Results 5,881-5,900 of 32,433 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 252 and 253 together. Revenue has advised me that over 820,000 PAYE taxpayers have filed income tax returns for 2020 and approximately 480,000 have done so for 2021. It is not possible to definitively confirm the number of PAYE taxpayers who have yet to file their returns for 2021 as in many cases they pay the correct tax throughout the year and are not...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Housing Schemes (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that there were 26,025 Help-to-Buy (HTB) applications made in 2021.   Applications for HTB may be made on a provisional basis as first time buyers will want to have certainty as to their entitlements in advance of commencing the purchase of a property. An application will only progress to the final ‘claim’ stage when the applicant decides to purchase...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: By the third quarter last year, both output and employment had exceeded pre-pandemic levels, a remarkable outcome that speaks to the success of the Government’s economic policies, which protected incomes, jobs and businesses. It is important to note however that the Covid-19 shock has had a disproportionate and negative impact on certain sectors, in particular on labor-intensive...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware that the general level of new lending interest rates in Ireland are higher than is the case in many other European countries. However, the price lenders charge for their loans is a commercial matter for individual lenders.  As Minister for Finance I cannot determine the lending policies of individual banks including the interest rates they charge for loans including mortgages,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, Budget 2022 included a significant tax package amounting to a cost of €520 million.    This included a substantial income tax package comprising of an increase of €50 in each of the main tax credits – personal tax credit, employee tax credit and the earned income credit – from €1,650 to €1,700.  An...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Finance does not provide any grants for the purchase of a vehicle but instead administers the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme which provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, payment of a Fuel Grant, and an...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government have stated on many occasions that there will be no cliff edge to supports for employers but we have also been clear that the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) and COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) cannot run indefinitely, nor is it sustainable to continue for a prolonged period of time given the very substantial costs to the Exchequer. In relation to EWSS the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes. The FSPO has informed me that every complaint received by it is assessed and investigated in detail. Where a complaint closes in Registration and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes. The FSPO has informed me that it can investigate complaints made about the conduct of financial service providers and pension providers, only if such...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes. The FSPO has informed me that where a complaint is made to the FSPO concerning a joint account or a joint policy, the FSPO must recognise that all...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes. The FSPO’s predecessor, the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau, started receiving tracker mortgage rate complaints in 2009, and these...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes. The FSPO has informed me that in accordance with the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017 (‘the Act’), the Financial...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes. In December 2018, the FSPO submitted a Workforce Plan 2019-2023 to me and I approved the recruitment of an additional 35 staff. This basis...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) is independent in the performance of her statutory functions and I have no role in the day to day workings of the office or in the decisions which she takes. As the FSPO is a statutory complaints handling body its functions require the ongoing provision of legal services. The FSPO has informed me that...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 268 and 274 together. I am advised by Revenue that its public offices, excluding ports, airports and trade facilitation stations remain closed until further notice. Throughout the pandemic, Revenue has continued to provide a full range of online services for taxpayers to manage their tax affairs, which for the most part removes any requirement to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Revenue is independent in the exercise of its functions. However, I have been advised by it as follows: Revenue's process for taxing DSP payments, including the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) seeks to cater for the different scenarios that can arise across the PAYE case base. Following significant consideration by Revenue, the basis of taxation adopted aims, as...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Public Services Provision (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department has not won any award from Public Sector Magazine.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the EU Commission published a proposal on the reform of VAT rates in January 2018 which would allow Member States more flexibility in how they apply VAT rates. The compromise text agreed at ECOFIN in December last year has been amended significantly in comparison to the original proposal. As agreed at ECOFIN, the proposal amends category 10a of Annex III...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Communications (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I would like to advise the Deputy that I do not use the WhatsApp application to conduct Government or official communications. I can confirm that I do use the ‘disappearing messages’ setting in a limited capacity on my phone.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pension Provisions (22 Feb 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: In terms of the tax treatment of supplementary pensions, Ireland operates an Exempt, Exempt, Tax (EET) system. This is a similar system to that operated in the majority of OECD countries and means that contributions to pensions are exempted from income tax (subject to age-related percentage and income limitations), pension fund gains are exempted from income tax but income from...