Results 901-920 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (8 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The majority of staff employed with the Financial and Pension Services Ombudsman (FSPO) are deemed to handle complaints, primarily as assigned case owners. The exceptions to this are staff working in support areas such as Corporate Services, HR and ICT. Complaint handlers, as at year end, 31 December 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 - 2019 2020 2021 ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services (8 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: On receipt by the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO), all new complaints are reviewed and registered within two business days. Where the initial review identifies the complaint as “complete” with all relevant information on hand, and compliance steps verified, the file is prepared for referral to the Dispute Resolution Service. Where the initial review identifies...

Death of Former Taoiseach: Expressions of Sympathy (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: On behalf of the Tánaiste and my Fianna Fáil Party colleagues, I extend our deepest condolences on the passing of former Taoiseach, John Bruton, to his wife, Finola, his son, Matthew, his daughters Juliana, Emily and Mary-Elizabeth, his grandchildren, our parliamentary colleague Richard, John's sister, Mary, and indeed the Fine Gael Party. John Bruton was, by any measure, a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is a tax on gifts and inheritances that is payable by the beneficiary of a gift or inheritance on the value of the property received. It is the relationship between the person providing the gift or inheritance (the disponer) and the person receiving the benefit (the beneficiary) that determines the tax-free threshold (Group threshold) below which CAT does not...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 100 together. The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is an income support paid to farmers. ACRES payments will be subject to tax as income and will generally be taxed under Schedule D Case I as a receipt of a trade of farming. In the case of individual farmers, an ACRES payment will be subject to income tax and USC. In general,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Legislative Measures (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: Given that it seeks to amend the NTMA Acts in relation to investments made by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023 is under my Department’s responsibility. There has been engagement between my officials and officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs on the Bill since its publication in March last year. Such engagements have...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy will be aware the 9% VAT rate applied on a temporary basis to the hospitality and tourism sectors until 31 August 2023 when it reverted to the 13.5% rate. The 9% rate was introduced on 1 November 2020 in recognition of the fact that the tourism and hospitality sectors were among those most impacted by the public health restrictions put in place throughout the pandemic. The...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The sourcing and issuing of cheque books to their customers is an operational matter for the banks concerned and is, therefore, not a matter in which the Minister has a statutory function. However, a recommendation of the Retail Banking Review, which was published in November 2022, was that the Department of Finance should lead on the preparation of a new National Payments Strategy (NPS) to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Student Accommodation (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The NTMA has informed me that the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is a commercial investor in a range of businesses, platforms and projects which support the delivery of new homes in Ireland. These investments are in private market commercial operations, typically featuring a significant quantum of third-party investment that deliver a range of housing tenures including...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Official Travel (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: It is not possible for my Department to provide this information in the time available. I will make arrangements to provide this information to the Deputy as soon as possible in line with Standing Orders.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: In relation to the matter raised by the Deputy, I am advised by Revenue that the person concerned has been in correspondence with them in relation to this matter and clarification on the matter has been provided to the person directly.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Advertising (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the amount spent by my Department on advertising from 2013 to date in 2023 is set out in tabular form below, which includes both traditional and online advertising. The Department is not in a position to demarcate online spend from other forms of expenditure, as some advertising will inevitably involve both. Year ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Contracts (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department does not currently employ any persons or firms to deal with public relations. From August 2019 to January 2020, my Department had a public relations contract with Daniel J. Edelman Ireland Limited. This contract was for the provision of specialist advice on using social media in overseas markets to promote Ireland for Finance. The value of this...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Expenditure (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The legal costs incurred by my Department were not collated centrally until recent years. Below is a table of the amount spent on legal costs or legal services by the Department of Finance in recent years. Please note that a search of official records indicates expenditure on legal fees incurred by the Shareholding & Financial Advisory Division from 2014 to 2019, while 2020 to date...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Expenditure (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that the procurement of office space is the responsibility of the Office of Public Works. Please find attached tables which contain expenditure figures in respect of Office Furniture and Fittings and ICT for the past 10 years. This is based on the expenditure as per our financial reporting systems. Year Office Furniture and Fittings Spend...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Company Law (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: In November of 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in Joined Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, that a provision of the EU AML directive, under which information on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities, held in central registers, must be provided to the general public, is invalid. The Court found that the provision interfered with the rights recognised in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: Section 470 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA 1997) provides for tax relief in respect of payments made to authorised insurers under relevant contracts in respect of medical insurance and dental insurance. Qualifying medical insurance policies can be for health insurance, dental insurance or health and dental insurance combined. Tax relief is given as a reduction on the cost of the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The Rent Tax Credit, as provided for in section 473B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA 1997), was introduced by the Finance Act 2022 and may be claimed in respect of qualifying rent paid in 2022 and subsequent years to end-2025. I am advised by Revenue that the Rent Tax Credit statistics currently available refer only to claims by PAYE taxpayers. Data on claims by self-assessed...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The Deputy should note that VAT operates in two monthly cycles. The estimated cost of reducing the VAT rate to 9% for those sectors that previously had a 9% rate applied is €521million for the period 1 March to 31 October, and €653 million for the period 1 March to 31 December 2024.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Schemes (7 Feb 2024)

Michael McGrath: The Tax Debt Warehousing Scheme has provided vital and practical liquidity support to businesses during the COVID pandemic and subsequent cost of living challenges by assisting businesses with their cash-flow during difficult trading periods, thereby preventing business failure. The scheme allowed businesses to temporarily defer VAT and Employer PAYE, certain self-assessed income tax...