Results 23,061-23,080 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: We cannot do both.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is the right of the committee to put these issues forward and it is my right, as a member of Government, to outline my view on these matters, which is what I am doing. Is the budgetary process robust? The answer to that question is "yes". I am struck by the things which are not coming up in the questions put to me as I make the point that we will deliver our deficit targets for the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The full report on ISIF will be with me in the next couple of weeks as it is nearly done. I would expect to be in a position to review it and make decisions by early September. On capital expenditure, I have outlined my decision on the allocation of funding from the rainy day fund but I have also flagged, to the committee and the Oireachtas, that we will not increase capital expenditure to...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not believe the changes in the national debt will impact on our fiscal resources for next year as these are a different matter. However, I do have concerns about the level of debt we have at the moment. The publication of the GNI* information was very helpful because previous measurements of national income flatter the magnitude of debt we have. The figure will stabilise next year at...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: When we engage with other institutions such as the European Commission and the IMF, they still use conventional measurements such as gross domestic product and gross national product for our discussions. The reason I feel GNI* is very helpful is that it strips out the volatility and flows that make our economy unique. From a domestic perspective, when we are making decisions here at home,...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Because if I got myself to the point whereby I met representative bodies from one Department, within a minute, representative bodies from every other Department and policy area would want to meet me.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Every policy area or Department has issues that are unique to them. The simple fact is that if I was to begin meeting a representative body from one Government area, I would be expected to meet them all. I have been called on to meet representatives from teachers unions, for instance, or other areas, the answer has also been no. I know they have engaged with the Department of Health on the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Okay, if I come in and announce additional expenditure, it will be welcomed.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Of course if I am announcing additional expenditure, it will be on areas that are needed. I will not arrive into the Oireachtas to announce additional expenditure on areas that are not of concern to the public or are not part of the programme for Government. If we find ourselves in the position where additional resources are available, it is likely that the Dáil will welcome the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is not for this year but we are not ruling it out in future years. With tax collection to date, we expect it to come in on profile, cumulatively, for the year and we expect we will deliver the targets that we outlined last year. The Deputy is correct that there was underperformance, coming across May and June in most tax heads, and it has begun to improve. We are steadily reducing the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with the first part of the Deputy's question on my description of political debate in Ireland. In contributions I made, I was referring to the far left rather than to the left. I am not a member of the left, which will not come as a surprise to the Deputy.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not accept the authenticity of my commitment to dealing with inequality or social difficulty in our country is any different from the Deputy's. I have never accepted that; I just have a different view of how it can be achieved. On the question of the language I used earlier in the week to describe it, I will give the Deputy an example of why I said what I said. I have said it lots of...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy can check the record.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy should check the record.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy put the question to me so I will respond. I do not accept that. I responded in the Dáil debate. I will meet the vigour of the terms used to describe me. If colleagues or opponents want to describe me in that way, it is their call. I have never used personal terms to describe anybody in a debate as much as I disagree with many around here. In my years of debating, I have...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy knows that the reason that is happening is because we are taxing that level of profit. The next leg of that argument is going to be that there are issues of the carry forward of losses and the taxation treatment of the carry forward of losses that has an effect on the tax liability in the here and now. If we were to change that there would be another set of consequences that I...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: If I am incorrect in what I have said I of course apologise to the Deputy, but those were the rough terms used. If they were not used by Deputy Boyd Barrett they were used by other people.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: With regard to inequality and wealth, there is poverty in our country that we have to alleviate and there is social injustice that we must address. The core point I am making, however, is if one looks at the aggregate measurement of these matters and uses the Gini coefficient, which is used by many figures on the left elsewhere, the fact is it has not changed in Ireland, despite the horrific...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: What I have said, including at this committee today, is that I do not believe the economy is overheating. The reason I do not believe this is that the unemployment rate is still coming down and the pace of wage growth is in line with what one would expect to see after a horrific crash, when people are trying to rebuild their living standards. Wage growth of that magnitude is good because...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion. (20 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: There are many of them. We are engaged in a review of capital expenditure that will culminate in the ten-year capital plan at the end of this year. However, if I pick out any particular area of Government expenditure, I will then have every Department other than my own contacting me to know why I have not named it, so I am not going to do that now. I will make just one very broad point...