Results 23,681-23,700 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest: Statements (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: -----let alone bringing up the fact that it will be gone. As part of my commitment on further steps, I will be meeting the representative bodies for pensioners in the coming period, as I promised to do. I have already met some of them. I will look at what further progress we can make on this. It is also a point which has been raised by Fianna Fáil in the context of the...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest: Statements (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: In fairness, Deputy Cullinane did do so, which I acknowledge. The fact is that those who joined pre-2013 will see changes in their wages of between 6% and 7.4%. Anyone who joined after 2013 will see wage changes of between 7% and 10% across the duration of this agreement, if ratified. That was not acknowledged by any of the Deputies across the House who claim to speak the loudest about...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest: Statements (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Not true. That is wrong.

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest: Statements (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Business Committee for arranging this opportunity to make a statement on FEMPI. As the House is aware, I am obliged under legislation to review the operation and effectiveness of the FEMPI legislation, having regard to the overall economic conditions in the State and our national competitiveness, and then to consider whether the relevant Acts continue to be necessary, having...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Fiscal Data (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The risk and sensitivity analysis chapter in the Stability and Programme Update and Budget publications includes a section containing links to more detail and information about contingent liabilities. This implements an IMF recommendation to enhance Ireland’s fiscal management and reporting following an IMF evaluation in 2013. The recommendation was to publish a comprehensive annual...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: A number of policy initiatives have been taken in recent Budgets to provide a supportive regime for entrepreneurs and the self-employed. A new Earned Income Credit was introduced in Budget 2016 and then increased from €550 to €950 in Budget 2017.  The tax credit is available to taxpayers with active self-employed trading or professional income and to business owners or...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland Supervision (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 to 83, inclusive, together. As I stated previously in a reply to a question regarding this issue on 20 June the Government has no formal role in the commercial decisions of the banks as to their future business model and whether or not they will close particular branches.  While I regret the closure of any bank branches, the Deputy will...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Lending (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is the responsibility of regulated financial service providers in the first instance to satisfy themselves that the contracts they enter into with consumers are compliant with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements A key legal provision is the EC (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations 1995 (as amended). These Regulations apply to any term in a contract...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Regulation (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The NAMA Act 2009 introduced Section 396C of the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA 1997).  The purpose of the section was to restrict NAMA participating institutions in offsetting their losses against a maximum of 50% of their taxable profits in a given year. At the time, the Government had a limited role in the banking system. However, by the introduction of the second...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by Revenue that the leaflet referred to specifies that to qualify for exemption from VRT on transfer of residence to Ireland “you must have had possession of and have actually used the vehicle outside the State for at least 6 months before your transfer to Ireland” and “you must bring the vehicle into the State within 12 months of the date of your transfer...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance Regulation (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, my predecessor as Minister for Finance,Michael Noonan T.D., established the Cost of Insurance Working Group in 2016, as part of a Departmental review of policy in the insurance sector, in consultation with the Central Bank and other Departments and Agencies. The Working Group, which is now chaired by Minister of State Michael D’Arcy T.D., is examining the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised that Revenue measures the tax debt for all years at 31 March each year. At 31 March 2017 the total tax debt was €1,944m. The debt included tax that was subject to appeal before the Tax Appeals Commission (€1,105million) and tax that was subject to insolvency proceedings (€83million) and therefore not available for collection by Revenue. Of the remaining...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the universal social charge is a tax charge on income, for which no social welfare benefits accrue. The PRSI charge, both employee and employer, generally confers rights to certain social welfare benefits when the necessary number of contributions have been made. These charges have significantly different bases and any merging of them would require a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bullying in the Workplace (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am satisfied that an anti-bullying policy is in place in the Department of Finance and Bodies under the Aegis of my Department.  The Department is guided by the Dignity at Work (the anti-bullying, harassment and sexual harassment) Policy for the Civil Service which was revised by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and came into effect in February 2015.  This Policy...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Lending (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The information requested by the Deputy is not held in the Department of Finance. Officials in the Department have referred the information request to the banks and have received the following feedback: AIB: “AIB is fully compliant with the Loan-to-Value (LTV) and Loan-to-Income (LTI) limits set by the Central Bank of Ireland. All applications are subject to normal lending criteria,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Help-To-Buy Scheme Data (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Help to Buy incentive aims to both assist those first-time buyers struggling to save for the deposit required to purchase a house, as well as incentivising additional building and the provision of extra housing stock. At Budget time it was estimated that the Help to Buy incentive would cost €40 million per annum but €50 million in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Collection Forecasts (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I assume that the Deputy is referring to a recent Circuit Court decision regarding the tax treatment of the transfer of share rights from a company to its shareholders. In 2011, Revenue’s Large Cases Division identified a number of instances where taxpayers had structured their tax affairs in such a way that they had extracted large amounts of cash from profitable trading companies...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Portfolio (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I would firstly refer the Deputy to page 46 of NAMA's recently published 2016 Annual Report. The report contains a significant amount of information on NAMA's remaining loan book and upcoming plans.  NAMA's 2016 Annual Report can be accessed via: As per page 46 of the 2016 NAMA Annual Report, the outstanding principal balance of NAMA’s loans and receivables portfolio...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland Supervision (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Under Part IIIC of the Central Bank Act 1942, the Central Bank may hold an inquiry to determine whether or not a financial service provider is committing or has committed a prescribed contravention.  The Central Bank may also hold an inquiry to determine whether or not a person concerned in the management of a regulated financial service provider is participating or has participated in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (29 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Arising from the agreement of the Minister at the Report Stage of the Finance Act, 2016 to consider the tax treatment of solar panels on farmland, an Interdepartmental Group was established to consider the issues involved. This work is ongoing and I expect the Group to report to me with its recommendations soon, which will allow me to consider the matter in the context of Budget 2018/Finance...