Results 3,901-3,920 of 32,432 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is anything but entertaining.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Vacant Properties (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy Shortall. I am aware that she has been raising this issue for some time. I have little doubt at all that if I wanted to have a look at her budget proposals, they would be freely and publicly available. The vacant homes tax, VHT, is a new measure announced in budget 2023 that aims to increase the supply of homes for rent or purchase to meet demand. Further detail on this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Many of those proposals were contained in the Sinn Féin budget proposal, which is no longer available. It has disappeared from the party's website. If I want to find out about Sinn Féin's budget proposals for 2022, they are still available. If I want to find out about its proposals for the budget we are debating, they are gone. Why are they gone? The reason they are gone is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising that point. Yes, of course we are monitoring the impact that rising interest rates are having on the cost of living and on families, households and businesses. The Central Bank has not approached me looking for additional powers or tools to deal with the consequences of that impact. As the Deputy will be aware, the code of conduct on mortgage arrears...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Very much so. As I said, we will continue to monitor the adequacy of the consumer protection code that is in place. I believe, however, that it is robust and that the Central Bank and other authorities will take very carefully their responsibilities to ensure that borrowers who find themselves in positions of distress receive the necessary information and are made aware of the options...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is worthwhile acknowledging, as the Deputy has done, that we have not seen recent decisions made that have led to abrupt changes to interest rates available. I agree, however, with one of the Deputy's points, that is, that in the time ahead it will continue to be important to monitor competitive changes within our marketplace. He is correct in acknowledging that because of the move in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As he will know, the decision on the defective concrete products levy arose from the decision of November 2021 to respond to the great harm that has been caused to so many people, including many of the Deputy's constituents, due to the presence of mica in their homes and buildings. As part of the work undertaken on the impact the levy...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. The Central Bank of Ireland publishes mortgage statistics on a quarterly basis. The most recent statistics indicate there were around 719,500 primary dwelling mortgage accounts at the end of June last with an outstanding balance of €98.7 billion. The Central Bank estimates that around 27% of primary dwelling mortgages with credit institutions are on a tracker...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is important to be clear on the possible costs of this. I have outlined what the cost was in 2008. The most recent data, from the end of June, indicate there are currently 720,000 mortgage accounts with an average outstanding balance of €137,100 at an interest rate of 2.5%. Assuming mortgage interest relief was granted at a rate of 20% on the average interest payment, such a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Interest Rates (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand hard-pressed households are looking to the Government for help, which we provided in budget 2023 and which we want to provide to make a difference. However, those hard-pressed households, the citizens of Ireland who are experiencing such strain, also have an expectation that any proposals that will be brought forward will be affordable, will make sense and will not create new...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett. I thank the committee in advance for its work and co-operation in dealing with this important legislation. I recall the similar amendments brought forward during last year's Finance Bill. We discussed many of the issues the Deputy has just touched on and I am pleased to do so again in the context of this Bill because important political matters are at stake...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputies for their questions. I will begin with the Deputies who spoke first and will come to Deputy Boyd Barrett shortly. I accept that Deputy Mattie McGrath is simply looking for a report on these matters. The reason I am not in a position to agree to his amendment is the issues he is calling for a report on are covered every year in the tax strategy group papers. We...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I did say that is if the OECD agreement is fully implemented. Even in our current tax code, the average level of tax large corporate employers pay in Ireland is between 10% and 11%. The difference between taxation on capital and labour and profit on labour, for those on low incomes, is not as big as the Deputy would argue it to be. I read the Deputy's budget submissions - he knows I do -...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with the different points that have been put to me. First, I did say that corporate tax is a tax on profit. I said that and made that clear. I stand over what I said. Looking at the average level of tax on income versus the average level of tax on profit, because of changes that have taken place in our tax code, the average level of tax large companies are paying on their...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not hear you talk about it any more.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not hear the Deputy talk about it any more. We can go through the debate we had earlier in the Dáil about his party's alternative budget, which has magically appeared on its website since we last spoke.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The reality-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The reality is that it was not there. I am not going to demean the dignity of this committee by having to pick up my phone and show pictures of what the website was like before I made my point and what it was like after, but the Deputy knows there is a difference and I know what his party has done. He should not talk to me about the difference between what I said in 2016 or 2017 when I...