Results 601-620 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: That is a matter for the Minister for Health and Children. Question put and agreed to. NEW SECTION.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Government is committed to continuing the primary care programme. The Exchequer is involved at all levels in so far as the Health Service Executive is directly building some of these centres or they are being built privately with the executive leasing them for its staff. Already 200 centres are under consideration for leasing arrangements with 90 in contract arrangements, of which 30...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I do not propose to accept the recommendation. As previously indicated, the only reliefs from the carbon tax are in respect of those companies within the EU emissions trading scheme, ETS, where a carbon pricing mechanism is already in place. It is not intended to offer reliefs for sectors outside the ETS. I refer to recommendation No. 20. Those installations within the ETS that use...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: As the Senator will be aware, I am here on behalf of the Minister for Finance who does not propose to accept the recommendations, primarily because there was evidence of a scheme being abused in the past and he wants to stamp out such abuse and because of the difficulties that would arise, for example, in allowing car scrappage in the case of some cars but not all, etc. It is an issue of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I do not propose to accept the recommendation. However, the Minister for Finance wants to point out that the full Exchequer revenue implications of the application of VAT to the activities of public bodies, including local authorities, are difficult to estimate, even after the tax has been applied for some time. Whereas there will probably be a positive revenue yield for the Exchequer, it...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: It will be a lot less than anticipated when it is considered the public bodies and the businesses will both be able to recoup the moneys involved. The amount of moneys coming into the Exchequer will be quite small. I am not in a position to commit to a report on the yield but the Department of Finance will be keeping an eye on it.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The Minister for Finance indicated he is not clear on the purpose or the intent of such a report. A commitment under the renewed programme for Government is to move on the introduction of a site valuation tax for non-agricultural land. However, considerable groundwork will have to be done on this before the tax can even be introduced. The starting point for this would be establishing the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The issues of reporting and accountability were discussed during the debate on the National Asset Management Agency Bill. At the time the Minister made it clear that he was in favour of effective Oireachtas oversight of the work of NAMA. For that reason he ensured substantial provisions were included in the NAMA Act to provide for oversight by the Oireachtas. Further to the quarterly...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: It is premature, even for those who oppose NAMA, to criticise the lack of information in respect of that body which has barely commenced its work. It will be only when NAMA is up and running that we will see the extent of the oversight already written into the legislation.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: These recommendations seek to increase the oversight provision in respect of NAMA. However, such provision is already contained in the NAMA legislation. I accept the point in regard to the first report being published just as the Dáil and Seanad go into recess. The legislation states "on or before" the 30th. I am sure the Minister could suggest it comes in good time to enable the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: It is normal practice for a Minister to oversee all the activity of the State agency, including the fees etc. In the same way as I outlined that those fees would be reviewed at the end of the year, they can decrease at that stage. However, the fees are initially set prior to the work of NAMA commencing and it was only then that they realised the extent of the time and work that was going to...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: Yes. Recommendation put and declared lost.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage. (25 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I understand this has been in every Finance Bill since the establishment of the State and that it is standard procedure. It was introduced to establish the capital services account, also known as a sinking fund. This was established on foot of a decision that borrowings for voted capital services should be amortised over a period of 30 years so that they would involve no permanent addition...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (24 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The table sets out the funding provided in the 2010 revised estimates for the public service for each of the votes in my Department that fund the development of sports facilities. Sub-head Amount C.1 - GRANTS FOR SPORTING BODIES AND THE PROVISION OF SPORTS AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES (PART FUNDED BY NATIONAL LOTTERY) â'¬48,000,000 C.2 - GRANTS FOR PROVISION AND RENOVATION OF SWIMMING...

Tourism Industry: Motion (Resumed) (24 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I had understood that the Minister for Finance was due to make the final Government contribution to this debate. However, I am delighted to take the opportunity to contribute. Perhaps I might share the time available with the Minister for Finance who I am sure will arrive shortly.

Tourism Industry: Motion (Resumed) (24 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I thank the Deputies opposite for offering me their good wishes on my appointment. I am glad that Private Members' time has been given over to a debate on a subject as important as tourism. This debate belies comment in the media to the effect that tourism, culture and sport are not important to this country's people or its economy. Tourism is important as regards its potential to give...

Written Answers — Social Insurance Fund: Social Insurance Fund (23 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 530 to 533, inclusive, together. PRSI receipts do not form part of Exchequer funding but are paid into the Social Insurance Fund. The most recent estimates for PRSI yields are set out in the following table. Changes to PRSI Rates & Thresholds Yield 1% increase in Employers higher PRSI rate â'¬423m 1% increase in Employers lower PRSI rate â'¬59m 1%...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (23 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: In the court case referred to by the Deputy, the High Court found that the Irish State is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights in not having a process and a register to legally recognise the acquired gender of transsexual persons. The judgment, however, allows the State a degree of latitude in the design of mechanisms to give such legal recognition. The Renewed Programme for...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (23 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: The objective of the back to education allowance scheme is to equip people on social welfare payments with qualifications that will enable them to obtain employment in the labour market. The scheme covers courses of education from second level to Higher Diploma level in any discipline [level 8 in the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ)] and to a Graduate Diploma in Education (Primary...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (23 Mar 2010)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 536, 537, 606 and 607 together. The provisions and procedures governing the registration of deaths in Ireland are contained in Part 5 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and these are as follows: Where a death occurs in the State it is the duty of a qualified informant (normally a relative of the deceased) to attend at a registrar's office and register the...