Results 9,281-9,300 of 11,956 for speaker:Paul Murphy

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: I will go into an individual case of how much an individual employee, who may be relatively highly paid to be benefiting from these share options, could benefit. I have seen an example provided by Mazars which shows that someone getting €10,000 in share options at €1 per share, exercising that option when they are worth €3 per share and selling them when they are worth...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: In turn, that individual benefits to that amount but the State loses that amount in terms of-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: Does the Minister accept that the impact of the scheme is likely to be regressive? One could, in theory, be a low-paid employee and get share options, but it is not very likely. Those who avail of share options are more likely to be middle to higher income earners and, therefore, the effect would be regressive.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: I support the amendment and agree with Deputy Doherty. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has said the problem of the Government's inaction in the housing crisis has nothing to do with resources, ideology or money. The difference in the Government's approach to the idea of vacant sites and the help-to-buy scheme indicates that is not accurate....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: I agree with the amendments. Does the Minister of State now agree that the tax break for properties held for at least five years should not have been included in the Finance Bill 2016? At the time it was objected to by ourselves, and possibly others, on the grounds that it encourages property hoarding as well as being a big tax break. Is there an admission that that was a mistake - not a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: There is a logical incoherence in the Minister for Finance's argument about the need for a delay in getting rid of this allowance, or whatever one wants to call it. The argument is that we need tax certainty, but there was no such need for tax certainty when it was introduced to the benefit of these vulture funds. The Government was able to introduce it immediately, but now that it is being...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: Did they ask that if this was to be removed, they should be given-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: The Minister has said that middle-income earners are those earning between €30,000 and €70,000. Does that mean he disagrees with the Taoiseach who said that minimum wage earners were middle-income earners?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: The Taoiseach took the argument of the Government about how the phrase "middle income" or "middle class" is used to a ridiculous point when he defined minimum wage workers as being middle class or middle-income earners.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: The Minister said that 224,000 are paying the top rate.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: Can the Minister break that down further to indicate the percentage of income earners earning between €20,000 and €50,000?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: People earning €70,000 are not the kinds of people we are seeking to have pay more tax. Under our proposals they would not pay any USC. They are relatively high-income earners, but they are not the kind of super rich at whom our policies are aimed. It is not statistically accurate to suggest that people on those relatively high incomes are middle-income earners. Approximately two...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: That is not at all the case when combined with transforming society along the lines of our proposals, which entail scrapping the USC and replacing it with a high-income social charge on those earning more than €90,000 and new tax bands going upwards. The point is that the language around middle-income earners is designed to shroud the reality behind a curtain. Much has been made of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: The Government often likes to make much of the fact that Ireland has a progressive income tax system. I think the argument is that it is one of the most progressive income tax systems in Europe. Obviously, that misses something, which is that the Government is shifting away from income - direct - taxation towards indirect taxation, which is inherently far more regressive. Considering the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: Let us consider the change that is taking place. We can all pick examples from the tables to suit our arguments. Let us consider a single-income earner on €25,000 which is probably not far off the median earnings in the State. It may be €2,000, €3,000 or €4,000 off the median earnings. It is not far from representing a middle-income earner in the State. Such...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: To be clear, the Minister does not accept it is a regressive change in the taxation system in relation to the comparison between a €25,000 income earner and a €75,000 income earner, when the €25,000 income earner has a net income change of 0.3% and the €75,000 income earner has a net income change of 0.7%. The Minister does not accept that this is regressive.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: I move amendment No. 1:In page 8, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:"3. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, bring a report on the cost and implications of abolishing the Universal Social Charge for everyone earning less than €90,000 per annum.". If we could move an amendment to simply abolish the USC for everyone earning less than...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: That is a different report. It is fair enough that the Minister agrees to that different report but he does not agree to this one. The wording is not entirely clear and there was some confusion when we were submitting parliamentary questions in advance of the budget. We were talking about the USC, renamed effectively as a high income social charge applying to marginal income exceeding...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: Section 6 deals with mortgage interest relief. During all of the discussion on the tracker mortgages, what struck me is how the Revenue would deal with redress payments by the banks. Can it be agreed that the Revenue Commissioners will not pursue people who effectively get the benefit of mortgage interest relief when they are paid compensation at a later stage and will not attempt to claw...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2017: Committee Stage (7 Nov 2017)

Paul Murphy: I welcome the section. It is fine. I am for promoting electric cars. However, if there is any idea in the Department or the Government that the answer to reducing the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the transport sector is electric cars, then it is missing the point. Transport is the second biggest producer of greenhouse gases in Ireland. The way to reduce greenhouse emissions by...