Results 13,021-13,040 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (22 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Each year, certain items of expenditure are classified as pre-committed and are included in the pre-Budget position. This includes allocations to cover demographic costs, public service pay agreements, full year costs of budget measures from previous years and capital expenditure set out in the National Development Plan. As outlined in the Mid-Year Expenditure Report 2019, pre-committed...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Value for Money Reviews (22 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that all of the consultancy costs of my Department since its establishment in 2011 up to the end of August 2019 can be found at the following link:

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Value for Money Reviews (22 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department did not conduct any Value for Money and Policy Reviews between 1 January 2018 and 1 January 2019.   My Department has conducted a large amount of analytical work including through the Spending Review process. A total of 81 papers, completed by staff in my Department and within other Departments, have been published over the last three years covering a range of policy...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (22 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The information requested is set out in tabular form. 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (f) Voted Health Expenditure (€ 000's) 13,340,748 14,107,220 14,798,316 15,976,091 17,107,000 18,272,781 % of Public Expenditure 24.4% 25.2% 25.2% ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Development Plan (22 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy can find the equivalent Exchequer expenditure figures in millions contained in Annex 1, on page 104 of the National Development Plan (NDP), out to 2022.  Government has made a €91 billion Exchequer allocation to deliver the NDP priorities over the full duration of the plan, as explained by Table 3.1. As I have not yet finalised individual...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (22 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Under the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA) 2018 – 2020, it was agreed to examine the remaining salary scale issues in respect of post January 2011 entry grades. The report in the following link, laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in March 2018, estimates the point in time cost of advancing new entrants to the public service two points along their incremental scales....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (22 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) was introduced on 1 January 2011 under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act (FEMPI) 2010. A three-stage partial reversal of PSPR was provided for in the FEMPI Act 2015, with rate reductions (via revised PSPR tables) occurring on 1 January in each of the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. The cost of these FEMPI 2015 changes is...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Fuel Rebate Scheme (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Diesel Rebate Scheme (DRS) was introduced in 2013 offering a partial refund to qualifying road operators on the excise paid on diesel when the retail price reaches €1.00 (Vat exclusive) or above. There is a maximum rebate of 7.5 cents per litre when the retail price is €1.25 (Vat exclusive) or above.   In recognition of the challenges...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Expenditure (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Rainy Day Fund (RDF), which has the statutory title  National Surplus (Exceptional Contingencies) Reserve Fund, is intended to act as a reserve which may be drawn upon under certain circumstances, outlined under section 9(2) of the Act, contingent on Government and Oireachtas approval. One criteria for drawdown is that it can be used to remedy or mitigate the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry Regulation (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware dual pricing is the practice of quoting two different price points in different markets for the same product or service.  The “different markets” could be differences between new and existing customers or between different channels for accessing the quoted price (for example, via telephone versus online).  I understand that it is a common...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Implementation (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In my Budget 2020 speech, I announced an increase from €20 to €26 in the carbon tax.  Following the approval of the Dáil, this increase has been applied to Mineral Oil Tax (MOT) rates for mineral oils used as auto-fuels (for cars and trucks) from midnight on 9 October 2019. All other MOT rates remain at their current levels until 1 May 2020 when new rates will take...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Application (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Finance Bill 2019, published today, provides for the application of the 13.5% rate of VAT on food supplements. The Deputy will be aware that shortly after the introduction of VAT, Revenue applied a concessionary zero rating to certain vitamin, mineral and fish oil products. As the market developed over the years this treatment resulted in the zero rating by Revenue of further...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Correspondence (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that a deferred reply will be issued to him in respect of this Parliamentary Question, in line with Standing Order 42A.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Availability (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: There are a number of tax reliefs available to individuals who are carers. The Home Carer Tax Credit is available to married couples or civil partners that are jointly assessed, where one spouse or civil partner stays at home to take care of a dependent person. Its current value is €1,500. The carer spouse or civil partner may earn up to €7,200 per year without affecting the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Irish resident companies are obliged to apply Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT) on dividend payments and other distributions made to Irish taxpayers. Dividends are treated as income and are ultimately liable to income tax at the individual’s marginal rate which is the highest rate of income tax to which they are liable. Universal Social Charge (USC) is also chargeable on the payments and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The flat rate expense (FRE) system is an administrative practice operated by Revenue, where both specific commonality of expenditure exists across an employment category and the statutory requirement for the tax deduction as set out in section 114 Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997 is satisfied. The purpose of the FRE regime is to ease the administrative burden on Revenue and on employees in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners Enforcement Activity (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that it does not accept amounts in settlement that are less than the actual amounts due. However, certain circumstances can arise where a taxpayer does not have the financial capacity to pay the additional liability identified during a compliance intervention and can claim inability to pay. Any inability to pay claim must be supported with clear evidence of the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Capital Expenditure Programme (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 92 together. I can confirm that my Department has had no capital projects in the past five years (including the cost of external consultants) in excess of €100 million and nor does it anticipate any to commence in the next five years.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget 2020 (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Significant progress has been made in recent years in reducing the prevalence of poverty in our country.  CSO data shows that the proportion of those living in consistent poverty dropped from 9.0% in 2013 to 6.7% in 2017. CSO data on poverty is available at this link: For most people, employment is the primary path out of poverty and we have created thousands of new jobs, with a record...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Brexit Issues (17 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Public Procurement is governed by EU legislation and National rules and guidelines. The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money. In this regard, it is important to point out that the rules underpinning procurement have not changed due to Brexit, as the procurement Directives already...