Results 29,041-29,060 of 35,924 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: None of us knows what will happen in the future. However, there has been an unfair impetus put on the Irish people at the lower level. The Minister of State refers to reports from independent studies and so on, but he fails to mention the names of the studies. For example, the ESRI is one such study. The Minister of State should talk about the ESRI study and not rely on what happened...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State is pulling me back in a direction the Chairman has asked me not to take, but I am saying that any politician who is looking for sympathy and who is earning above €100,000 is not going to get it. People at the higher levels of income may have taken reductions in gross pay, or reductions in net income as a result of higher taxes and so on, but the point is that...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: As I said, I am not interested in any individual's personal circumstances. I think 14 or 15 Ministers claimed the dual abode allowance last year. I acknowledge that Ministers and Ministers of State do not get accommodation allowances when in Dublin.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: Deputies and Senators receive an accommodation allowance. However, for those Ministers of State or Ministers who stay in the same hotel as me, not only do they get the full cost of the hotel written off their tax bill, but they also get additional costs written off. When one inquires as to the additional costs, the answer is that these are laundry costs, etc. This shows that the tax code...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: There are abuses. Nobody knows who is getting the dual abode allowance. The tax code is very transparent in other areas but we do not know which Ministers are availing of it. Why is it that Ministers who have houses can get an unvouched allowance of €6,500 from the Revenue? It is unbelievable. This issue is a hobby-horse of mine. Getting rid of the dual abode allowance will not...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I am a little confused because the amendment changes the substance of the text. The original section defined "relevant individual" as a person specified in Schedule 3A. Will Schedule 3A still be applicable following the amendment?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: To clarify, the original section includes a list of institutions which were deemed relevant institutions if a person had worked without pay-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The reason I asked the question is that a number of institutions were omitted from the list. These include St. John's school, a laundry in Birr and the Sisters of Mercy laundry in Clifden. I assume no issue arises in respect of these institutions.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I have one further question and I ask that my ignorance on this highly sensitive matter be excused. Two of the women who applied for redress under the redress scheme have passed away. In such circumstances, will payments be made to the estate or children of the women in question?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I suspected that was the case. Will such payments also be tax exempt?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 114 In page 92, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “79. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on options available for the abolition of the Local Property Tax.”.I am astonished that this amendment was adjudged to be in order given that 16 of my amendments were...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State would make my day if he were to accept it. I believe the wrong Minister is sitting opposite me, although strange things happened yesterday when the Minister accepted an Opposition amendment. The Minister of State should not be outdone by the Minister; he could grab the headlines by accepting the amendment. The amendment would require the Minister to prepare and lay...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I stress again that I support the imposition of a levy. When one introduces a measure in any finance bill, those that will be affected by it will always make their views known, and rightly so. Is there anything to be concerned about in terms of the possibility of financial institutions withdrawing from the State, curtailing services or passing this levy on to their customers? Have the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: What about the question of them passing on the levy to their customers? Has it been made clear to the Department that this is what they intend to do?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: Would this be applicable to those who have paid the local property tax and have ---

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The local property tax is a self-assessment tax.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: I welcome the fact that this issue is being dealt with in this Finance Bill, as was recommended by the Magdalen Commission report. That report recommended that payments, whether lump sum or other, would be tax free. It is sad and must be acknowledged that since the apology from the Taoiseach to these women - and as we discuss this Bill today and its implications for the compensation...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: What will accrue from this 0.15%?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: Is that annually?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Nov 2013)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister cannot have a budget next year and use the €135 million to pay off whatever measures he will introduce or just to reduce our deficit if he has to have it as a contingent liability. Will the Minister ring-fence that money for the pensions industry? If we have a pensions crisis, such as that in Waterford Crystal, we will ask how we do this and know this money will be...