Results 2,261-2,280 of 5,098 for speaker:Mairéad Farrell

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: Does Ms Rogers want to come in on that as well?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I agree 100%. I am conscious that I am running out of time. I have a brief question for Social Justice Ireland and the INOU and then I have a question for Age Action. Dr. Healy spoke about the universal basic income. I am quite interested in the job guarantee scheme, which differs from the universal basic income in that a job is guaranteed for people. That can be in terms of our climate...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: As the job guarantee scheme would be State-run, it would have to be at a certain level.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: It is not here. That is what I mean. It is a concept.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I totally take Dr. Healy's point on that. I only have a minute left. Does the INOU have a strong view on the jobs guarantee? Then I will quickly ask Age Action a question.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: Obviously, it depends on what government would implement it. I take that point. For Age Action, one of the points that jumped out at me, and something I have noticed increasingly, is pensioners facing being in shared rented accommodation and knowing that they have to retire. One man had to retire by 70 and he knew he would not be able to afford his housing assistance payment, HAP,...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: My time is up. I thank Dr. O'Connor.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I do not like to interrupt.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I think we are doing all right with the timeframe. I came in to ask questions about the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, because we had the Minister in last week in this regard. I had questions that we agreed I could bring forward to this week. I will start off with those. As the Minister knows, we had long discussions about the ethics review. I have been very clear about...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I understanding from what the Minister is saying that he envisages introducing a new Bill.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: Given that the Government has two years left in office, or potentially less, you never know, I am concerned the Bill will not be completed. I do not understand why the Public Sector Standards Bill required so many amendments and why it took so long, even though there was cross-party support on it. We are now looking at a new Bill. That will come before pre-legislative scrutiny in committee,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I have serious concerns it will not be enacted, but the Minister genuinely believes it could be done before the end of this Government's term.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I agree we have to but I am concerned-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: It seems to me that a quick way of dealing with it would be to use the Bill that is already there and has gone through significant pre-legislative scrutiny and to look at the amendments that were agreed to at the time. I would assume that then, if needed, it would be far quicker to amend that rather than start the process again with a new Bill. Surely that would take much more time.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: A section 110 review was announced in the budget. This is an issue I have been interested in for some time. I tabled a parliamentary question on the matter but it did not seem as though much or any progress had been made. What is the status of that?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: Okay. I might return to that because it is something I am interested in. Earlier during Leaders' Questions, the Taoiseach stated the cost-of-living package would be funded in its totality from three sources, namely, the underspend on the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, unallocated expenditure and a windfall tax on energy providers. What is the total sum available from...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: On that, if the Government is considering changing the criteria, I urge the Minister to look at liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, and oil. Especially in the west, many businesses are having significant issues with that. Moreover, in the case of electricity suppliers that have left the market, butchers and businesspeople are having difficulty accessing their paper bills and, as a result, are...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: I have a specific case, so I might raise it with the Minister after the meeting rather than mention it here.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: Surely, at this point, the Minister knows how much the Government is considering allocating in cost-of-living supports, and I am wondering what it is. He came before this committee in advance of the budget. I have been astonished every year, although it might be my naivety, that Ministers come before the committee, which is here to scrutinise matters, and are told what the budget package...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (15 Feb 2023)

Mairéad Farrell: Deputy McGrath is the Minister for Finance and Deputy Donohoe is the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. They know the ballpark estimates of how much money they are looking at. I appreciate the Minister did not hear the Taoiseach speaking earlier in the Dáil, but if the Taoiseach knows, the two Ministers definitely know about the underspend...