Results 6,481-6,500 of 32,527 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: A whole variety of issues have been raised in this debate, from the taxation of REITs and IREFs to the issue of taxes on capital raised by Senator McDowell. I will say a word about each of the points I have heard. I will begin with Senator McDowell's point regarding the level of transactions we have in our economy being influenced, in the first place, by the level of tax on those...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Sinn Féin quoted a paper from the Department of Finance. I was discourteous when Senators were speaking because I did not have the report to hand and wanted to get it so I could read out to Sinn Féin the conclusions of the report. I will not have papers from my Department being selectively quoted from to make arguments that the Department and I disagree with. The Senator quotes...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Senator Higgins raised the performance of the large cases division in the Revenue Commissioners. I am committed to coming back to her in the context of the debate. The high-wealth individuals division is dealing with approximately 2,700 high net worth taxpayers. This also includes spouses and related entities. On average, the division carries out between 250 and 300 interventions per...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: It is precisely because of the planetary boundary, as Senator Higgins described it, that the Government decided to go ahead with an increase in carbon taxation. The Government could have done the easy thing. My fellow Ministers in Cabinet and the Deputies who support this Government could have said the price of energy is going up at a time when many families and businesses are facing...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: That is a €20 million scheme.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: That is a €20 million scheme. The Senator has been quoting figures of €400 million.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Senator is comparing apples with pears. We are discussing the diesel rebate scheme, which is worth €20 million. The figures the Senator has produced are the difference in taxation between diesel and petrol. That is the €400 million figure. That figure is the disparity between the taxation of diesel and petrol. It is not the diesel rebate scheme. The diesel rebate...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: In that case, the Senator is supporting the equalisation of tax on petrol and diesel.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Given the concerns the Senator had regarding the impact of this measure on families and hard-pressed businesses, if she is proposing that on top of the change in carbon tax we should also equalise taxation between diesel and petrol, that is quite an argument to make. Many businesses, taxpayers and families are facing challenges at the moment. It is not an argument I would make or something...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not sure if you are doubling down or rowing back.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not sure what you are doing.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not sure what the Senator is doing. She quoted a figure of €400 million but that is not the value of the diesel rebate scheme. That scheme is worth €20 million. The €400 million figure is the cost of equalising the tax on diesel and petrol. If that is what the Senator is supporting, I am sure she will inform the House. If it is, I candidly say to her that it is...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am clear that the cost of equalisation is €400 million for the equalisation of tax on diesel and petrol.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: No. I will conclude on the following point. I can see the value of the thrust of what the Senator is referring to. We need to look at how we can phase out fossil fuel subsidies over time and where we can. The Senator made a point about a roadmap for how we would consider whether we can do it and how we would do it. Under the climate action plan, the deadline for the production of that...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: We are committed to reviewing that rebate scheme. I have to do it each year as part of the normal tax decisions we make in the budget. Perhaps the record of what I said earlier will have to be corrected but I think what I said to the Senator was that it sounded to me like she was proposing the immediate or gradual removal of the lower level of tax on diesel versus petrol. I think I said...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: That is fine. I wanted to draw that out because it is important to note that the larger figures the Senator was using do not refer to the rebate scheme. That was my core point. As I said, I genuinely welcome the fact that the Senator is, on balance, willing to support the changes we are making on carbon taxation. I know she has reservations. She is balanced, and I welcome that. She is a...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Senator does a disservice to the desperate needs of those in the housing market when he brings forward simplistic arguments, which may be initially appealing but which will lead to a reduction in the number of homes being built in our country.

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a report. However, the Senator concluded his argument with a statement regarding my attitude and my views on the housing market. In such circumstances, I am equally entitled to make a point about his. I understand how appealing his arguments are, and I understand why the argument regarding REITs and IREFs is attractive to those who are facing difficulties at the moment. The reason I...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Senators may recall that in 2018 my Department produced a detailed technical note for the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach on the subject of both bank losses and corporation tax losses more generally. This technical note was published online and is still available. The technical note considered in some detail the potential implications of restricting...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I have to respond to some of the arguments that have been made by Senator Higgins. She asked about how the State can benefit from the upside. We are majority shareholders in AIB, we nearly entirely own Permanent TSB, and we are minority shareholders in Bank of Ireland, albeit that is decreasing quickly. That is how we participate in the upside. The Senator wants to know how we can benefit...