Results 2,541-2,560 of 35,540 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Yes, and subhead A4. Why is it not provided for under that subhead? The budget for consultancy services has increased and is more than double the outturn of last year.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: How would that have been provided up until now?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Maybe it is something that we can look at in terms of the type of consultancy that is being provided under subhead A4. Perhaps the Minister can give us a list detailing where the money was spent last year in terms of the contracts - not now, if that is okay. It can be given to the committee to save time, so we do not have to go through lists and details. I note that €350,000 is...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: We know that this is supposed to be temporary situation and other Departments outside of the Minister's own, although the Minister's Department is involved in it as well, have reviewed a grant-based scheme. Does the Minister envisage that that grant-based scheme will be up and running in 2024? How will it impact on this Estimate, which is under the Department of Finance? My understanding...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: It is regrettable there is no indication as to when this transition will happen. The entire board of appeal resigned because the scheme that is under the Department of Finance is not fit for purpose. I do not think anybody in the House or in Cabinet, including the Minister, accepts that it is fit for purpose. It is highly discriminatory. It does not serve the needs of those individuals...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: In regard to the OECD agreement which the Minister mentioned in his opening statement and pillar 2, we have legislated for the top-up rate of 15% for in-scope companies. That is now part of Irish tax law. This has required preparation by the Revenue Commissioners in regard to their IT system. Will the Minister update us regarding the preparations that the Revenue Commissioners have been...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I will come back to recruitment in the Revenue Commissioners in regard to the Estimate here, which is Vote 9. Sticking with the pillar 2 agreement, during the passage of the legislation, the Minister gave a commitment on the cost or the benefit, the net affect, in relation to pillar 1 and pillar 2, and the implementation of such. Until now the Department has only ever provided an...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Has the Minister views in regard to the OECD and its view that Ireland would be seeing an increase of between 14% and 34% in tax revenues as a result of the implementation of pillar 2?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: This is a genuine question. As Minister for Finance, does the Minister have an indication of what the benefit of pillar 2 is likely to be to tax revenues in the State? I ask that question genuinely because we have legislated for it. It is now part of tax law; pillar 1 is not. Pillar 2 is going to happen in 2026. The Revenue Commissioners are preparing for it. Companies are preparing for...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister. I appreciate that. We look forward to seeing the work. I thank the officials for preparing information on it for the committee, including me. I want to return to Vote 9, which concerns the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the new tax responsibility that was delegated to it in 2021 under the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act. It relates to the stamp duty of 10%...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Is it not the case that the Minister has no information on whether they were occupied?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: They were second-hand, which means they could have been vacant. Seventy percent of first-time purchasers are buying second-hand homes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: That is okay; that is likely.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister says all taxation matters are always kept under review, which is fair enough, but is he actively reviewing this with the intention of making a change outside the budgetary and Finance Bill cycles? That is the impression that is being given. Is the Government now actively considering the possibility of changing the stamp duty on the bulk purchase of homes by the funds?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister mentioned that the transactions relate to a small portion of the market. That is what is in the speaking notes the Government has been given but the reality is that the portion is not small. In fairness, the Minister was told this by his officials through the tax strategy paper. It states the measure has not been entirely successful in its goal and that hundreds of homes, new...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: I have one final question on the detail. I assume the Minister's accepts the CSO data. The CSO data, and the Department, uses a proxy for institutional investors as finance and insurance, and real estate.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Those are the two main categories; I think we can all agree on that. The data for 2022, which is the latest we have as the new data for last year will be published in March, shows that institutional investors in 2022 bought 5,887 homes. That figure includes apartments but let us look at houses. There were 2,053 houses but for the same year, in terms of the bulk purchases where stamp duty...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: Can I reply to the Minister?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: That is a problem.

Housing and Homeless Prevention: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (23 Jan 2024)

Pearse Doherty: That is not true.