Results 9,221-9,240 of 36,192 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: The public wants open and transparent government. It wants the old-style politics of sorting out people you know to be finished with. The Minister has seen the public anger at the stroke that Fine Gael pulled in the summer with Katherine Zappone. They do not like it. It should be a thing of the past. We are not calling into question people's qualifications. The Minister might want to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Yield (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: 172. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 78 of 10 November 2021, the assumptions on which the estimates are based particularly with regard to household and general carbon consumption in each of the years to 2030; if they are based on projections; and if so, the projections and the details of same in tabular form. [56823/21]

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: This section in the Finance Bill is larger than many Bills we deal with. Some of it is quite straightforward and other parts are a bit more complex. We will have another opportunity to look at it on Report Stage with the Minister's amendments and others. I know we are restricted to three interventions or something like that, but I ask the Vice Chairman to allow a bit of back and forth to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: That site is currently being charged €70,000 to try to encourage its development or sale for development purposes and yet there is a reduction here. That is the concern. The vacant site levy was raised from 3% to 7%. There are many more issues with the vacant site levy regarding collection, implementation, local authorities and all that. The rate was also raised because at 3% on a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I can understand some of the Minister's logic. As the net is far bigger, with a lower rate we might be able to move some of these sites on. However, it does not take away from the fact that by 2024, when this kicks in, the tax liability for sites where the owners currently pay the vacant site levy will reduce by more than half. That is problematic because at that point, rather than being...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that and the cumulative effect of it. What data has the Department collected on land value inflation over the last period? What projections does it have over the next five to six years? This means nothing if land values are increasing by more than 3%. There is no incentive to do anything because people can just sit and ride it out if land values are increasing every year.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: The value of the tax will increase but the over-value of the site that the owner disposes of at the end will increase. Has the Department done calculations based on land value inflation of, for example, 5%?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I know.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: If the value of land increases and we take the portion of the increase every year, then the tax that is paid on that is 3%. The landowner will be able to maintain 97% of the portion of the land value increase each year. If the land value increases by more than 3%, there is a benefit for the landowner to do what is happening across the State, which is hoarding. That is the problem here....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Does the Minister have any indication of where it will be?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Nov 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Does the Minister accept if land value inflation were running hypothetically at 5% per annum, even with this tax there is an incentive for landowners to hoard land with the aim of cashing in some years later with a higher value on disposal?