Results 10,441-10,460 of 32,593 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Staff (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that staffing numbers are constantly changing throughout the year so the staff numbers provided in the attached table are at year end, except for 2020. Staff members in my Department avail of the many family friendly opportunities which include worksharing, parental leave and shorter working year scheme. Currently there are 30 staff members worksharing, from PO...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tracker Mortgages (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I have consulted the Central Bank and it has advised that it cannot comment on individual lenders due to restrictions under supervisory confidentiality requirements. Nevertheless, it did indicate that the Central Bank Tracker Mortgage Examination (TME) required all lenders, which offered tracker interest rate mortgages to their customers, to review all mortgage accounts, including accounts...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The total number of staff employed by the Central Bank of Ireland is 2,127 as at end October 2020. The table below provides a breakdown of Central Bank staff by Pillar and Directorate. Active full-time equivalent (FTE) is also included for consistency with prior responses to similar Parliamentary Questions. Active FTE excludes staff on Maternity Leave, Secondment, Interns, and staff on...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Value Added Tax (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 303, 317, 324 and 329 together. The Retail Export Scheme enables visitors that are resident outside the EU benefit from VAT relief on goods purchased in Ireland and subsequently taken outside of the EU. Under existing rules, when the UK becomes a third country, visitors from Britain will be able to avail of the scheme. No minimum threshold currently applies...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Data (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been informed by the Central Bank of Ireland that it while it produces mortgage arrears statistics on a quarterly basis, this information is not collated on a county by county basis. The latest quarterly statistics, which were for the second quarter of 2020, were published on 28 September 2020 and are available at . However, the Deputy may wish to note that the Central Bank of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Wage Subsidy Scheme (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) commenced on 1 September 2020 and is to continue until 31 March 2021. The scheme replaced the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) which ceased on 31 August 2020. The EWSS, which operates on a self-assessment basis, differs from the TWSS in that it provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the number of qualifying employees on...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: By way of background, a review of the Employment Investment Incentive (‘EII’) scheme and Start-Up Relief for Entrepreneurs (‘SURE’) was carried out and changes to the administration of the scheme were implemented in Finance Act 2018. SURE, was previously known as the Seed Capital Scheme (‘SCS’). From 1 January 2019 qualifying companies can submit...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Primary Medical Certificates (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Disabled Drivers & Disabled Passengers Scheme provides relief from VRT and VAT on the purchase and use of an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant. The cost of the scheme in 2019, excluding motor tax, was €72m. The Scheme is open to severely and permanently disabled persons as a driver or as a passenger and also to certain...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Wage Subsidy Scheme (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I have met with the CEOs of the banks on a number of occasions since the pandemic arose to discuss the measures banks and other regulated lenders can put in place to assist their borrowers who are economically impacted by COVID-19 and also the need to continue to support overall credit and lending in the economy, including new residential mortgage lending. In regard to the specific issue of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Cycle to Work Scheme (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: As stated in my reply to question 398 (reference 32426/20) on 3 November, Section 118 (5G) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for the cycle to work scheme. The scheme provides an exemption from benefit-in-kind where an employer purchases a bicycle and associated safety equipment for an employee to use, in whole or in part, to travel to work. Safety equipment includes helmets,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Programme for Government sets out a range of commitments to reform the insurance sector. Work has begun to implement these. In this regard, a Sub-Group of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Recovery and Investment was established by Government to oversee insurance reform implementation, and held its first meeting on 30 September. The Sub-Group on insurance reform is chaired by the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that it currently operates 18 Detector Dog Teams, which includes one team working on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Revenue has 4 dog teams currently in training, with training for a further 4 teams planned for early in 2021. This will bring Revenue’s complement of dog teams to 26. I am advised by Revenue that the initial cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Lending (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I have met with the CEOs of the banks on a number of occasions since the pandemic arose to discuss the measures banks and other regulated lenders can put in place to assist their borrowers who are economically impacted by COVID-19 and also the need to continue to support overall credit and lending in the economy, including new residential mortgage lending. In regard to the specific issue of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bank Charges (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: All credit institutions in Ireland are independent commercial entities and the imposition of bank fees and charges are decisions to be made by the boards and management of individual banks which need to be run on an independent and commercial basis. You will be aware that, as Minister for Finance, I have no statutory role in relation to the charges applied by credit institutions. Under...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by Revenue the filing deadline for the 2019 income tax return has been extended from 12 November to 10 December 2020 for self-assessed taxpayers who file and pay their tax returns online. This extension was one of many measures, implemented by Revenue as a response to the Covid-19 emergency, in order to aid and facilitate taxpayers in dealing with their tax obligations in 2020....

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Banking Sector (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: On Wednesday 21 October, I met with representatives of Ulster Bank. I outlined that I expected that staff, customers and other stakeholders would be informed promptly about any decisions being made. In particular, I asked that staff representatives be consulted and kept informed of developments. I also emphasised the importance of Ulster Bank to the Irish financial services market, to the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Lending (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I have met with the CEOs of the banks on a number of occasions since the pandemic arose to discuss the measures banks and other regulated lenders can put in place to assist their borrowers who are economically impacted by COVID-19 and also the need to continue to support overall credit and lending in the economy, including new residential mortgage lending. In regard to the specific issue of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I can assure the Deputy that insurance reform is a key policy priority for this Government. There are a number of areas that require reform and this is why making progress on these will require a ‘whole-of-Government’ approach. This is recognised in the ‘Programme for Government – Our Shared Future’document, which lays out commitments that are aimed at...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Wage Subsidy Scheme (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), was legislated for under the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020. The EWSS is an economy-wide enterprise support that focuses primarily on business eligibility. The scheme provides a subsidy to qualifying employers based on the number of qualifying employees on the employer’s payroll and the level of gross pay paid to such...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Wage Subsidy Scheme (10 Nov 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 331 and 333 together. The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) was administered by Revenue, on behalf of the Government, from 26 March 2020 to 31 August 2020. Over 66,500 employers received subsidy payments totalling €2.9 billion in respect of approximately 664,000 employees through the scheme. Revenue has prepared a detailed statistical report on the...