Results 12,381-12,400 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

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

Michael McGrath: Will the Minister explain what he intends the tax strategy group to do on REITs and Irish real estate funds, IREFs?

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

Michael McGrath: I have a question on the new section. In respect of anti-avoidance, in the context of the Paradise Papers that are being revealed every day, although it is early days yet has the Minister any indication from Revenue that it needs to strengthen its anti-avoidance powers to deal with transactions or tax structures which, in its view, are designed to reduce or eliminate a tax liability in the...

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

Michael McGrath: Looking at the figures, the change that lifted the cap from 80% to 100%, made in the Finance Act 2014 which came into effect in 2015, has had a staggering impact. Seamus Coffey's online blog makes for very insightful reading. In 2014, when the 80% cap last applied, €2.6 billion of capital allowances were claimed under that regime. In 2015, when the cap was increased to 100%,...

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

Michael McGrath: I will put it on the record before we go into private session.

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

Michael McGrath: I will be brief. The Minister has put on record the figures for the purchase of patents for the years 2014 to 2017, inclusive. Let us call it the onshoring of intellectual property, IP, during the 100% window. Do we know how many companies those figures represent?

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

Michael McGrath: I wish to make a point about the change made in the Finance Act 2014. Since then, in 2015 the figure was €8.3 billion; in 2016 the figure was €35 billion; and in the first half of 2017 the figure is €11 billion. I interpret that to mean a total of about €55 billion of patent purchases was onshored. All of that money is now in the system. Therefore, a 100%...

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

Michael McGrath: The net effect of that is €11 billion of corporate profits remain unaffected by the change because of that decision.

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

Michael McGrath: That is based on the pretty big assumption that stability applies in this area and that all of these companies will continue to accrue profits and will continue with the existing tax structure. There is a lot of uncertainty concerning the question of it just being a timing difference. If one assumes that everything continues as it is then one would be right that it is a matter of timing....

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

Michael McGrath: But not in the workout of capital allowances. How many years do capital allowances for IP last? Deputy Paschal Donohoe:It depends on two different factors. It depends on how the company accounts for it and that, in turn, affects the length of the depreciation period. I think there is also another standard accounting period available.

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

Michael McGrath: Up to 15 years.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Help-To-Buy Scheme Eligibility (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: 91. To ask the Minister for Finance if a person who buys a newly built house as a first-time buyer from a company under a NAMA-approved receiver and the company is not on the Revenues Commissioners' list of qualified contractors for the purposes of the help-to-buy scheme has recourse in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47194/17]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Stamp Duty (8 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: 94. To ask the Minister for Finance if the Central Bank has a policy on whether ATM machines should dispense €10 notes to persons; the position regarding the practice of retail banks in relation to dispensing €10 notes; if there is a policy on whether the use of €20 notes or €50 notes is preferred in cases in which an amount of €100 is required by a person;...

Topical Issue Debate: Primary Care Centres (7 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: 6 o’clock I thank the Minister of State for the reply. The bus service will not resolve the problem. Even if there is a direct bus service to Carrigaline, it does not take people directly to the new primary care centre and even if one gets on a bus going to Crosshaven, it still does not take the person directly to the new primary care centre. There are really serious and...

Topical Issue Debate: Primary Care Centres (7 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: Will the Minister of State come back to me on that?

Topical Issue Debate: Primary Care Centres (7 Nov 2017)

Michael McGrath: I wish to raise an important local issue with the Minister of State. It relates to the HSE's plans to close the local primary centre in Passage West, County Cork. The Minister of State knows the geography well because he has a very close friend living nearby in Monkstown. Between Passage West and Monkstown, the population totals over 6,000. It is a beautiful part of the Lower Harbour area...

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

Michael McGrath: I welcome the Minister and his officials. Has the Minister a figure for what is saved by the non-indexation of the personal tax system for 2018 in terms of bands and credits for example?

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

Michael McGrath: We will come back to that point. Speaking to section 2, the Minister said on budget day that he will establish a working group to plan over the coming year the process of amalgamating USC and PRSI over the medium term. Will the Minister define what he regards as medium term? What are the Government's plans for the amalgamation of USC and PRSI? Can the Minister give members any detail of...

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

Michael McGrath: To recap, the working group will be established after the enactment of the Finance Bill.

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

Michael McGrath: The Minister envisages that full implementation would be over a span of three to five budgets?

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

Michael McGrath: The new combined charge or contribution, call it what one may, will determine one's benefits. It is going to be a contributions-based approach?