Results 8,101-8,120 of 32,527 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I knew Deputy Tóibín would be relieved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to Deputy Tóibín's first question, I accept that the issue of vacant homes is one we have to consider far more actively now in light of the great housing challenges we have and our need to provide homes for more people. It is important to understand the scale of this issue and why this vacancy is occurring in the first place. This is why the local property tax return...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not believe that it will, when these changes are implemented. In fact, one of the changes that we have made in the LPT structure and the banding of the LPT, is that we have increased the breadth of the entry band for local property tax up to €200,000. One of the reasons I have done that is the risk that was there of homes that had a lower value than the national average could...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Currently, the definition of residential property leaves open the question of the part of the allowable acre that is to be valued. This is currently at variance with the treatment applied in relation to the capital gains tax exemption for the disposal of a person's principal private residence. That is under the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and the definition of residential property for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I will come back to the Deputy with a note regarding that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: The six-year period is the period of exemption that we made available when dealing with similar issues in other parts of the country. I expect that the Government will have to act in a way to have the matter dealt with for as many homeowners as we can within a six-year period. That six-year exemption period is exactly the same as we have granted for a similar issue in other parts of the country.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I will get that for the Deputy in two minutes. If he would be good enough to go on to his next question I will come back to him with the information very quickly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not sure what the link is between that and pre-legislative scrutiny of the local property tax Bill. Because I understood that was the issue I was coming in to address, I am not in a position to give the Deputy an up-to-date answer to the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: To deal with the question the Deputy put to me earlier, the current value of the deferrals in 2021 was €8.7 million. It made reference to 45,800 claims and out of those claims the rationale that the vast majority put forward for it was that their income was below a certain level.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: None that I am aware of.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: This particular option was only due to be available until the end of 2019 and was a recommendation that came from the Thornhill report. This is a recommendation that came from the central review of local property tax. Mortgage interest relief was brought in at a time in which interest rates on mortgages, particularly for new applicants, were much higher than they are at the moment. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: Could the Senator clarify that a bit more?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand the Senator's question. They will be fixed for the next four years. Inside that four year period, the only way of reviewing it again would be through legislative change.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: We are not making any change there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand the Senator's need for that clarity. I am giving a commitment to very thoroughly investigating a case for such a change. What I need and will have soon is far more accurate information regarding the scale of this as an issue and the reason it is happening. Even in my analysis of data that is available from elsewhere, there are many reasons vacancy of a property occurs. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Senator for the points he made. I also thank him for his recognition of the value of ensuring those 80,000 homes that have been built and purchased since 2013 come into the perimeter of this tax. It is important once we do this revaluation that we are never in this place again. It raises an important issue of fairness and within local authorities, as the Senator said, it raises...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. Yes, I am. The spending of this revenue is a matter for local authorities and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, from a policy point of view. Deputy Durkan knows we have put quite some time into reviewing the future of the tax. We have had a debate over many years regarding the future of the local property tax and whether we should revalue or not. I have not become aware...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy Durkan. I take on board what he is saying, which is why I suggest the sequencing of gathering thorough data on this matter first. This appears to be the sensible first step we should take. As I said in my engagement with Senator Sherlock a few moments ago, there are many reasons a property could be vacant. A number of these reasons could be very understandable from a family...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I seek guidance from the Acting Chairman as to whether or not I should answer that question? I agree with what the Deputy said, but he also put a few questions to me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Discussion (7 Jul 2021)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for the questions. On the first question regarding where increases are likely to fall, I want to emphasise again that most homeowners will not see an increase and, in terms of those who do, the majority of them will move up one band and, therefore, an increase of €90. As to where they will be, there is no precise answer to that question. It depends on the value of...