Results 15,141-15,160 of 32,726 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

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...

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

Paschal Donohoe: We keep this matter under review all the times. As the Deputy will be aware, every quarter we publish all of the different information on the performance of mortgages and how the issue of non-payment of arrears is dealt with. I regularly meet the banks at CEO and chairperson level and I raise these issues at each of these meetings. The Deputy will know that we are making and have made...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I am well aware of what is happening, as Deputy Doherty put it, underneath my nose. I am aware of the number of mortgages that have been successfully restructured. The number of mortgages in arrears is declining but citizens still face challenges if they find they are in arrears and are worried about their future. This is why we have organisations like Abhaile and the Insolvency Service of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: NAMA Transactions (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The figures I have shared with the Deputy are figures that have been shared with me by NAMA and put into a different light the statement made by the United Nations on the operation of NAMA. By sharing this information with the Tánaiste, I have no doubt at all that these perspectives will be shared with the UN in response to the communication that it has issued. The Deputy referred...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: NAMA Transactions (17 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not involved in the detail or decisions that are made in individual court cases. The Deputy will be aware as to how NAMA has been set up. I am responsible for setting its mandate and for influencing and setting the objectives it wants to fulfil but it has independence as to how it goes about that. That firewall is also in place to ensure that it is able to fulfil its mandate in a...

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

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight's work in the area of tax expenditures, and the publication of a report on the topic earlier this month. The committee met with representatives of my Department and Revenue in January 2019. It also met separately with the Parliamentary Budget Office, and with the economist, Dr. Micheál Collins from the school of social policy in UCD....

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

Paschal Donohoe: It is worthwhile acknowledging that all tax expenditures that have been commenced since 2014 have been subject to sunset clauses. Since that point in time, we have brought in the requirement the Deputy is referring to. In the last four annual reviews done via the tax strategy groups, we have looked at different elements of tax expenditures. In the 2018 report, for example, we included...