Results 10,221-10,240 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I think we have already covered the different issues yesterday and today. I want to make it clear to the committee that I do not design policy or set tax law to benefit any one company or transaction. I do not do that. I am not going to get into naming companies or transactions. It is not appropriate for that to happen at this committee; it certainly would not be appropriate for me to do...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Chairman. There are a number of amendments that are in order for dealing with this section. I am sure we will have the opportunity to debate a number of different elements that have been put forward. I want to make clear from the very start the intention of the Government that these payments would be taxed and treated in the same way as we tax other equivalent social welfare...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: These payments were paid out under section 202 of the Act because of the need to make them quickly and to associate them with a relevant clause in social welfare legislation. The Department of Social Protection has confirmed to me - indeed, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, answered questions on this matter in the Dáil on 29 July - that its understanding is that a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputies for their questions. I will deal with each of the points in turn, beginning with the points made by Deputy Tóibín. As the pandemic unemployment payment was introduced at €350 in the first instance it offered a very high degree of income support to those workers who had lost their jobs through no fault of their own. The only reason they were losing...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with the points made to me in turn. Deputy Boyd Barrett made a point regarding the need for this payment. I absolutely agree with and understand that point because I, along with the then Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, former Deputy Regina Doherty, and the current Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, brought in the payment. We brought it in because of our...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Doherty refers to my priorities. My priorities are typified and articulated by the fact that we brought in a pandemic unemployment payment in emergency circumstances to support those who need it the most, and that we brought in a wage subsidy scheme to protect the very people that Deputy Doherty has referred to, at a time of crisis. Deputy Doherty and Sinn Féin will not lose any...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not accepting the contention from Deputy Doherty that we are rewinding the clock. I made clear at the time this payment was introduced that it would be taxable. What the Finance Bill is now doing is giving certainty to ensure this income support is treated in the way other income supports are.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not accept the contention from Deputy Doherty that this is looking to wind the clock back in any way.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will begin with the comparison Deputy Boyd Barrett made with the taxation of intellectual property. Of course, with regard to revenue which might have been available from intellectual property and the Seamus Coffey argument at the time the Deputy refers, it was not the intention of the State to tax that income at that point in our history. It was the case of the State taxing this income...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Excuse me, is this-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 4 amends the principal Act in order to address this oversight and to regularise the tax exemption of the home sharing host allowance. This does not reflect a change in policy but is rather a corrective measure. No additional cost arises. This is a community-based service that provides short breaks of full-time support to people with intellectual disabilities. The allowance...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: To deal with the Deputy's second question, generally, there is no requirement for the relative to live in Ireland to qualify for this credit. I do not believe the cap of €15,060 has been revised for some time. I can get the exact answer for the Deputy regarding when it was last changed but I do not believe any change has happened recently in respect of it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 6 inserts a new section, 192H, into the Taxes Consolidation Act of 1997 to exempt from income tax payments commonly known as a mobility allowance made by or on behalf of the Health Service Executive to a person who satisfied the conditions of the mobility allowance scheme as administered by the HSE. The main objective of the mobility allowance is to provide a contribution to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputies Naughten and Canney referred to two different schemes. As Deputy Naughten correctly noted, the mobility scheme was closed in 2013. We are dealing with the issue of participants who were on the scheme and ensuring that the taxation of their allowance from a scheme that is now closed will be fully dealt with. Deputies Canney and Naughten then referred to the scheme that is in place,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with the second question first. There is no change in the appeals process. If a case was successful in the appeals process a year ago, one should have every reason to think the same case would be successful in the appeals process again. There is no change in the appeals process as a result of the communication I have had with the HSE. As to whether this now means that the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not propose to agree to the proposed amendments. Notwithstanding that the help-to-buy scheme is scheduled to sunset at the end of next year, further support is needed in the delivery of new homes, as the situation remains as acute now as it was before and during the summer. Section 7 provides for the additional support to continue for 2021. As discussed, it is my proposal that the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the questions Deputy Pearse Doherty put to me, the definition of an affordable home depends on what part of the country one is in, what part of a city one is in and the level of income of a person who is looking to buy a home. That is the key factor in defining whether a home is affordable, and what the price of the affordable home is. The price will vary around the country.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the issue regarding 40% of people already having saved their mortgage deposit or a contribution to their mortgage, in any policy measure that one puts in place there are always going to be some who would benefit from the scheme, even if they did not need the benefit. That is the case in every policy that we evaluate. There are always going to be a percentage of people in any...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with Deputy Naughten's point first. He said that he wanted this incentive to be made available for vacant second-hand homes. If there is an issue with local authorities being unable or unwilling to purchase derelict properties and to then sell them on, the inclusion of such properties in the help to buy scheme will not have a big impact. The Minister for Rural and Community...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2020: Committee Stage (16 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy. If there is sharing information between this and related to those overseeing the trusts and the registration of trusts in our country, it will only be on an anonymised and overall basis. In keeping with the requirements of taxpayer confidentiality, the Revenue Commissioners will be using the granular information available to them to make sure that shares and...