Results 28,981-29,000 of 35,924 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: We will not find common ground on this here. I acknowledge that the Minister accepted amendments - indeed, the Minister accepted one of my amendments - on Committee Stage, and accepted the spirit of amendments that were raised at Second Stage as well. The Bill has been strengthened. It is important, because it has not been placed on the record, to state that in this section we are also...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: While I appreciate the Minister of State's offer, I do not need further examples. The key issue is that this is now allowed. The Minister of State indicated it is being interpreted by Revenue, which is fine. I can give examples of mistakes resulting in complacency creeping into legislation. The Revenue was involved in the legislation on the local property tax, which included a mistake...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 5:In page 11, lines 29 and 30, to delete “than €5,000” and substitute “than €1,500”.I do not intend to labour the point in respect of this amendment. The amendments adopted on Committee Stage and the clarification the Minister of State has just provided on the years of assessment and multiple contractors have gone some way...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate the clarification. Outside of the technical considerations with regard to what I am seeking to do with this amendment, namely, to make matters clearer, the statements from the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Noonan, that it can be aggregated and that this can be done in respect of a number of contractors are welcome. I tabled an amendment on the issue relating to...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The legislation does not contain a definition in respect of "year of assessment". What is the year of assessment? A claimant must prove that in a year of assessment-----

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The key point I made earlier is that a claimant does not have to prove that he or she made a payment in a year of assessment. My amendment seeks to provide clarification and I do not understand why it could not be accepted. All it does is clarify an issue, namely, the fact that what constitutes a year of assessment is not defined. In response to amendment No. 3, the Minister of State...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The amendment is designed to bring clarity. Following an initial reading of the subsections in the Bill, I and quite a number of others were of the view that it would not be possible to accrue the €5,000 over the years of assessment. The Minister of State-----

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 3:In page 10, to delete lines 37 to 39 and substitute the following:"behalf, proves that in the years of assessment, he or she has made payments to a qualifying contractor or a number of qualifying contractors in respect of qualifying expenditure to which this section applies, incurred over the years of assessment as set out in subsection (2) of this section, the income...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister understands the purpose of and the spirit behind the amendment as we discussed the issue at length on Committee Stage. It is not intended to bring within the scope of the Bill newly constructed houses that have not been fitted out or to allow buyers to avail of this tax relief to finish off those houses. The Minister of State spoke about "dead weight" and that is a term we...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: It is regrettable that we are rehashing the same arguments and counter arguments and that I must now rebut the argument being made by the Minister of State. This is unfortunate, because the amendment is about taking us forward. The main justification for the Department's argument is that an individual can apply for a housing adaptation grant or disability grant to do the type of work I have...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 - Report Stage (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 2:In page 9, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following:“(c) which is a newly built property, previously unoccupied, but has been acquired by the individual for the purposes of occupation by the individual as his or her only or main residence on completion of the qualifying work and which is so occupied upon completion;”.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector Staff Issues (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: 30. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to plans by AIB to outsource jobs over the next year; if a Project Orlon exists to facilitate this outsourcing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52042/13]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Public Procurement Contracts (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: 33. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 188 of 26 November 2013, if it is usual for contracts as large as the one awarded to a company (details supplied) for €17.7 million, to be novated from other institutions rather than tendered; if there is a precedence for this and if so, to state examples of when it happened and the companies that were involved...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Contracts Data (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: 34. To ask the Minister for Finance the total number of contracts and their total financial cost awarded to companies (details supplied) in each of the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013 or whatever years practicable; if all the contracts were winning public tenders; and if he will provide a breakdown of the contracts by date, purpose and individual value. [52056/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Agencies Staff Remuneration (4 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: 52. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total salary of the chief executive officer of the Teaching Council; if they receive more than one salary for the role, that is, from his Department and the Teaching Council. [52138/13]

Credit Reporting Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I accept the fact that the information will be provided free of charge, arising from discussions on Committee Stage, and I very much welcome that. I also accept the Minister of State's argument regarding data protection, although I believe there are ways around it. It is not as if we are going to be plucking addresses from the sky, unlike the situation with the local property tax. These...

Credit Reporting Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I accept what the Minister of State has said. The key issue is the fact that it is free. I am sure that the precise details of the user-friendly methods for issuing the information have not been figured out yet.

Credit Reporting Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: Banks issue statements all the time, and perhaps information could be printed on such statements. We must look at as many avenues as possible for advertising this register to the public. A one-off campaign will not be sufficient. It must be-----

Credit Reporting Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: Exactly. Errors can be made. The credit bureau is already operating and we know that banks have given information to the bureau in error in the past. In that context, it is important that people are not refused credit as a result of misinformation on the credit register. We have allowed for corrections to be made in this legislation. Finally, when does the Government envisage that the...

Credit Reporting Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (3 Dec 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I would agree with everything the Minister of State said if my point were in regard to the financial institutions doing a general trawl. That is not what I am talking about. Section 29(2) contains the phrase “uses information to which access has been given under this Act for a purpose other than one permitted by this Act”. There is nothing under section 16(b) that does not...