Results 23,501-23,520 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No. I will inform the Deputy of my understanding of the voting power. Basic votes are the number of votes that result from an equal distribution among all members of the aggregate sum of basic votes. Share votes are the number of shares of the capital stock held by a member. I will come back to the Deputy on the matter of our role and whether this influenced our ability to appoint a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will come back to the Deputy on that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: What I can tell the Deputy at this point is that the point at which we joined the bank does not influence or diminish our power to select a euro director and has not diminished our share of future directorships. We will have to consult with the other countries as to how this will be decided when we join. I will be in a position to tell the Deputy as we work our way through this.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: That is correct.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I can tell the Deputy which countries have joined. I will read him out the full list. The EU members who have joined include Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: They are all founding members.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: We are in the second group of countries, as I said earlier. Other countries that are considering joining include Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No. I do not believe we will be at a disadvantage compared to other countries. There is, as the Deputy said, a particular status conferred upon a founding member, but I believe Ireland's choice to take a year to understand how the organisation will work and then to join was the right one to make.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: We are in the second category, and there is also the difference, as I said earlier, regarding the founding member votes. They are two areas-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not clear what the matter was that the former Minister, Deputy Noonan, would have dealt with but I am clear that if an organisation is being set up that will involve our State making a contribution to it, it appears to me to be sensible to spend a period of time to observe how the organisation will work. That is what has happened, as a result of which I am able to come before the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: This section makes provision for payments to be made to the bank in accordance with the State's obligation under the agreement. It is a routine section in such agreements providing for payments and receipts to be made to and from the Central Fund and establishing that the Central Bank shall act as a depository for transfers to and from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Contributions...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: This section provides that the Act may be cited as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Act 2017. It also provides that section 3 regarding payments to the bank will come into operation on the day on which the State becomes a member of the bank.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The decision on becoming a member of the group was taken in early 2015. The Department's recommendation that the Minister join the bank was in the second half of last year when Second Stage of the Bill was taken.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Negotiations (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government’s position in relation to the border with Northern Ireland in the context of Brexit is very clear.  Continued freedom of movement, absence of an economic border, and protection of the Good Friday Agreement are key objectives for the Irish Government. The arrangements that will apply after Brexit will depend on the outcome of negotiations between the EU and UK....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Assessments (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Local Property Tax (LPT) is a self-assessed tax, which places the onus on the property owner to calculate the tax due based on his/her calculation of the market value of the property. A property owner who subsequently considers the 2013 self-assessed valuation to be too high can apply directly to Revenue’s LPT Branch to have it amended downwards. The application must include...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Budget Submissions (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department has received the charity’s pre-budget submission, which includes, as one of six housing-related recommendations, a proposal to link tax incentives for landlords to conditions such as greater security of tenure, longer tenancy agreements and higher quality of accommodation. This proposal will be considered as part of my deliberations for Budget 2018. As the Deputy may be...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, a Primary Medical Certificate is required to claim the tax reliefs provided under the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme.  The Senior Medical Officer for the relevant local Health Service Executive administrative area makes a professional clinical determination as to whether an individual applicant satisfies the medical criteria to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Banking Sector (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The sale of shares in AIB held by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund does not result in a beneficial impact to the General Government Balance under the European System of Accounts 2010.  This is due to the fact that it is classified as a 'financial transaction' whereby it is essentially the exchange of one form of asset (shares, equities, loans) for another kind (cash)....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Data (4 Jul 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The information requested by the Deputy is not held in the Department of Finance. Officials have referred the question to the bank and have received the following response: "Permanent TSB has a requirement for legal support and advice on an ongoing basis across different parts of its business.  It manages some of this requirement through its in-house legal function, as well as...