Results 741-760 of 33,848 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: State Savings Schemes (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The NTMA have informed me that a Post Office Savings Bank account forming part of the Ireland State Savings range of products offered by the National Treasury Management Agency may be frozen for a number of reasons, including regulatory or operational issues. The temporary freezing of such an account does not constitute a default, including a temporary default, of Government debt, and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Coverage (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 257 and 258 together. As Minister for Finance, I have policy responsibility for the development of the legal framework governing financial services regulation, including for the insurance sector. Insurers use their own mapping and modelling tools for assessing the level of risk that they are willing to underwrite in relation to individual properties....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration Tax (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The registration of vehicles is a mandatory requirement in all EU Member Countries. In some countries, including Ireland (the State), it is used as an event at which a tax is collected. This tax is known as Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and was introduced in the Finance Act 1992. VRT is required to be paid at the time that a vehicle is registered in the State, and within 30 days of that...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Contracts (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has no records of any contracts valued over €10 million in the last five years. The bodies under the aegis of my Department have provided the below information. Central Bank of Ireland The Central Bank has included details of all relevant contracts signed in the years 2020 – 2025. Year Public services...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised that Revenue is not aware of any regulatory changes that would limit the amount of tax that can be paid by Debit Card to €500. Some card providers have limits on the amounts that can be paid but these limits are controlled by the card providers rather than by Revenue. If some taxpayers are experiencing difficulties, Revenue advise they contact their card provider to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration Tax (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The registration of vehicles is a mandatory requirement in all EU member countries. In some countries, including Ireland (the State), it is used as an event at which a tax is collected. This tax is known as Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and was introduced in the Finance Act 1992. VRT is required to be paid at the time that a vehicle is registered in the State, and within 30 days of that...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Land Issues (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Help to Buy (HTB) incentive is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. The incentive gives a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in the legislation. The legislation governing the HTB scheme is set out in section 477C...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 264 and 266 together. The rules relating to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Ireland are contained in Part 25A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. The purpose of the REIT regime is to allow for a collective investment vehicle which provides a comparable after-tax return to investors as direct investment in rental property, by eliminating the double...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 265 and 267 together. The Irish Real Estate Fund (“IREF”) regime was introduced by Finance Act 2016 and amended by Finance Act 2017 to address concerns over the use of collective investment vehicles by certain non-resident investors to minimise their exposure to Irish tax on Irish property transactions. IREFs are Irish funds, or sub-funds...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: In conjunction with the Credit Union (Amendment) Act 2023, a number of non-legislative actions were agreed in order to encourage transparency of regulatory engagement. One of these actions was the development of an Enhanced Engagement Protocol between the Central Bank and the credit union sector. Throughout the Credit Union (Amendment) Act 2023 legislative process the Central Bank has...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The purpose of the Stabilisation Scheme is to have funds available, if needed, to assist credit unions whose reserves have temporarily fallen below the 10% minimum statutory reserve requirement but are otherwise considered by the Central Bank to be viable. To be eligible for consideration for stabilisation support, a credit union must have reserves of at least 7.5% of total assets but its...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The purpose of the Credit Institutions Resolution Fund (CIRF) is to provide a source of funding for the resolution of financial instability in, or an imminent serious threat to the financial stability of, a credit union. See below, in tabular format, the amount that has been collected each year by the Resolution Fund since its inception. Data has been extracted from the annual CIRF audited...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Regulations (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 271 and 272 together. The Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2022 provides that any person whose business, directly or indirectly, provides credit, including credit which is termed as 'buy now pay later' (BNPL) type credit, or hire purchase or consumer hire agreements to consumers now falls within the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Unions (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The following information has been provided by the Central Bank Of Ireland and is extracted from quarterly prudential returns submitted by credit unions to the Central Bank Of Ireland. The credit union financial year runs from 1 October to 31 September. The Deputy has asked for specific information to March each year, hence the information in tabular form below is from 1 October to the 31...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The formulation and implementation of monetary policy is an independent matter for the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB increased official interest rates over the course of 2022 and 2023 as it moved to combat excess inflation. However, since last summer it has reduced official interest rates on eight occasions, the most recent of which came into effect from 11 June 2025. These...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Finance, I have policy responsibility for the development of the legal framework governing financial services regulation, including for the insurance sector. As you will appreciate, I cannot comment on individual cases or intervene in disputes that individuals may have with their bank or insurance provider. In relation to the general issue of mortgages, there is a broad...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pensions Reform (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The Interdepartmental Pensions Reform and Taxation Group (IDPRTG) was established to carry out a number of tasks set out in the Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018 -2023. The Roadmap set out the need to promote long-term pension saving to address income adequacy in retirement, in particular for low income earners. The IDPRTG is chaired by the Department of Finance, and includes...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pensions Reform (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: Prior to 1 January 2023, where the combined contributions by an employer and an employee to the employee’s Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) did not exceed the employee’s annual percentage limit, as set out in section 787E(1) Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA), the contributions were relieved from tax. The employee’s annual percentage limit is between 15% and 40%...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pensions Reform (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: The introduction of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System, known as AE, is a landmark reform designed to get people to save for their retirement earlier thereby helping them to sustain a reasonable standard of living in their old age. It is also designed to support the long-term sustainability of the pension system more generally. As the Deputy is aware the operation of AE is...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pensions Reform (1 Jul 2025)

Paschal Donohoe: While there are differences in the treatment of occupational pension schemes and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs), these differences stem from the nature of the products. I am advised by Revenue that “master trusts” are not currently defined in either pensions or tax legislation. For tax purposes, a master trust is treated as an occupational pension scheme which...