Results 7,141-7,160 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

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...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I am used to this. It is just a typical Sinn Féin response. When its representatives are confronted with the truth of their own actions, they have no option by to deny it. Let me repeat it again -----

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

Paschal Donohoe: I am glad that the Senator did not deny it.

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

Paschal Donohoe: Let me repeat again, this budget contained a measure that through the use of taxpayers' money, would allow more rental accommodation to be brought online for the benefit of tenants, that is, tenants who the Senator claims to champion.

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

Paschal Donohoe: Sinn Féin is here as a party saying it wants more rental accommodation to be made available but as the Senator's own half-hearted heckling demonstrates, he uses "landlord" as a term of abuse. There are not many landlords who will be listening to Sinn Féin and its tone about the rental sector who will be eager to provide more rental accommodation for the tenants that Sinn Féin...

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

Paschal Donohoe: That word, "leverage", says it all. That is the concept that says a lot about the Senator's view of private banking. Particularly as a majority shareholder and as a Government, you have to understand the commercial independence of banks. There is a role for privately owned banks. I want our banking sector to be owned more by the private sector in the future. The Senator is familiar with...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the Senator's Private Members' Bill, the Worker Co-operatives and Right to Buy Bill 2021, and his interest in this matter. I note that it included a proposed new section 597AB for insertion in the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to allow for relief from capital gains tax on the sale of a business to a workers' co-operative. I understand the Bill proceeded to Second Stage in the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The VAT treatment of the supply of goods and services is subject to the requirements of the EU VAT Directive, with which Irish VAT law must comply. Exemptions from VAT for certain activities in the public interest are set out in Chapter 2 of Title IX of the Directive. These provisions are transposed into Irish legislation in Part 1, Schedule 1, VAT Consolidation Act 2010. Paragraph 2(5) of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 201, 205, 207, 211, 218 and 221 together. The objective of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) is to support employment and maintain the link between the employer and employee insofar as is possible. The EWSS has been a key component of the Government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis. It is an economy-wide scheme that operates across all sectors....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Reviews (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The Retail Banking Review is being undertaken directly by the Department of Finance, which has assigned a team in its Banking Division to the task. The team will consist of seven officials, To date, five Department officials and one of two officials being seconded from the Central Bank of Ireland have been assigned. The gender breakdown of the six officials is that two are female and four...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 203 and 204 together. Finance Act 2000 introduced the gross roll-up taxation regime for investments in domestic funds (in section 58) and for investments in life policies (in section 53). While Finance Act 1990 had introduced anti-avoidance rules that are known as the “offshore funds” regime, Finance Act 2001 (section 72) amended the offshore...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 28B of the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020 provides for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) which is an economy-wide enterprise support for eligible businesses. EWSS provides a subsidy to qualifying employers, based on the number of qualifying employees on the payroll. As an economy-wide support, the EWSS has played a central role in supporting...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (14 Dec 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the report referred to by the Deputy in relation to an assessment by ISME of the effect of state policies on moderate to low income earners. The report suggests policy changes in the following four areas: 1. Adjusting PRSI to eliminate the very high marginal PRSI rate on additional income in the PRSI Transition Zone from €18,304 to €22,048 per annum. 2....