Results 2,441-2,460 of 6,295 for speaker:Michael D'Arcy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: Minister for Finance and Office of the Revenue Commissioners (2 Feb 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Commissioner said during the week that the bulk of the €13 billion would be due to the Republic of Ireland. Has there been an assessment of how much of that €13 billion would be due to Ireland based on conversation with the commission?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: Minister for Finance and Office of the Revenue Commissioners (2 Feb 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: If an amount of the €13 billion becomes available, has any analysis been done as to whether those moneys could be made available to the Exchequer to spend, or would it have to go against the national debt?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: Minister for Finance and Office of the Revenue Commissioners (2 Feb 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I move on to section 110 and the matter raised earlier in regard to the vulture funds. Has there been any analysis of how much tax the vulture funds avoided, using section 110, for the period that the loophole was available?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: Minister for Finance and Office of the Revenue Commissioners (2 Feb 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I am suggesting, on the basis of €158 million from NAMA from the last quarter, that the €50 million is well overshadowed by that. I suggest that perhaps a sectorial analysis should be conducted to try to recoup those funds that were aggressively avoided by the vulture funds.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I welcome the Commissioner. In a CNBC interview, she stated:We never questioned how Apple is organized. We do not question Irish tax code, that is for the Irish. Subsequently, on 30 August, Mr. Tim Cook of Apple wrote that, over the years, Apple "received guidance from Irish tax authorities on how to comply correctly with Irish tax law — the same kind of guidance available to any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Not the Irish Government but the Revenue Commissioners. We are specifically talking about the Commissioner's investigation, which was not about the Irish Government, but the opinion from the Revenue Commissioners. Was the same opinion offered to other companies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Commissioner is of the opinion that the majority of the €13 billion figure should be available to the Republic of Ireland. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Okay. If Apple, in good faith, took the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners to be correct, and subsequently the Commission retrospectively applied the state aid rules, could Apple take a case against the Irish Government for those moneys, including tax unpaid, and potentially another case for reputational damage to the Apple brand?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: Does the Commissioner have an opinion?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: In his statement of last August, Mr. Cook noted that Apple took the guidance available from the Revenue Commissioners here and I can only assume the guidance was given in good faith. In those circumstances, Apple could take a case. I am asking the Commissioner if it is possible or even likely that Apple could take a case against the Irish State for the advice given by the Revenue...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Commissioner has spent a number of years on this case. It is the biggest case that the Commission has had. She is very well-placed to offer an opinion on it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Commissioner, like all Commissioners, was selected by her government to represent her nation in the Commission. Does she accept any responsibility for the EU failing in terms of there being anti-EU sentiment with respect to cases like this where the Commission is interfering in a nation's taxation sovereignty?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I understand that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: I understand that also.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The smaller countries do not get the same deals as the bigger countries.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: That has not been happening.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Commission and the European Central Bank, ECB, insisted on Ireland paying bondholders in the past decade. There does not represent equal treatment for the smaller countries compared with the larger countries.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: My point is that we were forced by the Commission and the European Central Bank to pay the bondholders while the IMF was of the view that they should have been discounted. The Commissioner is a senior member of the Commission. The largest states get to do an awful lot more than the smaller states and the rules, as they apply, are not always applied equally.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: EU State Aid Rules - Investigation into Preferential Tax Rulings: European Commissioner for Competition (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: The Commissioner was going to answer that question.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (31 Jan 2017)

Michael D'Arcy: 191. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the application for the new purpose built school at Drumgood, Enniscorthy, County Wexford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4046/17]