Results 12,841-12,860 of 36,748 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I would appreciate that. Take the example of a cohabiting couple with a child who has severe disabilities, where the parent is a carer. Home carers are entitled to this credit and they should not, in my view, be disadvantaged because they are not in a civil partnership or formal marriage union. I seek a clarification. I would appreciate if a note could be provided before Report Stage.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I welcome the point made by Deputy McGrath. To add to it, I hope that when the Minister clarifies the issues in respect of co-habiting couples that he will also examine, prior to Report Stage, whether an amendment is required to deal with this unfair situation. As Deputy McGrath said, this issue is not going to go away. As we know, more and more people are not getting married and are...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I wish to tease that out. Where one party of a married couple is at home and their child is at school, he or she is entitled to claim this?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The definition of "permanently incapacitated", either physically or mentally, may not refer to someone who is a child or that the person is in receipt of child benefit. It could be a next-door neighbour. Where are the definitions? They cannot be found on the Revenue website. This throws up some queries. What does "permanently mentally incapacitated" mean? There are different degrees...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, line 3, to delete "€1,500" and substitute "€1,650". This amendment relates to the earned tax credit for the self-employed. The policy objective of the Government and Sinn Féin is the same, if we are to take as read what the Government stated in the programme for Government that it would end the anomaly whereby the self-employed were...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: As I said, the Minister committed to delivering on this commitment of the Government two years ago. It is right and appropriate that the self-employed be treated fairly and equally with PAYE workers. I will be pressing the amendment. The Minister stated the change would give an increased advantage to the self-employed over PAYE workers. When we come to subsequent sections we will deal...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: This relates to the special assignee relief programme, SARP. The Minister proposes to extend this programme, which was due to run out at the end of the year, for a further two years. It provides a relief of 30% of income for tax consideration for individuals who are assigned within their companies from abroad to take positions in Irish-based operations of their employer or in an associated...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: It relates to money messages and in a way to why some of these amendments are ruled out of order. I would prefer to attend the vote.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I do not want to diverge into a debate on autism services. Any parent of a child with autism will say he or she needs access to services. The Minister for Finance could have announced a significant amount of funding for services to be delivered to children and adults with autism, but it was not provided. Instead, he announced a sum of €2 million for a strategy that might or might...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I did not make an issue of the 839 jobs retained by the companies involved because they are not the individuals who are availing of the relief under the SARP in the first place. If one looks at the form, one will see that there are two requirements to be in providing data for Revenue. The first concerns the number of jobs created as a result of the operation of the SARP. I will read it for...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Those people were employed in those companies before the SARP scheme ever existed here.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: We opposed this scheme from day one. We were told that it was about increasing supply. I do not know how increasing demand at a time here is no supply will increase supply. It has pushed up house prices. We see this from the analysis. We should remember that the €20,000 that has been collected from some taxpayers has been put into the pockets of other taxpayers. Some 21% of those...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: What degree of support does the Minister want to give them when he is giving individuals a cheque for €20,000 who do not need it to buy a house? What does he want them to do with that money? Does he want to be able to go for a couple of foreign holidays? He is taking that money from other services. It is money that he could put into hospital trolleys, autism services or other areas...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The point is that the Minister argued for individuals who do not need the scheme to purchase their property because their loan-to-value ratio is below 85%. He also stated that he does not disregard the fact that this would support other issues. What other support do these people need? Some 41% of people who claim this tax relief do not need it. Why are we giving it to them? What further...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Is that even for people who do not need it and who are able to get a mortgage to purchase their house off their own back? Does the Minister still believe that we should give this support to them?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Will the Minister explain why we should give a €20,000 cheque to 41% of these claimants who do not need the money in the first place? What is the rationale? They do not need this money to purchase their home; they are able to do it on their own two feet. Why is the State providing them with €20,000?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: They do not need any level of financial support.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: That is ridiculous. There is no evidence to suggest that two different metrics are connected. I will read from the Parliamentary Budget Office, PBO, examination in respect of this. It states: In 2018, at least 56% of HTB claims were above the average house price (€286,931). This poses some risk as schemes which stimulate demand for more expensive properties could put inflationary...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister should also quote the conclusion of that report, which clearly states: "This suggests that the scheme did not fulfil its original aims in an efficient manner as the scheme supported a significant number of transactions that would have taken place without the scheme." That is the conclusion of the PBO. We can all read selectively if we want and while I do not dispute what the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2019: Committee Stage (5 Nov 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 12: In page 20, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “Report on tapering out income tax credits 17. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on tapering out income tax credits for incomes between €100,000 and €140,000 at a rate of 2.5 per cent for each...