Results 26,821-26,840 of 35,959 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: This is the opportunity as we are dealing with the issue of the double Irish in the context of the legislation.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: He has spent all morning speaking on his behalf.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: It is obviously a matter for the Department. The core point is that the double Irish is something that has been pushed in the past. I acknowledge there have been different opinions from the Opposition, but Sinn Féin and some Independents have been raising the issue in the context of the reputational damage the double Irish has caused. The Minister did not respond to international tax...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I welcome the fact that the double Irish has been closed down. I reiterate that the head-in-the-sand approach by the Government and the blatant misleading comments by the Government and the Minister that there is nothing in Irish legislation that can be done to close down the double Irish, is insulting, to tell the truth, when we all knew that it could be done. While I welcome the amendment...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: There is a residential element.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The residential element is not an issue. If somebody with a house built before 1915 wants to refurbish it and live in it then they will be able to avail of the relief for residential properties. That is not an issue. My point is that this is a major incentive to people who want to renovate their commercial premises without any requirement to refurbish the living quarters. If the Minister...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: No, I have a further comment. I want the Minister of State to address the specific point and give the reason why, in the case of the upper floor above commercial premises, we are not making it a requirement that the upper storey must be refurbished as a living area? Will the Minister think about that or come back to it on Report Stage? I tabled an amendment, which was ruled out of order,...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Deputy McGrath's amendment dealt No. 58 dealt with extending the scope to different areas. I come from a community in County Donegal where I can see islands that were deserted in the 1960s but thankfully some islands are now inhabited and in spite of all of the challenges, people continue to raise their families on those island. Why would a scheme such as this, not be introduced for island...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: In that section, subsection 3 is being deleted and includes the following requirement: "In the case of a qualifying premises comprised in a Georgian house [which was subsequently changed to a 'relevant house'], subsection (2) shall apply only if the qualifying premises are comprised in the ground floor or basement and qualifying expenditure (within the meaning of section 372AAB) is incurred...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Let us stick to what is in place. There seems to be confusion because I was happy with the clarification of the Minister of State but then he seemed to say our wires were crossed. Let us forget about the amendment before us, which changes the relevant house into a possible single storey. At this point in time, can someone avail of this tax relief without having a living quarter?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: How does that happen.? At this point in time, a relevant house is a two-storey house.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Did the last Finance Act not change the term "Georgian house" to "relevant house"?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Let us stick to what is existing exists at present. The Minister of State keeps referring to a Georgian house but that was replaced in the previous Finance Act by the term "relevant house".

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The only property that could avail of it is a relevant house, which was defined as one with at least two storeys with or without a basement. Subsection 3 says that, in that case, people had to incur expenditure in the living quarters on the first floor or above.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I do not understand what is there at present.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: We will come to that but the impression has been given that if I was in Limerick or elsewhere and this was up and running, the only qualifying properties are two-storey houses constructed before 1915, with or without a basement. If I want to refurbish the commercial end of it, I would also be required to refurbish the living element of it, which had to be on the first floor.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Subsection 3 reads as follows: "shall apply only if the qualifying premises are comprised in the ground floor or basement [that is the commercial part of it] and qualifying expenditure (within the meaning of section 372AAB) is incurred on the upper floor or floors of the building". This states one must incur qualifying expenditure.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: It is for the same building.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The building could only be refurbished if there was expenditure incurred in the living part on the upper floors.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Now we have clarified the situation for the scheme that never took effect. The only way to avail of the scheme is if the building has a living quarter upstairs.