Results 13,361-13,380 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Preparations (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Since the referendum result in 2016, we have been taking steps to build up the resilience of the economy so that we have the capacity to deal with adverse economic shocks. This includes building up our fiscal buffers – by balancing our books, reducing our debt burden, and establishing the Rainy Day Fund. The Government is continuing to work to prepare our economy for the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Brexit Preparations (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Since the referendum result in 2016, we have been taking steps to build up the resilience of the economy so that we have the capacity to deal with adverse economic shocks. This includes building up our fiscal buffers – by balancing our books, reducing our debt burden, and establishing the Rainy Day Fund. Overall our economy is in good shape and is expected to grow this year and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Irish insurance sector is diverse, comprising life, non-life and reinsurance firms providing a range of products and operating across a number of geographical markets. As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial regulation of the sector. This framework is mainly governed by the EU Solvency II Directive, which provides for...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Economic Policy (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The period of robust economic growth has continued this year. GDP growth of 6 ½ per cent in the first half of the year and the relatively low rate of unemployment which stands at just over 5 per cent support this assessment. However it is also clear that there are dark clouds on the horizon, with the external environment continuing to deteriorate, and the risk of an adverse shock to the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Application (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the VAT rating of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply. EU VAT law allows Member States to retain certain zero rates for goods and services which were expressly covered in their national VAT legislation on 1 January 1991. As there was no such legislative provision for sport and leisure activities in place on 1...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the issues facing many sports and leisure bodies when it comes to the affordability and availability of insurance. Unfortunately, neither I, nor the Central Bank of Ireland, can compel any insurer to provide cover or to provide it at a particular price. This position is reinforced by the EU framework for insurance which expressly prohibits Member States from adopting rules which...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Yield (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The total annual net receipts from carbon tax are set out in the following table. Year Total Net Receipts € 2010 223,084,537 2011 298,231,058 2012 353,954,210 2013 388,376,990 2014 385,361,885 2015 418,996,237 2016 430,247,558 2017 419,603,362 2018 431,131,923 Total 3,348,987,760 Carbon tax receipts to end August 2019 were approximately €281,800,000, some...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax Regime (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland's Corporation Tax Roadmap includes a commitment to amend Ireland's transfer pricing regime in Finance Bill 2019. This commitment stems from recommendations made in the Review of Ireland’s Corporation Tax Code by Mr Seamus Coffey. One of the recommendations in that Review is that consideration be given to extending transfer pricing rules to SMEs, having regard to whether...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Data (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Data provided by the Central Bank indicates that mortgage switching (defined, for the purposes of this response, as loans issued by one lender to refinance an existing mortgage with another lender) in Ireland peaked in 2006, when approximately 27,000 mortgages switched provider. Between 2009 and 2014, switching decreased significantly, reflecting subdued lending activity in the overall Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Legislation (26 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 52 (6) and (7) of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and other Provisions) Act 2012 imposes a limit, or ‘benefit cap’, on the total amount of pension benefits that can accrue where an individual has been a member of more than one public service pension scheme. As a result of a number of issues that have arisen in relation to the benefit cap and the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Reductions (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the VAT rating of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply. In accordance with the VAT Directive the supply of bicycles is liable to VAT at the standard rate, currently 23%. It is not possible under Annex III of the VAT Directive to apply a reduced VAT rate to bicycles.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by the Central Bank that the Bank or the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) can take a summary prosecution for unauthorised activity. However, the Central Bank does not have the power to take prosecutions on indictment, which typically attract more significant penalties. This power rests solely with the DPP. Fines are imposed by a Court once an unauthorised provider has...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Where a couple is cohabiting, rather than married or in a civil partnership, each partner is treated for the purposes of income tax as a separate and unconnected individual. Because they are treated separately for tax purposes, credits, tax bands and reliefs cannot be transferred from one partner to the other. Cohabitants do not have the same legal rights and obligations as a married couple...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Availability (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Tax relief in respect of health expenses is provided for in section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Health expenses is defined in that section as "expenses in respect of the provision of health care...including the services of a practitioner...". A practitioner is defined in the section as "any person who is– (A) registered in the register established under section 43 of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by Revenue that section 130 of the Finance Act 1992 provides the definition of an ambulance for the purposes of registration and VRT. An ambulance must be type approved under the type-approval framework directive, Directive 2007/46/EC, and must meet the technical criteria in Annex XI of that directive to come within the scope of the registration provisions. This includes...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Arrears Rate (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 59 together. I have been advised by the Central Bank of Ireland (the Central Bank) that they are unable to provide the information requested in both Parliamentary Questions, in the allotted timeframe. The Central Bank have informed me that the information is not readily available and will require a detailed analysis of data. I will write to the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Data (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 60 to 63, inclusive, together. I am advised by Revenue that as at 30 June 2019, the latest date for which such data has been collated, approximately €191 million in tax is the subject of open correlative relief claims. Table 1 includes the number of correlative relief claims made by companies for each of the years 2010 to 2019 (up to 30 June 2019),...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Data (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 to 67, inclusive, together. I am advised by Revenue that a sectoral breakdown of losses forward claimed on Corporation Tax returns and Income Tax returns is set out in the tables below for years 2015 to 2017 (inclusive). Information in respect of the 2018 tax year is not available, as the relevant tax returns are not yet filed. This information will be...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Revenue Commissioners Audits (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 to 71, inclusive, together. Tax administrations generally use assets and/or wealth as their main criteria for defining a High Wealth Individual (HWI), while some also include income criteria. I am advised by Revenue that its criterion to be considered a HWI and to therefore come within the remit of the HWI branches of its Large Cases – High Wealth...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Reports (25 Sep 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, my Department in conjunction with the Department of Rural and Community Development, issued a report on Local Public Banking in Ireland last year. The report concluded that there is not a compelling case for the State to establish a new local public banking system based on the German Sparkassen model in Ireland. A commitment was given in the report that my...