Results 14,981-15,000 of 32,572 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I will address the second point first. Even though it does not feel like it, we are at a very early stage in all of the discussions on the MFF. It is likely that this work will accelerate towards the end of this year. It will have to. There are scenarios in which our contribution to the MFF will go up. In a speech to the European Parliament a number of months ago, the Taoiseach said that...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is correct. Table 13 refers to some of the figures he has touched on and shows that while our national debt will dip in 2020 to under €200 billion, it will then increase again. There are two reasons for that, however. The first is whether the Government of the day will make a decision to run larger surpluses than are currently set out in this document. I mentioned...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Approximately 90% to 95% is at fixed rates. If the Deputy looks at page 34 of our document, the average interest rate across the period is set out at the bottom of table 13 and it is approximately 2%, which is a staggering turnaround from where we have been over recent years. If one goes back to the point I made earlier, one sees that as a percentage of gross national income, our debt...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Stability Programme Update: Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform (18 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I do. The Deputy asked if I want to change the balance between current and capital expenditure on housing and the short answer is, "Yes, I do". On his first question as to whether I accept this is a macroeconomic or overall risk for the economy, the answer is also "Yes". The Deputy and I differ on many things, as he well knows, but I accept the genuineness with which he approaches this...

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I will respond. PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, has published what it has available. It has published its own conclusion. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and I independently reached the same conclusion where, in advance of this matter becoming as difficult and public as it has, we evaluated the different options available to us. We differ from Deputy Wallace because our view is that...

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I welcome the report which provides a thorough overview of the escalation of costs in the national children's hospital project. I want, in particular, to focus on recommendations Nos. 10 and 11 which apply to capital projects in general. Recommendation No. 10 states that the rules that govern public sector spending on major capital projects should be strengthened. The standards to which...

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The IMF report, to which the Deputy is referring, the public investment management assessment, PIMA, report, only came in the latter stages in considering the national children's hospital that we are debating. I have not yet got to the place where we are receiving quarterly reports on key projects. What we will have instead on my Department's website is a capital project tracker which will...

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with the first question as to whether, at the point at which the revised and additional costs came in for the national children's hospital, we commenced a cost-benefit analysis, as recommended in the report. We did not commence a new business case process, but what we did do - I was heavily involved in it - was sit down to look at the different options which included pausing the...

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: -----at that point-----

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am sorry, I just want to finish my answer. At that point, of course, it would be open to the Government-----

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: -----to look at whether a revised business case was needed.

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Excuse me.

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I answered the question. The Deputy asked me whether we had conducted a revised cost-benefit analysis when the additional information came in. I stated we did not and what we did in its place and why.

National Children's Hospital Costs: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The recommendations will go across both my Department and the Department of Health. The PwC report has made two particular recommendations that it says my Department should deal with, namely, recommendations Nos. 10 and 11. They refer to the rules relating to future major public spending capital projects. It also makes a recommendation on how Government can continually challenge during the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that it is aware that a number of pension providers are not paying out the full yearly increases on a number of policies known as "5% escalators".  These are pension policies where the provider has agreed that the amount of the pension paid out will be increased by a certain percentage on an annual basis. The legislation governing the tax treatment of pensions is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am very confident about the figure as it was given to me by the Revenue Commissioners on foot of the Deputy's question. It affects around 160 policies overall. I cannot predetermine what the outcome will be of the engagement which the Revenue Commissioners will have with Insurance Ireland. Any changes that might be made are a matter for the Revenue Commissioners and this might lead to a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pension Provisions (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I never said any changes would be made because that is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners and it depends on their interpretation of law. If they approach me to say they believe changes are needed in law, or that they require my assistance with something, I will consider it very carefully. The question of whether a pension will be paid retrospectively is a matter for the pension...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to Deputy Burton, I am sure that the information I have shared in the House was shared with the Committee on Budgetary Oversight.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Code (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I have indicated over the last number of years, we have already looked to review tax expenditure. I thought a good example of that was the work that we did with the film industry. While we might have had different views on the outcome of that review, I do not recall anybody criticising the content of the review or the way that it was being done. In response to Deputy Doherty's...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, within the remit of the Central Bank's responsibilities for safeguarding stability and protecting consumers, its approach to mortgage arrears resolution is focused on ensuring the fair treatment of borrowers through a strong consumer protection framework and ensuring that lenders have appropriate arrears resolution strategies and operations in place. There are...