Results 22,961-22,980 of 32,960 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 217 to 223, inclusive, and 225 together. The comprehensive document “Ireland and the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union: The Government’ Approach” published on 2 May outlined in detail the structures put in place by the Government to ensure a strategic and whole-of Government response to Brexit that ensures...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Staff (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Finance has been assessing and preparing for the impact of Brexit since well before the referendum on 23 June 2016. Following the result of the UK referendum, work has been intensified across the whole of Government level, including in my own Department, to ensure that Ireland’s interests are protected in the negotiations at EU level and to ensure that Ireland will...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Staff (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government has been preparing for the impact of Brexit since well before the referendum on 23 June 2016, with this work now intensified. The Government is clear and determined that all possible preparations will be made ahead of the UK leaving the EU.  A critical aspect of the Government’s contingency planning and preparations is extensive consultation with a wide range of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Data (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Finance has been preparing for the impact of Brexit since well before the referendum on 23 June 2016, with this work now intensified.  In that regard, the Department has been to the fore in producing and funding a number of Brexit-related studies, both before and since the UK's referendum decision.  To date, outputs include: - A scoping study published in November...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Expenditure Reviews (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Mid-Year Expenditure Report sets out the pre-Budget expenditure ceiling for my Ministerial Vote Group of €439 million for current expenditure and €25 million for capital expenditure. This represents the spending baseline for examination of my Department's budgetary priorities for 2018. As outlined in the Mid-Year Expenditure Report, the increases planned in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Loans Sale (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by NAMA that, following openly marketed processes, the successful bidders in each referenced loan sale were as follows: Loan sale Initial bidder query Aspen Starwood Abbey Apollo Jewel Allianz (Hammerson and Allianz were ultimately the successful bidders)

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Costs (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 230, and 238 to 240, inclusive, together. As part of the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) review in 2014, the proposal to include employees that were newly employed from outside an organization rather than restricting it to employees moving within an organization was considered. However, the review found that to include new hires in this...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is my intention to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in April 2018, to coincide with the introduction of a similar tax in the UK at that time.  This tax will be imposed as a volumetric tax as a specific amount per litre of product, as opposed to an ad valorem rate imposed on the final retail price of product. This is to ensure that the tax is applied to sugar content of the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the estimated yield that would be generated if the rate of betting tax was increased is available in the pre-Budget 2018 Ready Reckoner at: .

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Data (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy may be aware, the role of the Minister for Finance in relation to coins is set out in the Coinage Act 1950, the Decimal Currency Acts 1969-1990 and the Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998. The Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998 covers issuance of both circulating and commemorative coins. The Central Bank of Ireland acts as an agent of the Minister of Finance in the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Relief Data (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 234 and 235 together. I am informed by Revenue that the following tables set out the number of loans qualifying for mortgage interest relief (MIR) broken down by rate and ceiling of relief. The data are based on the numbers of loans qualifying for relief as at 31 December 2016. As is apparent from the tables, the vast majority of relief is now granted at the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Exemptions (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the exemption from capital gains tax referred to by the Deputy applies to land and buildings acquired in the period commencing on 7 December 2011 and ending on 31 December 2014, which are held for a minimum period of seven years. Accordingly, the earliest date that properties acquired in the relevant period can qualify for the exemption will be 7 December...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Universal Social Charge Data (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 241 and 242 together. As regards the earner income tax credit, I am advised by Revenue that, for 2016, the latest year for which data are available, the estimated number of self employed taxpayer units that benefit from the tax credit in 2016 is around 152,000. Individuals or married persons/civil partners who have elected (or who have been deemed to have...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the estimated cost of decreasing VRT for category B motor caravans and motor homes from 13.3% to 6.65% and to 0% is €1.5m and €3m respectively in a full year.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: My responsibility as Minister is for the Civil Service Pension Schemes, though I am also responsible for the development of general policy on occupational pension schemes in the wider public service. The HSE, in common with most public service employers, operates a spouses' and children's contributory pension scheme, which provides benefits to the spouses and children...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: An Interdepartmental Working Group, chaired by my Department was established in 2016 to examine the issues arising from prevailing retirement ages for workers in both the public and private sectors, in the context of the current age of entitlement to the State Pension and the scheduled increases to the State Pension age in 2021 and 2028.  The Group, whose Report was agreed by...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Act 2013 provides that I, as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, can make regulations for a Public Service Sick Leave Scheme. These Regulations are contained in SI 124 of 2014 and SI 384 of 2015. The Regulations set out the terms for the granting of paid sick leave, including that Medical Certificates be...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Data (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As of the end of the second quarter of 2017, based on the information provided to my Department overall public service employment was 311,215 in Full-Time Equivalence terms. As the Deputy may be aware, in Budget 2015, the Moratorium on Recruitment and Promotion was formally ended and the Employment Control Framework was replaced by a new Delegated Sanction Arrangement in most Government...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Community Sector High Level Forum was reconvened in 2015 and met most recently on 7th April 2017, to give consideration to the issues to which the Deputy refers. It continues to be the position that state organisations are not the employer of the particular employees concerned and that it is not possible for the State to provide funding for such a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (11 Sep 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government set out its position in relation to the Debt Target in the 2017 Summer Economic Statement (SES) which was published in July. In this context, the planned debt to GDP target has not been abandoned rather it has been revised on an interim basis to 55 per cent which, in fact, falls below Ireland's obligations under the Stability and Growth Pact to reach 60 per...