: It was not clear to me that all of this was being discussed together. I apologise for that.
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: We can either agree them now or-----
- Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2016: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2016)
Pearse Doherty: -----we can oppose them all now by calling a vote on each one before discussing them again when we are considering the section.
- 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.