Results 4,421-4,440 of 6,533 for speaker:John Lahart

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: I thank Mr. Coffey and his team for their public service. Representatives from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council have been with us on several occasions since this committee was formed. This sounds like this Government's "soft landing" moment. Everything said today has been said on the last two occasions the witnesses have appeared before us as well. The remarks on corporation tax have...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: Turning to the prudence account, what would the final amount have looked like at the end of 2018, if it had been in place?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: I am asking about a situation where the prudence account was in place and money was being set aside. I will come back to that question while the answer is being sought. Time is an issue. An email we received from the Department of Finance dated 5 June stated that a notable feature of this month's fiscal monitor was that corporation tax was €223 million behind target and also 13%...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: Page 109 of the report features a fiscal risk matrix, with health overruns at the top, followed by climate change and renewable energy targets. Corporation tax concentration risks come after that. Will the witnesses elaborate on the climate change and renewable energy targets and the reason the council considered them such a high risk? Are the potential fines payable to the European Union...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Fiscal Assessment Report: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: Mr. Casey is saying that in terms of liabilities to the State, the fines due as a result of our failure to date to meet climate change targets have the potential to outstrip the risks associated with corporation tax.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: I have heard the Minister use the word "we" more often than usual in his responses today. He usually says "I".

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: That is reassuring because in the last few paragraphs he has said a lot about what "we" need to do. This is the budgetary oversight committee, not the budgetary formulation committee. That is the Minister's job. From a budgetary oversight perspective I notice that when it comes to difficult decisions, whether the carbon tax or petrol and diesel equalisation and the LPT, the Minister has...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: That would be five or six times the current percentage.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: That does not tally with what the Minister said, namely that he would like to see the tax pay a more significant role. He did not say a more modestly significant role, which is an oxymoron. He spoke about enlarging its contribution as a proportion of the overall tax yield.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: I thank the Minister. I made this point the last time we spoke about this. People who in some cases have been exempt for five or six years will be living side by side with people who have been paying local property tax and paying for local services. Was there not even an opportunity to address that? Do the Minister's officials have an average figure for what the exemption of 60,000 to...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Local Property Tax Review: Discussion (11 Jun 2019)

John Lahart: There is some sympathy on both sides of the House for the idea of allowing small landlords to claim some property tax back in order to make their yield on their properties a little bit more attractive. How would the Minister see that applying to the cuckoo funds who are currently buying properties or the developers who are applying to build massive amounts of build-to-rent properties? How...

Development of Primary Care: Statements (29 May 2019)

John Lahart: I am delighted to be able to contribute to this debate. I know how earnestly Deputy Finian McGrath views this topic as the Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for disabilities. The Department has a budget and he has to try to shoehorn as many things as he can into that budget but our job as Opposition spokespeople is to hold him to account in this...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: I thank the Minister and his officials for their public service. In fairness, he always attends when we ask. I will ask questions from a budgetary oversight viewpoint. When the Minister talked about how the cost of this project will be covered in the future, the words that came into my head were "revenue buoyancy". He seemed to predicate one's ability to meet the gap or potential gap in...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: The Minister mentioned there is a risk involved.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: From a budgetary oversight point of view, there are at least two risks involved. I am concerned about the disparity between the view of the Secretary General and the Minister. Earlier the Minister stated, "No other projects will be delayed or rescheduled and no other changes will be made to the capital allocations for other projects, such as those set out in the [NDP]" and that "the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: If this project does not work out then this is not the committee to which the Minister will return. Rather, it will be the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment. We are the Committee on Budget Oversight and that is why I am focusing on the budgetary oversight aspect of the project.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: Did the Secretary General read the options? Did he have access to the paper with the same options as the Minister?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: The Minister mentioned costed alternatives. Can the costed alternatives be published? I wish to reinforce the following point. Obviously we want Ministers with independent minds who seek advice from all quarters. However, I refer to the points that were issued by the Secretary General, particularly the ones on reputational damage, the risks to the perception of economic competence and...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: I assume that the Secretary General has had access to the same options that were available to the Minister, yet still arrived at this advice to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Can the Minister explain the difference in the two outcomes and responses to the two options papers?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

John Lahart: It should have been published.