Results 11,201-11,220 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: That is a very helpful suggestion because I am aware of the concern with regard to this matter. It is worth making the point that the whole purpose of this scheme being brought in is to keep a job, and the reason the payments in respect of it need to be taxed is that most social welfare payments are, in principal, taxable. It is important to maintain fairness in how income supports that are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I am being very clear that the tax relief that is probably at the source of the kind of support to which the Deputy referred was terminated in 2008. It is now gone from the tax code. There are currently no further tax exemptions available for the development of purpose-built student accommodation. It is a serious matter. The Ministers for Education and Skills and Housing, Planning and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The level of support the two Deputies are referring to involve the breadth and speed that have made such a difference in protecting our country at a time of significant risk to jobs and our public health. When claims are being made about the future of those supports, let us also acknowledge that those supports were introduced by this and the previous Governments and have saved jobs and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Unions (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will comment briefly on the question about a new Act. I am not going to give a commitment now on new legislation until I know what the legislation would be needed for and its role. However, I am open to any changes that I believe can play a positive role in supporting the role of the credit union movement in Ireland. Deputy Nash touched on two points that I accept. The first is the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Unions (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. I will absolutely do my best to live up to my responsibility as Eurogroup president and to fulfil the mandate I have been given. Deputy O'Sullivan put a question to me. I hope in the coming days to receive a report that will consider several of the issues the Deputy has touched upon. The Deputy asked about the relationship between the regulator...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Unions (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Decisions on any individual products, such as the product Deputy O'Sullivan has referred to, are a matter for the regulator and the Central Bank. I am aware of work that the credit union movement is doing on this and on several other exciting ideas. I will find out the status of that product and I will report back to Deputy O'Sullivan on it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Student Accommodation (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I should make clear to the House that the issue Deputy Naughten has raised is frequently raised with me in my constituency and elsewhere. Currently, there are no tax incentive measures specifically targeted at the providers of student accommodation. Section 50 of the Finance Act 1999 provided for a student accommodation scheme whereby expenditure incurred on student rental accommodation...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I will use my role as the Minister for Finance for Ireland to pursue what I believe are longstanding clear matters for our national interest. That is what I have done in recent years and it is what I will continue to do. I will respond at another point to the ruling concerning anti-money laundering, but in the brief answers I have given to the Deputy, I have pointed to that vast amount of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Lending (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I absolutely appreciate the concerns many people are experiencing about mortgage applications and drawdowns at a difficult time, and my Department and I are maintaining close contact with the Central Bank and the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, as the lending industry works to address the difficulties Covid-19 is causing for both borrowers and lenders. The Central Bank has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Lending (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand the concerns of Deputy McAuliffe's constituents, Derek and Sandra. I want to be in a position to ensure that if a loan is made available to Derek and Sandra, they will always be in a position to be able to repay that loan without facing additional financial hardship or difficulty. We are all aware of the huge stress and anxiety that can also be caused by the development of debt...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Lending (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I completely understand the issue that Deputy has raised. I again recognise the concern that many people have who have not seen their incomes change. The Deputy made a crucial point about citizens moving on to the income support wage subsidy scheme. In many cases, their income has not changed, which is one of the reasons we brought in the scheme. Even though the income has not changed, I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Unions (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. I propose to take Questions Nos. 5, 7 and 67 together. The Government recognises the key role that credit unions play in the delivery of financial services to local communities across Ireland, the need for which is now heightened. Credit unions account for approximately one third of the consumer credit market and are well positioned to provide credit...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apple Escrow Account (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: What I want is to have the tax revenue available to pay for public services and to, for example, generate a huge income subsidy support plan over a matter of days that played a role in hundreds of thousands of jobs being retained. I want to have the tax revenue to allow us to bring in payments like the pandemic unemployment payment. My interest is in having the tax revenue to deliver the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: Companies in Ireland are mainly taxed at the standard corporation tax rate of 12.5%. Different methodologies are used and while some of them lead to different claims regarding our tax rate, it is important to look at recent work done by the Revenue Commissioners, which published an updated analysis of returns filed in 2018. They noted that the effective rate of tax paid by all companies in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I have already relayed to the House my views on unanimity and the need for national sovereignty regarding particular tax matters to continue to be recognised by the European Union. I will continue to hold that view in the future, as I expect this House will as well. In fairness to the Deputy, while he may have raised questions regarding the speed at which change has been brought in and the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: It was my job as this issue was developing to work with the banks to ensure provisions were put in place to allow payment breaks to be given to mortgage and loan holders at a time when they needed them the most. When we were facing into this period, we were looking at a public health crisis and an economic emergency. As a result of the work done by the Department of Finance and me and the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apple Escrow Account (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy will be aware that the General Court of the European Union annulled the European Commission's state aid decision of 30 August 2016 with respect to Apple. The court concluded that the Commission in its decision had failed to demonstrate that by issuing the opinions in 1991 and 2007, the Irish authorities had granted the two Apple companies, ASI and AOE, a selective advantage. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Apple Escrow Account (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: In pursuing this issue, the only interest I have had in mind is that of the many hundreds of thousands of people who work in very large companies in this country. At a time of economic turmoil, when we are seeing rates of employment and rates of income change very quickly, the only interest I have had, in three years of dealing with this matter, is how we can continue to stand over an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mortgage Lending (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his good wishes on my new role. I look forward to working with Members of the Dáil and with finance Ministers across Europe over the next two and a half years. To deal with the Deputy's question, the members of the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland, BPFI, introduced a payment break for their customers on 18 March last. These payment breaks were agreed...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Growth Rate (16 Jul 2020)

Paschal Donohoe: The European Commission’s summer economic forecasts signals a deep contraction in European economic activity this year, with a gradual recovery next year. EU GDP is projected to shrink by around 8¼ per cent, while global GDP (excluding the EU) is expected to contract by 3.9 per cent this year. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a deep global recession and the...