Results 12,201-12,220 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Finance Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 60:In page 55, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:"Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 54.The Minister shall within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the impact of amending the definition of "qualifying organisation" under the Disabled Drivers and...

Finance Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Deputy Pearse Doherty is welcome back. I am unsure whether he realises that his colleague has accused him of drinking a can of Coke during his break.

Finance Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I can vouch that Deputy Doherty is prone to the odd can of Coke, as I am myself, unfortunately. I oppose the amendment and support the initiative by the Government, not as a revenue-raising measure but principally as a public health measure and intervention. The effectiveness of the measure will not be measured by the amount of taxation it brings in for the State but rather by how it...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 47:In page 43, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following:"29. The Minister shall within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the possible extension of the Capital Gains Tax Relief for farm restructuring to Stamp Duty.". I welcome the Minister's amendment because we have sought progress on this issue. We...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 44:In page 41, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following:“Losses forward for financial institutions 25.The Minister shall within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the potential impacts of restricting loss relief brought forward for financial institutions in Ireland.”. This amendment was not...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: The manner in which companies can shift their profits from one jurisdiction to another, whether from Ireland to the Cayman Islands, Bermuda or countries with which we have a double tax treaty, such as Malta, the United Arab Emirates and many others, is an issue which comes up time and again. It is done through the mechanism of transfer pricing, intellectual property, IP, and related royalty...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: The amendment we are debating, No. 42, looks for a report to be provided within six months. My amendment No. 44 is similar but the amendments are not grouped. It has been said that the Minister will deliver a technical paper. We need to get more detail on what will be in the technical paper. The amendment before us looks for the options available to restrict the carrying forward of...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: The provision inserted by the late Brian Lenihan and referred to by Deputy Doherty involved much foresight and upheld the principle in our corporate tax code that trading losses can be carried forward indefinitely. The provision did not disallow tax losses from being utilised but instead lengthened the period over which they could be used by limiting the set-off to 50% of profit in any given...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Will the Minister give a commitment to share the information with the Committee on Budgetary Oversight or the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in some form in order that we can carry out our own analysis and assessment of the issue and examine it with the relevant parties?

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: The Minister said that the Department of Finance would set out options and that he would make the policy decisions. However, in setting out options, he said that the Department would also convey views. Has the Department given a view or a recommendation on this specific issue? It is important that the Minister would answer that question. How long will it be before the capital allowances...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: The Minister needs to address the points made by Mr. Seamus Coffey in his blog regarding the impact this measure will have on Exchequer receipts. The Minister indicated previously that this is a timing issue and the amount of tax paid will be the same over the relevant period. Mr. Coffey questions that view, although he does not definitively state it is wrong. Given the pace of change in...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 36:In page 37, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: "(3) The Minister shall within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the potential impacts of changes to section 135 of the Principal Act on management buy-ins and buy-outs and third party SME company purchases and whether legislative changes can be used to...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I welcome the commitment to publish guidance and also the reassurance the Minister of State has given that the provisions will not impact on bona fide commercial transactions because I know that is not the purpose of the changes introduced. In our economy commercially motivated management buy-outs are an important feature, as are third party SME company purchases and we do not wish in any...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Will the Minister clarify the nature of the gap in the 2016 changes that were made and the impact the existence of that gap over the past 12 months will have had in respect of the changes made to the treatment of section 110 companies in the Finance Act 2016? We made those changes a year ago. We amended section 17 of the current Finance Bill as published to include shares that derive their...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of the Flood Insurance Bill 2016 (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I welcome all of the witnesses. It is nearly a Cork takeover this morning, which is great to see. I am delighted to bring the Flood Insurance Bill 2016 to the committee for legislative scrutiny. By way of background, this Bill was introduced in Dáil Éireann in January 2016 and passed Second Stage in late November 2016, which is just over a year ago. Communities all around...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of the Flood Insurance Bill 2016 (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Thank you, Chairman.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of the Flood Insurance Bill 2016 (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: That is the kiss of death if ever there was one. I will be brief. I thank sincerely our witnesses for the effort they made to be here and for the work they have put into this over a prolonged period. It has to be acknowledged that they have brought the issue centre stage in terms of the political agenda. That in itself is an achievement and now we want to achieve progress and get the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of the Flood Insurance Bill 2016 (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their contributions and opening statements. I will start by addressing Mr. Thompson. I do not know if he saw much of the earlier session that we held with the Irish National Flood Forum and the Cork Business Association. The key question that emerged from that session is one of which Mr. Thompson will be aware. There are towns where the Office...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of the Flood Insurance Bill 2016 (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Mr. Thompson mentioned in his opening statement that the only reliable baseline data he has is the percentage of policies that have flood cover. Does he have an up-to-date estimate of the percentage of homes in the country that do not have an insurance policy in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Scrutiny of the Flood Insurance Bill 2016 (23 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: So the number of homes or businesses without insurance cover is unknown.