Results 4,381-4,400 of 33,118 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 am talking about tax proposals and it is true.

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

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this. From finance Bill to finance Bill I am always happy to keep matters under review. I accept the issues that are being brought forward by Deputy Nash. As I have explained to the Deputy, due to the cost involved in the scheme and the way we have it structured, it is appropriate to maintain the parameters as they stand. In advance of every finance Bill I...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I see it as a holding measure. I hope that, over time, these matters can be better dealt with through pay policy, particularly if we are successful in building up the number of our personnel who are involved in this really important work. To give the Deputy a bit of information regarding the number of people using the relief at the moment, 189 enlisted personnel and 35 officers availed of...

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

Paschal Donohoe: In respect of amendment No. 9, I acknowledge the difficulties that many parents face in paying the rent due for the residence used by their children while they are attending college. The credit will be available in such cases subject to all other conditions of this measure being met, provided the child concerned is undertaking an approved course and was under the age of 23 at the...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputies. I very much acknowledge the pressure that so many are facing within our rental sector at the moment. I experience it in my own constituency clinic in the engagement I have with my own constituents. I am really aware of the pressures that have been referred to by Deputies Doherty and Mairéad Farrell. On Deputy Doherty's point about students over the age of 23...

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

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, the figures we have for the bike to work scheme are currently an estimate that my Department prepares in conjunction with the Revenue Commissioners. In section 8, which we will be coming to in a moment, we are looking at how greater information could be provided with regard to the availing of reliefs. If we have an indication that the cost of the scheme is growing in any way, under...

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

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy put a question to me and I will repeat and conclude what I am saying. He does not believe it to be a priority issue that someone who is on an average wage is paying the higher rate of income tax. I do. We should change this, particularly at a time of higher inflation. For someone who is on €40,000 or €42,000, the benefit will of course be significantly more than...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I accept that.

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

Paschal Donohoe: Does the Deputy accept that under Sinn Féin's proposals, somebody who is earning €37,685 or more would have a benefit of €313 per annum? Under the proposals in the budget, that person would have a benefit of €368 per annum.

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

Paschal Donohoe: And I have explained.

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

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for bringing the amendment forward. Tax relief in rfespect of health expenses is provided for in section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Health expenses are defined in that section as: “expenses in respect of the provision of health care... [including services provided by or] on the advice of a practitioner”. A practitioner is an individual who is...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I have not given any consideration to extending the number of days for which this relief can be availed. In the engagements I have had with the Department of Defence, no case for any significant change in the relief was made to us. I remember that, when we initially brought in this relief on Report Stage a number of years ago, we did so in the hope that it would be temporary and that we...

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

Paschal Donohoe: He must allow me to be more precise if I was not clear in what I said. My understanding and knowledge is that in Berlin they froze rents, which I understand is what the Deputy's party wants to do. Since those rents were frozen the amount of new rental accommodation that is available has gone down. That is my contention in respect of the impact a rent freeze would have on the availability...

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

Paschal Donohoe: A wide variety of different matters have been raised with me so-----

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

Paschal Donohoe: The comments in respect of the reports did not stick to them either. I will respond to the points that have been put to me as quickly as I can. As I understand it, Deputy Barry put forward the case that, every time a landlord exits the market, the State should step in and buy the rental property in question. I understand that local authorities are doing this in some cases. They are...

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

Paschal Donohoe: In Germany, to the best of my knowledge, it is.