Results 3,221-3,240 of 6,207 for speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Mortgage Interest Relief Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: What is even more interesting------

Mortgage Interest Relief Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I am sorry?

Mortgage Interest Relief Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: What might be better is if the Deputy came into the House with costed proposals. It might be better if he signalled any interest in those proposals in the Sinn Féin budget document. The word "mortgage" features once in the Sinn Féin mortgage document. Sinn Féin makes no effort to provide for private home owners of any description in its mortgage document or its housing...

Mortgage Interest Relief Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: -----and I am responding on the Sinn Féin motion, which is uncosted and would increase house prices, so the Deputy should allow me to finish. The overall fiscal framework has not changed. The cost-of-living crisis remains and, as Deputy Doherty and others know, the Government is well aware of the challenges people are facing. In that context, in the coming weeks, as has been well...

Mortgage Interest Relief Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: How much will it cost?

Mortgage Interest Relief Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank Deputies for the points they raised. I will try to address as many of them as I can. I do not necessarily agree with all the points made but I do see coherent trends among them, including a real and genuine concern around inflation and increasing house prices, and the targeting of supports most effectively. I will try to address all of those concerns. As the Minister for...

Seanad: Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022: Second Stage (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The provisions contained in the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022 will play a key role in driving positive cultural change in financial services organisations that will benefit consumers, employees and wider society. These provisions are designed to ensure that this change in the financial sector will happen in a way that is both real and enduring. The Bill...

Seanad: Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022: Second Stage (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I will try to address the points raised by the Senators as best I can. Senator Lombard is correct to raise access to cash points. He will have heard me speak forcefully on the radio that morning about Castletownbere in particular and the impact that would have. As Minister of State with responsibility for financial institutions, credit unions, and insurance, one of the things I am very...

Seanad: Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022: Second Stage (8 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: There have to be fair procedures at every stage. I want to go through some of the engagement that was correctly highlighted with the committee at an earlier stage. The fair procedures have to work both ways. For example, there is the six-year rule highlighted by Senator Black and the look-back in regard to fitness and probity. The reason that is being introduced is that there was a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (2 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank Senator Keogan for raising this issue. Of course, she is right. When this was introduced in 2019, it was part of the climate action plan and part of a climate focus on making a transition and bringing the benefit-in-kind, BIK, in line with the other vehicle taxes, namely, vehicle registration tax, VRT, and motor tax which, of course, are carbon-based. The Senator is also correct in...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (2 Feb 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator. I recognise that when something was legislated for in the Finance Act four years ago, it can seem a bit remote. The purpose of it was to enable fleet planning by companies, not by employees. The latter would not perhaps have had the same familiarity with the provisions of the Finance Act as we might have understood their employers to have, particularly when it came to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tourism Industry (31 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. She is correct that the hospitality sector has suffered this double whammy from the impact of Covid and the energy crisis. She is also right to identify that the Government has tried to support businesses through both of these periods. As the Senator is aware, the 9% rate of VAT applies on a temporary basis to the hospitality and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tourism Industry (31 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator. I know and appreciate the importance of the tourism and hospitality sectors as significant employers. Both the Senator and I come from that background. It is right across the country. I emphasise the TBESS. In the Senator's area in County Limerick, there have been 736 applications to date, with 719 approved so far and €815,000 distributed. I see Senator Dolan...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Reliefs (26 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator. It is important to be consistent in every respect. The Senator is completely right about the timing of the review. Having spoken to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, last night, I know that a number of meetings were held during 2022 and a draft final report was considered on 8 December. This really is very timely. The main conclusion of that report is, as the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (26 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: As the Senator is well aware, the parents in a school community and in a school such as Ábalta Special School know best what their children need. While I cannot speak to the specific site as I am at a remove from the Department of Education, I will convey to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, that it is the parents and members of the school community who know best what a child with...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Reliefs (26 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. Something I am deeply interested in since coming into the Department is the way in which our tax structures can be of assistance to anybody who needs additional assistance, such as the disabled drivers or passengers community. I agree that the scheme needs to be reviewed, including from the perspective of accessibility to the scheme. I...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (26 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Senator for raising this matter. He is correct that the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, who has responsibility for special needs, has met stakeholders. Last night, I spoke to her to get the most recent update for the Senator. She is in County Mayo; otherwise she would be here in person. I have a similar school in my constituency and I am well...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry (24 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Deputy for his question and good wishes. I look forward to working with him. He raises an important point in which every Deputy has an interest. Government recognises the concerns felt by individuals, businesses and community groups regarding the cost and availability of insurance, and as such, has prioritised the delivery of targeted, multifaceted reform to this key sector....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry (24 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I appreciate the importance of what the Deputy is saying and he is correct in his analysis of reduced awards but it takes time for that to be passed on in every respect to policyholders. There are other positive indications that the substantial reform programme is having a marked effect and the market is responding to it. It has been recently reported that new insurance firms are seeking to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Insurance Industry (24 Jan 2023)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: My attitude to all matters in this House is to sit down and discuss them constructively and I am always available to do that. As Minister of State with responsibility for insurance, I am not here to support or provide excess or extra profits to the industry but to make sure a reform programme is delivered across Government that will increase competitiveness, draw new entrants into the...