Results 14,721-14,740 of 32,569 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (16 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Under the current pension increase policy for pre-existing pension schemes agreed as part of the Public Services Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (PSSA), with effect from 1 September 2017, pay increases applied to serving staff in 2016 and 2017, as well as those approved over the course of the Agreement, are passed on to qualifying pensions. A pension will qualify for an increase if the pay rate...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Universal Social Charge Application (15 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Universal Social Charge (USC) was introduced in Budget 2011 to replace the Income Levy and Health Levy. It was a necessary measure to widen the tax base, remove poverty traps and maintain revenue to reduce the budget deficit. It is a more sustainable charge than those it replaced and is applied at a low rate on a wide base. However, the base for USC does not include payments made by the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax Regime (15 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I recognise that there has been a substantial increase in corporation tax receipts in recent years and, while in many ways this is a positive reflection of our economic recovery and improved trading conditions, I am also aware that there are risks associated with this increase. In particular it is important to ensure that longer-term spending commitments are not entered into on the basis of...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Union Lending (15 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Credit Unions are already allowed to offer mortgages to their members and indeed a number of Credit Unions do. As of March 2019 there were €175 million of mortgages outstanding across the sector. The amount of mortgage lending Credit Unions can engage in, however, is limited by the Central Bank’s lending regulations for Credit Unions which allow only a certain proportion of a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (15 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Both I and the Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Mr. Michael D’Arcy T.D., are very conscious of the difficulties that the cost and availability of insurance are having on many businesses and community groups in this country. The Deputy should note that there is no policy or legislative ‘silver bullet’ to decrease the cost of insurance. This was...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Redeployment (15 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 95 together. As the Deputy is aware, the Civil Service Mobility scheme which comes under the remit of my department, and is administered through HR Shared Services, National Shared Services Office, offers an opportunity for staff members to apply for mobility through an open and transparent system. The scheme will support the needs of the business,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Broadband Plan Funding (15 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I have already indicated, I intend to provide the additional capital required to fund the cost of proceeding with the National Broadband Plan from future revenues. This will be done in the context of updating the overall multi-annual capital ceilings set out in Project Ireland 2040.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget Measures (15 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The attached spreadsheet (Attachment 1) sets out gross voted current, capital and total expenditure ceilings for each Vote group, as published in each Expenditure Report for Budgets 2014 to 2019. The expenditure ceilings are presented here exactly as they were published in each Expenditure Report from 2014 to 2019. As such, they do not reflect any transfers of functions or technical...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Stamp Duty (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the Stamp Duty exemption for transfers of land to young trained farmers is available where certain conditions are satisfied on the date the land is transferred.  One condition is that the young trained farmer must be the holder of a relevant agricultural qualification.  A ‘Level 6 Specific Purpose Certificate in Farm Administration’ (often...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax Regime (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) is responsible for EU policy in three main areas: economic policy, taxation issues and the regulation of financial services. The May ECOFIN meeting is not due to take place until 17th May.  However, I can confirm that at the most recent ECOFIN meeting which was held in Bucharest on 5th and...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Sustainable Finance (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The final report of the high level group was published in January 2018, with the Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis choosing Dublin as the location in which to provide the European Commission’s first response to the report. I was present when Vice-President Dombrovskis shared that response at the European Financial Forum in Dublin Castle on 31 January 2018. ...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tracker Mortgage Examination (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Since 2013, the Central Bank’s practice is to remit the value of all monetary penalties in full to the Exchequer and, thereby, ultimately to the citizens of the Irish State. The treatment of fines related to the Tracker Mortgage Examination will be remitted to the Exchequer in full in the same way. This practices arises from when, in 2012, the Central Bank consulted on the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Exemptions (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The VAT rating of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law must comply.  In accordance with Irish VAT legislation, oral medicines (for human consumption), licensed/authorised by the Health Products Regulatory Authority, are liable to VAT at the zero rate. However, non-oral medicines (products such as injections and infusions) are liable to VAT at the standard...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Vehicle Registration (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that special purpose vehicles with EU category M and an SA body code (motor homes) are classified, for Vehicle Registration Tax purposes, as category B vehicles and liable at the concessionary 13.3% rate of VRT. Article 110 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides that Member States cannot levy taxes that discriminate against imported goods...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: VAT Rate Application (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to inform the Deputy that no correction is required to the record of Dáil Éireann in relation to the VAT treatment of food supplements. VAT legislation does not apply the zero rate of VAT to food supplements but 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...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been advised by the Central Bank of Ireland that the arrears handling provisions of the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code 2012 (CPC) apply to loans provided to consumers that are not covered by the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA), including Buy To Let mortgages of personal consumers. Credit institutions, retail credit firms and credit servicing firms are all...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The increase in the betting duty rate from 1 per cent to 2 per cent, and the betting intermediary duty rate from 15% to 25%, came into effect on 1 January 2019. It is too early to draw any definite conclusions on the impact of these increases. Betting receipts in the year to date suggests that industry wide turnover has remained broadly stable. Receipts from betting duty represented...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Nursing Home Fees (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Revenue’s role in the Nursing Home Support Scheme is confined to that of collection agent for the Health Service Executive (HSE) in respect of loan funding that falls due for repayment. The repayment date for monies loaned is set out in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Collection and Recovery of Repayable Amounts) Regulations 2009 (Statutory Instrument No. 436 of 2009), which...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Credits (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government acknowledges the continuing cost pressures on parents, particularly those with young children. In recognition of these cost pressures, a number of support measures are already in place to ease the burden on working parents. These include various tax-exempted child-care related supports provided by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and measures such as the Working...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs Costs (14 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the full year cost of increasing the Earned Income Credit from €1,350 to €1,500, for taxpayer units in receipt of gross income of up to €60,000, is estimated at €19 million in a full year. This estimate assumes that all affected taxpayers have the capacity to fully benefit from the increase in the credit. Therefore, €19 million...