Results 13,241-13,260 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Arts Funding (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: This Government is committed to supporting the culture sector and has provided significant capital support for the enhancement and protection of cultural spaces under Project Ireland 2040, the Government's long-term strategy for investment in Ireland’s public infrastructure. Under this programme, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht was allocated almost €1.2...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Budgets (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Managing expenditure within allocations is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister. A number of measures are in place to ensure that our expenditure and budgetary targets are being achieved on an ongoing basis. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is in regular contact with all other Departments and Offices to ensure that expenditure is being managed within the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Project Ireland 2040 Implementation (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Investment Projects and Programmes Tracker is currently being revised and updated. The Tracker provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments that make up Project Ireland 2040. It focuses mainly on projects with estimated costs greater than €20 million. The updated version of the tracker will be published in autumn 2019. The updated tracker will contain...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The gross pay bill for the public sector for each of the years 2016 to 2018 is as follows: 2016 - €15.6 billion 2017 - €16.5 billion 2018 - €17.7 billion The gross pay bill to end – August 2019 is €12.4 billion with an estimated cost for the whole of 2019 of €18.7 billion. The number of whole time equivalent civil and public servants employed for each...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Spending Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of the ongoing reform of Ireland’s public investment management systems, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is updating the Public Spending Code. The purpose of this update is to strengthen the existing guidance to better align with the realities of project delivery and with a particular focus on improved appraisal, cost estimation and management. The Office of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Due to the nature of its role, my Department had no State Infrastructure projects funded through its own Vote from 2016 to-date, so the issue of construction inflation on its projects does not arise. The main purpose of capital projects and associated investment undertaken by my Department is to support greater effectiveness and efficiency across the Civil and Public Service through...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Home Loan Scheme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan launched on 1 February 2018. Prior to its launch, an initial tranche of €200 million of long-term fixed rate finance was borrowed by the Housing Finance Agency to provide funds for the scheme to local authorities. Due to a higher than anticipated demand for the scheme, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government requested sanction for...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to my reply to PQ36684 of 06 September 2019. 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. A report, laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in March 2018, estimates the point in time cost of pay equalisation of new entrants to the public...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Brexit Expenditure (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Dedicated measures to get Ireland Brexit ready were announced in Budgets 2017, 2018 and 2019 to help ensure Ireland is in the best possible position to respond to the challenges that Brexit will bring. This work will continue in Budget 2020. Given heightened uncertainty around Brexit, two budgetary scenarios were set out in the Summer Economic Statement. The first involved an orderly...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget 2020 (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Ministerial Gross Voted Current Expenditure Ceilings for the Departments of Health, Social Protection and Education include an estimation of demographic costs each year. These are primary areas of current expenditure that are particularly impacted by demographic pressures. For the last number of years, these demographic projections have been informed by the Irish Government Economic and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The research and development (R&D) tax credit provides a 25% tax credit for all qualifying R&D expenditure. To make a claim for the research and development (R&D) tax credit a company enters the amount spent on qualifying research and development (which covers the entire spectrum from pure research to experimental development) in their self-assessed tax return. Revenue...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Costs (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 129, 141 and 152 together. I assume the Deputies' questions refer to the revised Entrepreneur Relief provided for in Section 597AA of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. In general, consideration of any changes to the tax system in advance of Budget 2020 are undertaken within the annual Budgetary and Finance Bill process. The Deputies will therefore appreciate...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department has in place published guidelines for the evaluation of potential tax expenditures in October 2014 ().  Drawing on economic evidence, these make clear that it is important that any policy proposal which involves tax expenditures should only occur in limited circumstances where there are demonstrable market failures and where a tax-based incentive is more efficient than...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Policy Functions (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The public finances continue to improve with a general government surplus recorded last year for the first time since 2007. At the same time, the strong economic performance in recent years has also seen the debt-to-income ratio fall significantly. Balancing the books is a meaningful signal of an economy moving into a more mature, sustainable phase. That said, despite the very significant...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Commission on Taxation Report (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Commission on Taxation was established by the then Minister for Finance on 14 February 2008. The terms of reference of the Commission were quite broad. It was asked in the context of maintaining an equitable incidence of taxation and a strong economy, to consider the structure of the taxation system and specifically to: - Consider how best the tax system can support economic activity and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Compensation Fund (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Setanta Insurance ("Setanta") was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014.  As it was a Maltese incorporated company, the liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law. I am very conscious of the effect of the delays in the payment of compensation to Setanta claimants, and this is one of the reasons why we brought forward the Insurance...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Issues (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am assuming that the Deputy, when referring to solid fuel smuggling, is enquiring about the movement of solid fuel into the State from Northern Ireland in the context of Solid Fuel Carbon Tax (SFCT). SFCT is an excise duty that applies to coal and peat when first supplied in the State for use as a fuel. Neither the movement of solid fuel into the State nor the physical presence of solid...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Customs and Excise Controls (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government has been clear that it is determined in the context of Brexit, deal or 'no deal', to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. The Deputy will be aware that given the approaching Brexit deadline, intensive discussions are taking place involving the Government, the EU Commission and our EU partners as to how we can meet the shared twin objectives of protecting the Single...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, payment of a Fuel Grant, and an exemption from Motor Tax.  To qualify for the Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a Primary Medical...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Collection (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In advance of the Budget, as Minister for Finance I receive a large number of pre-budget submissions on a wide range of issues.  In addition to written formal submissions, I also have ongoing discussions with my cabinet colleagues around estimates and budgetary issues.