Results 14,281-14,300 of 32,569 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: IBRC Liquidation (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Where I differ from the Deputy is in my belief that the progress reports issued by the liquidator have tried to get the balance right in terms of providing transparency and information to the House and also in terms of completing a liquidation that was and is immensely important to the financial progress of our State. As the Deputy knows, the various progress reports published have, at...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Budgets (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Last December, leaders of the euro area member states requested finance Ministers to work on the general features of a possible budgetary instrument that would be focused on competitiveness and convergence. This instrument will be open to members of the euro area and to member states currently outside the euro area who are preparing to join the euro. Its aim is to support reform and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Budgets (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: On the policy background, it would probably be unfair to say this is a consequence of economic federalism. First, President Macron wants a stronger and more integrated Europe but he is as aware as many former French Presidents of the importance of national sovereignty. Second, with regard to the scale of the funding instrument, it is difficult to put a figure on it because there are very...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: IBRC Liquidation (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is important for me to set out the role of a committee of inspection in an ordinary liquidation and the legislative and factual context of the special liquidation of IBRC. The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Act of 2013 specifically disapplied a number of provisions in the Companies Act 1963 insofar as they applied to the liquidation of IBRC, including those relating to committees of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: VAT Rate Increases (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is not Deputy Michael Healy-Rae's role to decide what rules I obey. That is the role of the Chair. The Deputy does not set the rules of this House. They are laid down in Standing Orders and overseen by the occupant of the Chair. Given that a moment ago, the Deputy praised the argument that we should stand by the facts, I simply outlined two facts. The Deputy participated in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: VAT Rate Increases (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The second reduced 9% VAT rate was introduced on a temporary basis as part of the jobs initiative from July 2011 to December 2013 and was aimed at boosting tourism and the creation of additional jobs in that sector. The rate was designed to be temporary, but was maintained in subsequent budgets. In 2016, in A Programme for a Partnership Government, we committed to maintaining the 9% VAT...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: VAT Rate Increases (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I fear that singling out one part of the country would mean I will have to name them all. The recent Central Statistics Office figures for overseas visitors to Ireland show that there was an increase of 6% in the first quarter of this year. In the first 12 weeks of the year, we had more tourists coming to our country than a year ago. I accept the huge effort that goes into running tourism...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: VAT Rate Increases (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I acknowledge that the Deputy was in the room for 74 days but, ultimately, he decided not to join.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: VAT Rate Increases (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is one thing acknowledging how much time he spent in the room but he decided not to join.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: VAT Rate Increases (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not sure what I said to bring the Deputy to his feet in this way. I am simply pointing to a fact. He decided not to join.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: VAT Rate Increases (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: To respond to the question the Deputy put to me-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Income Data (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I was involved in all of the discussions about this, as one would expect me to be on any of the discussions about income tax policy or broader tax policy. The Deputy is correct to say that there are many competing pressures on the Exchequer currently but in many areas of public expenditure levels of expenditure and recruitment are equal to those in the pre-crisis period and in some case...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In acknowledging what we need to do and given the scale of risk that could develop, it is always worthwhile saying what we have already done. There are two different parts to what I am going to do in further dealing with the matter. First, we will put in place a process that the Deputy in particular has called for to see if we can form a better view regarding the sustainability of current...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The council indicates that between €3 billion and €6 billion could be considered "excess" and this is the reason I want to put in place a new process to form a view on the sustainability of current receipts. This leads to the Deputy's point on whether we have been able to form a view on the risk that could be posed to our receipts due to the different proposals being considered...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Income Data (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland has one of the most progressive personal income tax systems in the world, which plays a crucial role in the process of income redistribution along with our social welfare system. Our redistributive tax system has been acknowledged internationally by both the International Monetary Fund and the OECD. However, it is the Government’s position that workers start to pay too high a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Income Data (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I reaffirm what the Taoiseach said, which is that if the economy continues to grow, the resources will be there to make a change like that. We can look at the funding generated each year through the non-indexation of the tax code, with approximately €500 million made available to do tax reform and reduction. As the Deputy knows, we are looking to move the tax thresholds in line with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Corporation Tax (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not complacent regarding the risks posed by the increasing share of corporation tax within overall taxation revenues. Along with officials in the Department of Finance, I have identified this risk on several occasions, most recently in the April stability programme update and the Department's annual taxation report. The sharp increase in corporation tax is a notable development in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Carbon Tax Collection (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a longstanding practice of the Minister for Finance not to comment in advance of the Budget on any tax matters that might be the subject of Budget decisions. Having said that, the Deputy will be aware that the Climate Action Plan 2019, published on Monday last, provided a commitment to assess a Carbon Tax trajectory of at least €80 per tonne by 2030, having regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Operations (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of its Annual Report for 2018, NAMA recently revised its projected surplus to be returned to the State to €4 billion. The realisation of this surplus depends on the success of NAMA’s ongoing deleveraging and completion of its Dublin Docklands SDZ and residential funding programmes. Surplus funds may only be returned to the Central Fund once NAMA's debt has been...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (19 Jun 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 34, 35 and 37 together. I am very conscious of the difficulties being experienced as a result of the cost and availability of insurance to certain types of businesses. Whilst at both political and departmental level there has been considerable engagement with the different business stakeholders including for instance play centres, representatives,...