Results 3,721-3,740 of 32,432 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I accept that there is extrapolation. I have explained to the Deputy the line of logic that has been used to get to the figure. However, I would not describe it as a guesstimate or guessing because this is the best source of information open to me. In any event, if we underestimated the number of tenancies that will be liable to receive the tax credit and it turns out that more than...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Tenants, yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: We have rounded the figure up to 400,000 tenants, so there is some flexibility in our costing. We acknowledge in the calculation that there are some limitations in the data available to us.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It was 382,000.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: We just rounded up the figure to 400,000.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I cannot second-guess the CSO. It does not have information available to indicate by what quantum that figure could be underestimated. That means I have to accept its figure and add in some rounding at the end in case there is a deficiency in our calculation.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, it is the case that the advice I have received from my officials over the last number of years has pointed to the risks that are there. However, just because I reached a different view in relation to bringing in this rent credit does not mean I ignored the advice of my officials. I considered what my officials advised me in relation to this. I believed that while there is a risk of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The advice I have received is that this rules them out, in their official capacity as Ministers, from being able to claim the rent credit. That is our understanding.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Given the understanding of that legislation and the understanding in that phraseology as used in the past, it refers to the Minister as a holder of the official role of a Minister. This is the same language that was used in the Affordable Housing Act 2021. The language used here is consistent with previous legislation. In previous legislation at other points, in the event that a tenant was...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I will come back to the Deputy as to whether we got the advice From the Office of the Attorney General. I will supply that information to the Deputy. In any event, because we are using the same drafting as used in the past when referring to a Minister, we are confident that no tenant would be discommoded by the current drafting.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Revenue informs me that a person will be in a position as a tenant to be able to claim the credit for 2022 by the end of January 2023.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is through filing their income tax return.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: For 2022 a person will claim it as part of his or her normal income tax returns for the year. For 2023, Revenue will make a facility available for the option to claim it during the year.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: That is correct. From January a person will be able to go into the ROS online system and make the claim at that point.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: If a person is in the rent-a-room scheme, and is unrelated to the landlord, the tenant will be able to claim this credit.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 10: 10. In page 22, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “Repeal of section 11 of Finance Act 2019 13. Section 11 of the Finance Act 2019 is repealed. Key Employee Engagement Programme 14. Section 128F of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1) — (i) by the insertion of the following definitions: “...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: For the benefit of the committee, the motivation for this is not just the view of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare but also the public consultation we conducted on the operation of the KEEP and a response to issues raised with us, by and large by Irish SMEs. I will be happy to come back to any questions Deputy Farrell has at any point.