Results 6,521-6,540 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I have.

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I have considered carefully the various issues raised by the life insurance industry. Having regard to the need for additional tax revenue, the incidence of taxes being imposed across the economy and the need for all sectors to make a contribution towards solving our economic difficulties, I decided that the levy will be implemented as announced. In common with other taxation measures,...

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am prepared to keep the matter under review in the best interests of the industry and for that reason I gave a longer lead in period, as well.

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I note Deputy Morgan's comments and I assure him that the Commission on Taxation will deal this matter. We could assist the public by being factual in our assertions with regard to it. In that context, if one earns income in Ireland, one pays tax on it. If, however, one does not reside in Ireland, one does not pay tax on income one earns elsewhere. There is nothing unusual in that legal...

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am sorry to inform Deputy Burton that the material I read is material from my Department. I never lectured in the law of citizenship. The material before me was prepared by the Department of Finance so there is no need to personalise this issue in respect of my past occupation. My current occupation is a Deputy and Minister for Finance. I am well aware of joblessness in this country but...

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: To accept Deputy Bruton's amendment would cost €25 million this year and €50 million in a full year. The income levy as currently structured is highly progressive. Those who can afford it pay the most while the most vulnerable are protected in so far as possible. The levy payment amounts to 1.11% of gross income of the individual. The multiplicity of levies has become a patchwork...

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Deputy Morgan's amendment in substance seeks to repeal something which was at the core of the supplementary budget. The Deputy has indicated he is opposed to the rates of change and he would continue the charge at the rates effective from 1 January 2009. The levy was introduced to help deal with the exceptional economic circumstances where we as a nation saw a very substantial revenue...

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Deputy has in a sense postponed the amendment until next year so I will be brief in my reply. I will not take this as meaning that the Deputy agrees with the matter this year and I will not misinterpret it as such. The amendment seeks to grant special treatment to those individuals who invest in capital assets in order to satisfy environmental requirements of the sector in which they...

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: A similar amendment was tabled on Committee Stage. The effect would be to exclude from the new restriction the amount of interest that can be deducted when computing a person's taxable rental income on interest paid by individuals who had occupied a house as their principal private residence before the house was rented out for residential use. The Deputy's concern relates to possible...

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I was referring to net rental income as distinct from gross of the expenses which the lessor has in respect of the letting.

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes.

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: That has not been decided yet.

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I cannot hypothesise what will be contained in the next budget. Deputy Burton made a good stab at it earlier.

Finance Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We will see.

Finance Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Mr. Buckley, as Comptroller and Auditor General, and his staff do excellent work. However, the exercise being carried out in my Department comes under my direction as Minister for Finance. I do not believe it would be constitutionally proper for the Comptroller and Auditor General to be involved in that process. Under the Constitution, he is an independent officer who works for this House...

Finance Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The accounts have their own mysteries and the methods of analysis and presentation which apply in respect of them are very different to those used by auditors and accountants involved in compiling general business and personal accounts. However, there is a way to read them if one can master it. The Deputy must give me some credit on being the first Minister for Finance for many years to have...

Finance Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Does Deputy Burton know who these people are?

Finance Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I also welcome the debate because it affords me the opportunity to give some clarity on the matter. The Irish tax system is the same as those in other advanced countries and in line with general international practice in this respect. As Deputy Barrett pointed out, individuals travel between states and an arrangement must be arrived at between countries as to which jurisdiction such people...

Finance Bill 2009: Order for Report Stage (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Finance Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (27 May 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Deputy's amendment is almost identical to one moved on Committee Stage. As I outlined on Committee Stage and as my predecessor outlined on previous occasions, the statutory remit of the Ombudsman already incorporates both roles proposed for a taxpayers' ombudsman office, namely, acting for taxpayers and investigating actions contrary to fair or sound administration. The Ombudsman should...